Thomasina Winslow

Winslow was born in 1965, and grew up in New Baltimore, New York, south of Albany.[1] Something of a child prodigy, she was nicknamed "Tunes" by her brother.[3] She first performed on her father's album Tom Winslow,[4] singing "1-2-3" ("One-Two-Three") as a toddler.[5][6] She also sang back-up that year on the folk music classic Hey Looka Yonder (It's the Clear Water) (It's the Clearwater), about the Sloop Clearwater.[7][8]

As part of her family's group, The Winslows, she toured throughout the folk music festival circuit, including The Great Hudson River Revival.[1][9][10]

Winslow attended Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk Central Schools. She received her A.A. in Performing Arts from Schenectady County Community College and her B.A. in Music Performance from the University at Albany, where she majored in Classical Guitar.[1][9][10] In December 2021, she received the degree of Doctor of Ministry, honoris causa, from Covenant of Avalon Theological Seminary.[11]

Winslow played covers of blues and gospel music at solo gigs, which have included the Cambridge Inn in Cambridge, New York, and the Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. She also played in the 1990s in concerts with Two Story Tuesday and Bojembe around upstate New York, including Glens Falls, Albany, and Colonie.

Winslow's day job was that of a music and performing arts teacher at Saint Anne Institute, a reform school for girls,[12] where she administered the "Expressive Arts" program.[13] She was quoted as saying "Teenagers have a lot to express, especially children-at-risk. But they haven't always been directed as to how to do that. We try to help them."[13][14] Funding for this program was a Youth Advancement Through Music and Art (YATMA) grant.[14][15] In addition to the Expressive Arts award, she has won numerous other grants, including a New York State Education Department grant.[9]

Winslow made a short Upstate New York solo tour during December 2007 and early 2008. She had her first headlining show at Caffe Lena in Saratoga Springs,[16][17] in addition to featured guest spots on WRPI in Troy, New York and WAMC in Albany, New York, as well as gigs at the Java Jazz Cafe on January 3, 2008,[18] in Delmar, New York.[17]

In March 2007, she was featured in Caffe Lena's "3rd Annual Blues Fest" alongside Mark Tolstrup and Beaucoup Blue.[17][19][20] In May 2008, Winslow returned to Java Jazz for a second show.[17][21]

In the Summer of 2008, Winslow played gigs further out in Upstate New York, including three gigs each at Colonie Center and the Barnsider BBQ Restaurant in Lake George.[17]

On December 8, 2008, Winslow performed a one-hour live show on WRPI, the college radio station of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, for its "Stormy Monday Blues" show.[17][22]

Winslow had a significant tour in Spring 2009.[23] This included a performance at Marietta, Ohio's River City Blues Festival in March 2009,[23][24] a show in Easton, New York, blues festivals in Denmark and Germany, and return shows at Caffe Lena and the Good Coffeehouse with Nick Katzman.[23]

Winslow made her Australian debut at the Cairns Blues Festival on May 12, 2012.[25][26]

Winslow performed at the 2014 Clearwater Festival.[27]

In April 2006, Katzman was slated to perform at the Good Coffeehouse Music Parlor in Brooklyn, his favored venue in "the States".[41] He had previously performed with Ruby Green (Terry Garthwaite),[42] and had recorded Sparking Ragtime & Hardbitten Blues, a now-classic LP, with Green, since released as a CD,[43] so their fans expected they would perform again together.[44] Instead, Winslow substituted for Green; in Katzman's own words:

I was getting my e-mail and was about to zap what I thought was ... spam.... I decided to open it anyway and it turned out to be a letter from a singer/guitarist named Thomasina Winslow who said she was covering tunes from my Kicking Mule LPs on her new CD. Now, mind you, this is NOT an everyday occurrence for me, so I went immediately to CDbaby and listened to her recording. She had a version of "I'm Goin' Away" where she played guitar at least as well as I did and sang wonderfully. I was of course flattered that someone was so involved with my music and very impressed with how well she handled the material. It turns out that she is the daughter of a Gary Davis disciple named Tom Winslow and apparently she grew up around the Davis' scene and was pretty much brought up in a folk-blues household.

She said that I was a primary musical influence for her, so I've asked her to come and do a guest appearance at the gig, and she said she'd come all the way down from Albany to do it, so it looks like we'll be hosting Thomasina Winslow on that night, too. I'm not sure how much exposure she's had or even how much she's done professionally. The idea of my music somehow finding its way back to young black musicians is very exciting for me.
I'll be meeting her for the first time at the gig, so it should be an

interesting night.

— email from Nick Katzman, quoted at IGS Guitar Forum blog of April 2006

Fans of Katzman were once again on notice about a second show in April 2007.[45]

Winslow flew out to Germany to tour with Katzman in the summer of 2007, when they performed a few gigs in Berlin, Germany and recorded music videos.[46]

The duo played at the Stamford Arts Centre Blues and Folk Festival, and were the second-billed act for "Guitar Day" ("8.30pm Nick Katzman & Thomasina Winslow 10.00pm Jeff Lang").[47][48] It was favorably reviewed in Monty's Music News, an on-line Music newsletter, as a "great evening Concert in The Ballroom."[49] Blogger Ginger Mayerson called their performances "cute" and "Oh, I just love these trips down memory lane, don't you?", adding "I like the way this singer, Thomasina Winslow, sings."[50]

In April 2008, Winslow and Katzman recorded a song for a future CD. They also performed together again at the Good Coffeehouse in Brooklyn on April 25, 2008.[17][51]

They received the "Artist of the Day" from the oneartistaday.com website, which celebrates "Independent artists", on October 1, 2008.[52]

Winslow and Katzman toured both America and Europe in mid-2009. They had gigs in Brooklyn, Saratoga Springs,[53] and Easton, New York from April to May 2009. They performed at the Mississippi Blues Nacht Festival in Köpenick, Germany on July 18 and 19, 2009.

Katzman and Winslow took a short tour of Germany and Denmark in July and August 2010. They performed in Bad Sobernheim and Skarrild, Denmark at the Danish Folk, Blues, and Ragtime Guitar Festival.[54] She also performed a solo gig in Frankfurt, Germany.

On May 6, 2011, Winslow once again played with Nick Katzman at Katzman's "favorite U.S. venue," The Good Coffeehouse Music Parlor (GCMP). This marked the fourth time that the Good Coffeehouse has hosted Katzman, and the third time for Winslow.