THE CHAMP JAXON BAND

STILL KICKIN’ IT — AT AGE 12

Written by: Jack Collier

Nate Winkler, who is also rhythm guitarist for The Champ Jaxon Band.

“We’ll see what happens,” Winkler says of that time in the near future. Jackson Champ Winkler, of Punta Gorda, Florida, was introduced to music by his parents, Nate and Ivey, 3-year-old Champ strumming away on an air guitar at a Florida music festival, says his father. “And off he went,” Nate says, referring to his son’s leap into music.

Scroll forward to an open-mic session in Cape Coral, Florida, Champ had by then absorbed virtual lessons with Scott Sharrard, a guitarist for Little Feat and former guitarist and musical director for the late Gregg Allman’s band, his dad says. His playing and songwriting advance with each year. “He’s just a sponge,” Nate says.

That Cape Coral performance helped in forming The Champ Jaxon Band, a play on his name. Bandmates include the drummer Brent Adam and bassist Nick Rosado. Nate is the band’s rhythm player, its maestro/road manager. Its first gig was a brewpub on March 8, 2019.

The Champ Jaxon Band tours the Midwest and south, almost always near an amusement park, Winkler says, so that his son can be a kid. He had also appeared on the “Ellen Show” and had a bit part in a show called “Ordinary Joe” before that ended.