The Southern Gentleman

Jesse Winchester's conversation is remarkably similar to his songs: sparse, stoic, moving, with just the slightest trace of a southern accent.

But today he also sounds a little stuffed-up, a bit congested.

"I shouldn't have slept with the heat on last night," Winchester said. "But when you're in a hotel room, there's not much you can do about that."

Should you go to see him , not to worry; the cold should be gone. 

"It was bound to happen. I just did a couple of dates in Canada and I've got a bunch more to do. I was bound to catch something. One of the reasons I'm getting so many gigs is because of that Elvis Costello show I did a while back. What's it called? 'Spectacle.' You'd think a man my age would be taking it easy."

He turns 67 in May. But in a way, Jesse Winchester has never been young.

You might know the story.

Winchester was born in Mississippi and reared, mostly, in our American music capital, Memphis, Tennessee. After his graduation from Williams College, he received his draft notice, and, like a number of other young men, made the difficult moral decision to go to Canada instead of fighting in Vietnam.

Somehow, during his long tenure up north, he met The Band's Robbie Robertson, who loved the songs Winchester was writing. He offered to produce his self-titled debut album in 1970. This record with immortal songs like "Yankee Lady," "Snow" and "Payday," was, and remains a classic, of the form. The melodies bright and lovely, the sentiments full of the sadness of being divorced from his native land.

Due to his status, he couldn't tour the U.S. until the late-70s.

"Once I finally did,"  Winchester said, "it was actually pretty exhausting emotionally. There was so much attention paid to me, because I was sort of famous and I hadn't been here for a while. It wasn't fun. I'm a pretty private person."

There, of course, have been a number of records since. Several more low-key gems, like 1972's, "Third Down, 110 To Go," and Winchester's most recent album, "Love Filling Station," which features a number of almost unbearably poignant songs about the writer's youth. 

One does want to know about the record, "Talk Memphis," which Winchester made with the legendary, Willie Mitchell, best-known for his work with soul singer Al Green.

"It's funny, people speak about that album often," he said. "But it's a problem for me. Mitchell and I didn't get along. So, my feelings about the record are colored by that. I get a lot of compliments about it, though. So, I try and thank folks and be polite when they say nice things."

Tension in the studio aside, Winchester does have fond memories of one of the players on the Memphis sessions.

"The guitar playing was sublime on that record, though. I think it was a guy named Charlie Pitts. You know him, because he's the guy that plays that amazing wah wah guitar on 'The Theme From Shaft.' I really liked playing with him."

After his Jammin Java gig, Winchester heads to his home in Virginia, where he's working on songs for his next record.

"I don't why," he said, sounding pleasantly-surprised, "but the songs are really coming fast these days."

Then the Winchester that people know from the songs, the wry, even suspicious-sounding Winchester, closes with a real Winchester-sounding maxim.

"I better not question why this is happening," he said. "Or they just might stop coming."

Jesse Winchester will be at Jammin' Java on Wednesday at 8 p.m. Tickets are $30. For more information call 703-255-1566