The debut album ‘My Apologies To The Chef’ by Winona Fighter has been getting much attention and critical acclaim ever since its release earlier this year. The collection of songs are marked by a raw and cohesive reflection on life today that bottles the spirited and cathartic energy of the band’s live shows. Based in Nashville, Winona Fighter—front woman and multi-instrumentalist Coco Kinnon, lead guitarist Dan Fuson and bassist/producer Austin Luther formed after meeting on Craigslist after Coco moved there from Boston. Their debut EP, ‘Father Figure’ was released in 2022 and garnered the band a growing and loyal fanbase.
Growing up with an affinity to hardcore and punk music, Kinnon is unapologetic when it comes to the band’s honest and upfront lyrics that match the band’s high-energy sound. There is a myriad of songs on the album that showcase this including, “I Think You Should Leave” and “I’M IN THE MARKET TO PLEASE NO ONE”, a song about dating abuse inspired by a letter Kinnon wrote for a therapy session. “I feel like we’re taught to suppress our anger,” Kinnon stated, “whether it’s to do with what’s going on in the world or in our lives. And that’s so lame. Why are we so okay with people being sad and anxious, and not okay with people having an outlet to be angry? That just blows my mind. I think if more people were able to be angry, maybe everyone would be a little happier.” The band recently announced that the deluxe version of the album will be released on September 5th and feature acoustic versions of the songs along with the new material including the recently released, “(Don’t Get) CLOSE”. “If you’re thinking “is this a band full of crazy people?”… you’re not far off. Why are we releasing a 31 track, half electric, half acoustic, deluxe version of our debut album we released earlier this year? Well, I don’t know but we had a damn good time creating it,” Kinnon stated. “We recorded this after the first leg of our ‘YES CHEF TOUR’ (where we’ve been playing every single song on the record each night), so it was cool to take some of the stuff we’ve started doing live and letting that influence aspects of the acoustic versions. There are quite a few elements in the deluxe I think listeners are going to be pleasantly surprised about. Some songs we even recorded just the 3 of us around a single microphone. It’s raw, fun, and totally rock n roll garage band vibes. Happy listening!”
Winona Fighter spoke with B-Sides host Pete Mar about the origins of their standout song, “You Look Like A Drunk Phoebe Bridgers”, their encounter with Conan O’Brien, authenticity in their approach to music and more.
