We recently connected with Jason Winters and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Jason thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

In the Summer of 2020 I was blessed to embark on a music project that I would soon find to be my favorite music endeavor yet as a songwriter and musician. As the world was sitting around at home unable to go to work because of the Covid-19 shutdown, my friend and co-producer Jon Hasz decided to use the time to tackle an album that we had been discussing for over two years. The songs were ready, the studio was available, and now we found ourselves with plenty of the time we needed to take the venture of seeing this project through to the end.

Jon and I grew up together in the town of Ramona Ca. We were a few years apart in school, but we ran with similar friend groups because we were both musicians. Ramona, a suburb of San Diego, used to be the birthplace of sorts for punk rock bands in the 1990’s. Jon and I had our share of playing in different high school rock bands, but as we grew as musicians we expanded in our appreciation for all kinds of music. Jon now owns the Ramona Music Center; a small music store in the center of our home town that provides instruments, accessories, lessons, and opportunities for recording in their studio called After Hours Studio. As for me, I ended up following a calling that God put on my life at a young age to enter the ministry. I am now a Lead Pastor at Mountain View Community Church. I am one of the preaching pastors on staff and I am heavily involved in the worship music ministry as well. In fact I grew up playing a part in the worship ministry at MVCC. I spent 6 years as the Worship Intern and 12 years as the Worship Pastor. I play acoustic and electric guitar, sing, and leading worship.

God has blessed me with many opportunities to write and record my original music. I have released several albums throughout my life growing up here in Ramona for the past 35 years. My first release was a punk rock album with a band called “Nothing Special”. Then a hard rock screamo album with a band called “Fallen Out”. From there I produced a live worship album with the worship team from my church. Then a children’s album with original worship songs for kids. Then a live Christmas bluegrass album. Then I released a contemporary Christian album called “Live It Out”. As you can see I have dipped my toes in quite a diverse spectrum of musical endeavors. But my most recent album that I released passionately displays my heart, my faith, and my musical roots in an album called “No More Wanderin’”.

You see, before I started playing punk rock in high school, I learned guitar from watching my grandparents play together in a bluegrass band called Hickory Ridge based out of Alpine Ca. I attended bluegrass camping trips, concerts, festivals, and jams that fueled my love for the Country and Bluegrass music. Fast forward to high school, the punk rock scene didn’t take too kindly to “un-cool” country and bluegrass influences, even in our little hick-town of Ramona. So, I left my country roots on the self for a while to explore strange new musical worlds. But now as a 42 year old, what is considered “cool” doesn’t shape my musical journey anymore.

In fact, a lot of my musical journey was composed of chasing what was considered “cool” at the time. I have experienced the pressure of feeling like the music that I produced needs to fit into a mold based on what the culture around me deems as popular. But I found that trying to fit into a mold designed by the preferences of the people around you is exhausting and unfulfilling. I felt that pressure with my 2015 release of the Live It Out album. I desperately tried to make my sound match the contemporary Christian music that was being pumped through the radio at the time. I had a wonderful time crafting the message in the music and don’t regret creating it, but there was something that didn’t feel genuine to who God created me to be in the style of music. I felt like I was trying to push myself into a mold that was not created for me musically.

After much prayer, I began to share some of my original country and bluegrass songs that I had written with another friend of mine, John Villagrana; he is the Worship Pastor at our church now. He was instrumental in encouraging me to pursue an avenue to record an album with these songs that seemed to pour from my soul. I found a desire to produce a sound that felt authentic to Jason Winters as a person. A kid who grew up in a small country town, answered the call of God on his life, and wasn’t ashamed of his country bluegrass roots.

So, on a warm night in August 2020, the creation of the album entitled “Jason Winters: No More Wanderin’” began at After Hours Studio in Ramona Ca. Two high school friends embarked on a journey to create a Country/Bluegrass inspired album that deals with the Grace of God and the wandering heart of his followers. Every Wednesday night from 8pm-Midnight we would write, record, and mix this album for 18 months straight. It was a lot of work, but it paid off in the end because we were able to create something that we were both truly proud of and still listen to with fondness and thankfulness to this day.

