McGonigel's Mucky Duck

Ticket price at the door: $28.00

Preferred seating for dinner guests.

You could stock a crowd-pleasing jukebox with the songs Jesse Winchester has written and recorded in the last four decades – and with the better-known versions of his songs that have become hits and album staples for artists ranging from Joan Baez to Elvis Costello to Jimmy Buffett. 

Winchester’s skill in capturing vivid small town vignettes, heartfelt love and love-lost situations, and goodtime celebrations has yielded a litany of I-know-that-songs: “Yankee Lady,” “Biloxi,” “Brand New Tennessee Waltz,” “Talk Memphis,” “Rhumba Girl,” “Payday,” “I’m Gonna Miss You, Girl,” “Let’s Make a Baby King” and many more. His 2007 Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Society of Composters, Artists and Publishers (ASCAP) is one gauge of the music world’s esteem.

Jesse Winchester is one of the most acclaimed songwriters in the last 25 years. He represents a school of songwriting whose songs have been cut by Emmylou Harris, Joan Baez, John Denver, Jimmy Buffett, Anne Murray, Wynonna, Waylon Jennings, Reba McEntire, among others. He started writing songs after he moved to Canada in 1967, a self-imposed exile during the Vietnam War. There he played with a French band way up in northern Canada. The band members spoke French, no English, and when he would come home to his room, he would write songs.

His recording career began in 1970 with his first album, Jesse Winchester, recorded in Canada. Robbie Robertson of The Band helped him get his first recording contract and produced the first album. Now, 13 albums later, Jesse’s most recent is the exquisite Love Filling Station, released on Appleseed Records.