Joe Winters

The Steepwater Band

Joe Winters

As the drummer and founding member of The Steepwater Band, Joe Winters has performed at over 2,000 gigs worldwide over the past 25 years.

Born in Chicago in the early 1970’s, Joe took a strong liking to blues and early rock-n-roll music at a young age, At the suggestion of his mother, who also played drums growing up, Joe began playing percussion in his 6th grade marching band. With the prominence of rock music in the 1980's, Joe would soon be playing drums in a local rock band, doing his first professional club gigs by the age of 17. After a few different projects, Joe formed The Steepwater Band in 1998 along with longtime friend Tod Bowers on bass and Jeff Massey on lead guitar & vocals, and went on to land a record deal with Funzalo Records / WEA, releasing their debut album in 2001. The band continues to make records and tour to this day...

Simple & solid, powerful grooves are what his drumming is all about. Some of Joe’s influences include Charlie Watts, Steve Jordan, Mick Fleetwood, John Bonham, Buddy Miles, Willie “Big Eyes” Smith, Phil Rudd, Simon Kirke and any drummer with the ability to make an audience “shake it!” He has recorded eight full-length releases with The Steepwater Band, as well as two live albums. The band is currently touring in support of their latest companion records "Turn of the Wheel" & "Re-Turn of the Wheel" in both the USA & Europe.

Over the last couple of years, Joe has also recorded and performed live with a new Chicago "collective" project called Furbaby and the Tight Spaces, featuring a revolving cast of musicians, led by current Urge Overkill bassist Adam Arling, chief songwriter and vocalist for this new group. A self-titled debut record was released in 2022 via Cargo Records UK, and supported with select tour dates. A follow up record is currently in production...

"My biggest thrill in life is being able to contribute to the birth of a song," said Joe. When not on tour with Steepwater or Furbaby, he likes to spend his time being as creative as possible, working sporadically in local Chicagoland studios, and writing songs with yet another recording project, Levi Hustle and the Denim Persuasion.

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