Perhaps my favorite part of making this album was being able to involve my family. My wife Heather Winters, who has the voice of a Disney princess, not only sang harmonies on a few songs, but she agreed to sing a duet with me on the song “Walk Alone”. The song deals with the struggle of anxiety, depression, and fear of loneliness while still trusting and resting in the promised presence of God. I was also blessed to have my two oldest daughters Nevaeh and Trinity sing on the album with me. They sing harmonies on the songs “About Your Love”, My Sanctuary”, and “Jesus, You’re My Joy”. Still to this day I tear up when I listen to “About Your Love”. I get goosebumps when I hear their beautiful sister voices harmonize together.

Another added blessing was the caliber of musicians that we were able to get for this album. Some of the guest musicians that appear on the album are Jim Soldi, Dennis Caplinger, Sharon Whyte, Kevin Ryan, Steve Dame, Doug Powel, Lauren Leigh Martin and others. Some of these musicians have played with music legends such as Johnny Cash, Vince Gill, Eric Clapton, Nickle Creek, and Ricky Skaggs. So, you can imagine how humbled I was when they said yes to playing on my project.

The album was released February 2022 and was celebrated with an album release concert in Ramona. About 300 people showed up to listen, dance, and sing along to a country bluegrass flavor of music while worshiping God. It was a night I will never forget. Since then, I have been blessed to share this music in different venues across Southern California. My band has played at bars, concert venues, and churches. I am also booked to play at the Men’s Round-Up Conference in the fall of 2024 in Oregon. Each time we play we are met with encouraging comments like “I wish there was more Christian Country Music like this out there!”. People love that at home feeling that country music brings them. And this album givens them that, along with the reminder of the love, grace, and mercy that God has bestowed upon us.

Another encouragement that came out of the album release was when it was nominated for the Best Country Album in the 2022 San Diego Music Awards! This was such a blessing to me because I knew how I felt about the quality of the songs on my new album, but getting this nomination alongside other incredible musicians in the industry really boosted my confidence as a Country Gospel Artist. Though we did not end up winning the category, just to be nominated was a thrill and an honor.

Jason, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I believe i answered this question in the long story I told in the previous section.

However I forgot to mention how instrumental Matt Alcobia and Noize Cartel records was in the release of my album. Matt was incredibly generous with his time and his resources in teaching me how to release my album independently. He helped me learn how to use facebook to build a fan base and help people discover my music.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

The reason why I create music is first and foremost to bring glory to God by using the gifting that he has given me to point others to Him. Every song that I write contains a message of hope that is only found in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. So I will sometimes deal with tough topics, but I don’t ever want to leave the listener with no hope by the end of the song. So even when a song deals with dark topics like depression, or death, or judgment, I always want people to know that there is hope in a relationship with Jesus. So that is the message of my music.

When it comes to the style of music I grew up listening to country and bluegrass. That style of music has always moved me on a deep level.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Early on in my song writing I kept my songs very close. I didn’t share them while they were in process, I would wait until I felt that they were finished to show anyone. I remember a time when I submitted a song to a songwriting panel to get critiques. It was one of the most humbling moments of my life. The panel tore apart my lyrics, my song structure, and my ideas until there was nothing left to say. There was not one positive comment about the song I submitted. I went away crushed and feeling like i should just give up as a song writer.

As I was praying to God about the pain and rejection that I was feeling, I felt God say to my heart “Who did you write that song for?” In my heart I answered back “I wrote that song for You Lord”. And I felt God reply “Then why does it matter what others think about it”.

Something changed for me that day. I re-centered myself on the reason I was writing music to begin with. And with that realization, I was actually able to look back on the comments that the song critique panel gave to me as constructive criticism to making my song better, rather than a rejection of me as a person or an artist. I actually used a few of their critiques and it did indeed make the message of the song more clear, and I changed a few things that sounded a little too much like other artists songs.

That tough moment was the beginning of a boost in my confidence to allow other people into my writing process. I will often ask people to critique my songs now without taking negative feedback so personally. After all, I can take it or leave it. I have some really good musician friends now who I write with. We have developed a trust in each other to be able to speak truth to each other without becoming defensive or prideful. And that had led to a much better writing process and a better end result.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.jasonwintersmusic.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jasonwintersmusic
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jasonwintersofficial
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/@Jasonwintersmusic

Image Credits
Heather Winters Photography Tim Connelly Photography John Handcock Photography