JEREMY WINKLER

Jeremy Winkler was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. His parents were visiting family in Indiana away from their home in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, when an emergency prompted Jeremy's early arrival to the planet. The gravitational anomalies presented by his arrival caused the Earth's crust to buckle, and pressure began to form deep below the peak of Mount Saint Helens in Washington state. A few short months later, the mountain erupted with an explosive force. 

Inspired by the giant Cascade volcanoes, Jeremy's father Donald moved the family out West, settling in Sherwood, Oregon when Jeremy was 2 years old. He grew up in the small suburb of Portland with his 3 brothers and 1 sister, exploring the farmlands and woods with his childhood friends. Jeremy loved sports and had a wide range of interests. His fascination with music began with the family record collection. Herbie Hancock's Rockit, Michael Jackson's Thriller and Weird Al Yankovic were his early favorites. He started singing in the church choir, and started playing saxophone in the 5th grade.

Both of Jeremy's older brothers had guitars at one point or another. When one of them went off to college, Jeremy dug one of their old acoustic guitars out of the closet, and started messing around with it. After learning a few chords and imitating what he could, using whatever books were at his disposal, one day he came home to find his father had rented an electric guitar and amp from the local music store. He started playing incessantly, learning Jimi Hendrix and Pink Floyd licks off the records by ear. He worked at a farm over the summer and saved his money to purchase his first professional instrument- A Fender Standard American Stratocaster with sunburst finish and a rosewood fretboard. His passion and aptitude continued to grow, as he tried to find other musicians to play with. At the time, nobody was playing psychedelic blues rock- Nirvana and Pearl Jam were all the rage, and rap and R&B and pop dominated the airwaves. 

Jeremy was unsure what to study in college, and he spent a couple years trying to figure it out. Then he heard John Coltrane's record Blue Train. He realized then that he wanted to level up his musicianship and improvisational prowess. He started studying music at Portland State University.

Jeremy was in and out of school the next few years, with family life and responsibilities growing. He relocated, and eventually he found himself back to music school, this time at Western Oregon University. That's where Jeremy found his personal guitar hero, Christopher Woitach, who patiently taught him how to play jazz. It was there he was turned on to Brazilian Music by another one of his mentors, saxophonist  extraordinaire Tom Bergeron.

While finishing up college, a lot of life events interceded. Jeremy settled into a full-time job, continuing to practice and play music in any time he could dedicate to it. A divorced dad with two sons of his own, providing a stable income was the priority. Still, he managed to perform with a Brazilian music ensemble up through 2012, then set out to start recording his collection of original songs. His Debut release was in September of 2015, a four song EP called Meeting You. 

Feeling proud of his work, but unsure how to market it, life's challenges took over, and he found himself struggling to keep music in the forefront. It took him several years to get back to recording, but finally in 2023, he started recording his first full length album, acquiring a computer and a few microphones, and recording everything at home. Jeremy's Version was released on July 26th, 2024. He released another single, Waiting for Love in June of 2025, departing from his usual sound to make a world music vibe track. His latest single was released August 15th, 2025 called Football Match (feat. Matt Wiles). Setting out to write a song about Jeremy's favorite sport, Jeremy teamed up with his friend and drummer Matt Wiles to write an iconic football song. He is hoping the new single will garner enough attention to allow him to fully commit to performing music as a career. He may be 45 years old, but he's in the best shape of his life.