Singer Winchester T got his start in music during the 1970s when the singer-songwriter emerged in Jamaica. Taking his cue from the classic artistes from that era, composing his own songs has always been important.

The St James-born artiste wrote all seven songs on Solid As A Rock, his first EP, which was released in February. It contains the title track, Senseless Killing, Foundation of Life and Lockdown.

In a recent interview with the Jamaica Observer, Winchester T spoke about Solid As A Rock and his approach to songwriting.

“My motivation for my recently released EP, is to have more music out so that I can build on my catalogue. I have lots of songs to record, and releasing them as singles will take forever, so I want to share with the world this treasure trove that I have been compiling over the years,” he said.

Winchester T first flirted with songwriting while in All-Age school in St James. In 1980, he entered the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission’s parish contest which he said whetted his appetite to pursue a music career. Those dreams, however, were curtailed by insufficient resources.

“In the earlier years, it had been very difficult to get my foot in the door, no matter how much talent you have. Financially, I was unable to afford to pay for recording and I refused to hang out at studios as I was advised by studio management.

“So now, I am blessed to be able to afford to finance my recordings,” Winchester T explained.

Solid As A Rock is a realisation of aspirations he had as a youth in St James. Senseless Killing addresses crime while Lockdown is inspired by the COVID-19 shutdowns of four years ago.

Howard Campbell