Winter Wallace

After the jump, read how their singer is named Winter Wallace but Winter Wallace is actually a band, the history of "Lisa," and the apparent awesomeness of Dan Workman.
Rocks Off: Tell us a bit about how Winter Wallace came to be. And can you clear this up for us: is Winter Wallace a band or is Winter Wallace a person? And if she is a person, is she of any relation to William Wallace?
Winter Wallace: First, my name is Winter Wallace. I am the singer of the Winter Wallace Band. We have a few guest musicians here and there, such as violinists and cellists, but the band is comprised of four permanent members: myself, Nolan Burke (guitar, keys), Kris Noland (keys) [and] Asher Pudlo (drums). The reason why we go by the Winter Wallace Band is because it originally just started out as me when I was 17.

Winter Wallace's self-titled EP


I didn't have a band but knew I needed to record all of the musical ideas I have, so my grandmother found Dan Workman from SugarHill Studios in the paper. That was seven years ago. Dan and I worked with a composer named Kevin Ryan to help me get my lyrics and melodies into play, because I don't play an instrument.
We actually had a permanent violinist for a while named Sally Tawfik who contributed some really beautiful pieces to our newer songs, but we went to having guest musicians as strings can be so hard to manage live.
[And] yes, insanely enough, [William Wallace] is my great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great... etc grandfather. At least, that's what a genealogist told my grandmother.
RO: Was your song "Lisa" crafted specifically to be used as the background music for one of those SPCA commercials? It seems tailor-made for that sort of thing.


WW: A close friend of my family ended her own life and Nolan and I wrote a song to give to her family. "Lisa" is a dark and sad ballad, but truthful. It has been the most difficult song we've ever done together thus far.
RO: "Night Nurse" feels noticeably heavier than your typical stuff, which leads us to believe that it was written more as a reactionary, emotional song, which leads me to believe that there's an interesting backstory behind it. Which is great because we've been waiting for the opportunity to use the term "dish" as an a verb. So, dish.
WW: "Night Nurse" was my second song. We recorded it when I was probably... 18. I was going for a different sound. One of my pet peeves is seeing a band and every song is a continuation of the last one. I love when each song could be an album of its own. We tend to write that way as a band. We like to keep moving in every direction instead of just one.
RO: Anything you want to make sure gets mentioned? Now's the time to do it - rather, now's the time to dish.
Dan Workman has helped us tremendously as our friend and mentor. I thank God sometimes that my grandmother just so happened to read about him in the paper seven years ago. I'm not sure where we would be as a band without him. He has tirelessly worked on our songs and has been my sanity when all of this overwhelms me. All in all, thank God for Dan!


In our band, we all contribute equally, musically and just in general. There are so many things happening for us right now and we're taking each day as it comes. We do the very best we can every day and I love being in a band with three of my closest friends. It's really amazing and makes the experience so much more than I thought it could be.
Keep up with Winter Wallace et. al at the band's MySpace page.
- Houston Press

Tody Castillo and Winter Wallace are the musical guests and Jim "Eggs" Bricker, blogger from breakfastontour.com is our "Audience of One". Award-winning record producer Dan Workman and Rosa Guerrero are the Hosts.

Texas songwriter Tody Castillo &aposs sound has been compared to Tom Petty, Ron Sexsmith, Ryan Adams and Rufus Wainwright with the vocal stylings of Jeff Buckley, Fran Healy and Jeff Tweedy. When Steve Earle first heard Tody&aposs music while shopping for producers for his critically acclaimed album Townes, its claimed that one listen gave Earle enough confidence to hire Houston producer Steve Christensen for the project. Castillo&aposs new album Windhorse was born out of personal tragedy, yet teeming with hope.

According to the Houston Press, Winter Wallace is a phenomenally genteel indie band that has a certain Ingrid Michaelson/Cat Power quality to them, with similarities stretching beyond similar song format or quirky clothing accessories or soft colors on their MySpace pages: they are legitimately talented. Their first EP, entitled Lisa, was produced by Dan Workman.
Live from SugarHill Studios is a collaborative effort between Zenfilm, OutboundMusic.com and SugarHill Recording Studios. Happy Holidays!
ZenFilm, Outbound Music - Live From SugarHill Studios! - SugarHill Studios, Zenfilm

Winter Wallace Band is more than just a female singer with backing musicians—it’s a collaborative effort full of the tension that results from four men building on melodies that originate in the mind of a woman. Beautiful, intricate arrangements meet muscular rhythms, creating an experience that is grand in scope and powerful in presentation.
Understanding the value of band chemistry, Winter knew from the beginning she didn’t want to go the solo route, backed by hired musicians or worse, pre-recorded tracks. She collaborated in her late teens with composer Kevin Ryan and Houston recording legend Dan Workman (owner of SugarHill Studios who has worked with Destiny’s Child, ZZ Top, Lyle Lovett, and many others), but it wasn’t until she met multi-instrumentalist Nolan Burke that a core began to form. She finally had a peer and kindred spirit she could write and play out with. Winter played her first show at Helios in Houston in the Summer of 2006. They then produced their first song together, “Lisa,” recorded and released in honor of a family friend who had taken her own life.
On a spur-of-the-moment trip to Los Angeles, Winter crashed on the couch of a friend of a friend. The couch belonged to Asher Pudlo, a drummer from Houston who happened to be studying at the Musician’s Institute in Hollywood. Upon his return to his hometown, he and his new roommate, keyboardist and guitarist Kris Noland, offered their talents (and practice space) to Winter, eventually settling in as permanent members. After a few friends filled in on bass for awhile, the band finally welcomed Michael Razmandi into the fold in late 2009.
Their music has been featured on CNBC (“Holiday,” used on the TV series American Made) and in Dan Workman’s segment of the “My Houston” commercial campaign. The band is currently finishing production on its first full-length album, Holiday, recorded mostly at Sugar Hill with Workman. In the meantime, they are playing venues around Texas as they work toward a national tour in 2010. - Austin American Statesman