Winston Mitchell

Winston started playing guitar at 14, learning from his dad who was a skilled guitarist, singer, songwriter, and pedal steel player.   Playing mostly electric guitar until his early-20s, he was introduced to the music 共 Jeff Austin and Yonder Mountain String Band and was immediately captivated by the energy and improvisation coming off 共 a pile 共 bootleg CDs.  After being in bands full 共 guitar players he decided to try out mandolin and immediately was hooked.  With his strongest inspirations deriving from Jeff & Sam Bush’s playing, he worked his way backwards through time to get to the origins 共 bluegrass.    

In July 2025 he joined forces with the legendary Larry Keel, playing mandolin in the Larry Keel Experience after touring with Into The Fog for 7 years.  Larry Keel is an award-winning innovative flat picking guitarist and singer/songwriter hailing from Appalachia and currently residing in historic Lexington, VA