Cy Winstanley

Growing up in Auckland, New Zealand, Cy discovered guitar at the age of 13 whilst attending Rangitoto College. After moving through a very necessary teenage infatuation with grunge, Cy then delved into blues and at 15 discovered jazz. Playing jazz at high school and with Auckland's Queen City Big Band Cy performed throughout Auckland and New Zealand, and in 1999 was awarded 'Best Jazz Guitarist' at the Annual New Zealand National Jazz Festival.

Through his infatuation with the guitar, Cy developed a serious strain injury in his hands and was forced to stop playing guitar late in 1999. He began singing, playing harmonica and the panpipes, the former two he continues today. After a few years of intense rehabilitation he'd worked through the injury effectively enough to start playing guitar again and put together Springfield, one of Auckland's top function bands. Cy played guitar, sang and also managed Springfield while the band worked regularly in Auckland from 2001 until he departed for the UK in 2003. During this period Cy also began to discover a love for bluegrass and country music, performing these styles in a variety of working ensembles.

Upon arriving in London Cy began working as a guitarist and singer in a variety of groups, his love of a wide variety of music reflected in the diverse range of ensembles he performed in. As well as performing solo he played guitar and sang backing vocals with Alan Gregg (formally of the Mutton Birds) in the band Marshmallow, then country/pop band The Desert Downtown on lead vocals and guitar. He also formed his own jazz groups working with a variety of freelance jazz musicians in London and sang with the Voicelab choir in concert with Elbow and the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

Cy's current projects include singing jazz in The Cy Winstanley Trio, with Vanessa McGowan on bass and Sebastian Weiss on piano, performing pop/rock covers solo in various venues around London, and singing, playing guitar, harmonica and writing for his own band, Her Make Believe Band. Cy's love of bluegrass, country music and blues has deepened in the past few years and he attends as many events jamming, performing and listening to those musics as he can. He also teaches guitar and music theory for a variety of schools and to private students in and around London.