Edward Winterhalder is an American author and screenwriter who has written eleven books and five screenplays about motorcycle clubs and the outlaw biker culture; a television producer that has produced programs about motorcycle clubs and the outlaw biker lifestyle for networks and broadcasters worldwide; and a singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. One of his books, The Assimilation: Rock Machine Become Bandidos, has been published in multiple languages.
Early life
Winterhalder was born in New England, grew up in southern Connecticut, and moved to Oklahoma in 1975 after serving in the US Army. In Oklahoma he joined the Rogues Motorcycle Club and was a close associate of the Bandidos outlaw motorcycle club from 1979 to 1997, and a high-ranking member of the Bandidos from 1997 to 2003.
Music
Under the pseudonym of Warren Winters, Winterhalder formed the Warren Winters Band in the 1980s after fronting the Connecticut Dust Band during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Playing guitar and singing lead vocals, he utilized a group of studio musicians and his childhood friend Kurt Newman to record the As I Was debut album in 1984 on the Shovster Records label. In 1988, the Crossbar Hotel album was recorded at Grace Recording Studios in Connecticut with Warren Winters, Andy Rutman, Kurt Newman, Lou Sabetta and Mario Figueroa. On both albums, the song writing credits noted that all songs were written by Edward Winterhalder. In 1995, a Best Of Warren Winters CD was mastered and produced by Chris Westerman of Blackwater Sound inNew Hampshire. Along with hit songs from the As I Was and Crossbar Hotel albums, the CD featured a few songs from his Connecticut Dust Band days and some unreleased tracks from studio sessions. While the music of the Warren Winters Band was once described as being somewhere between rock n roll and progressive country, a 2011 article in France compared the Warren Winters Band sound to Acey Stone, Circuit Rider and Justen O'Brien. In February 2019, Kentucky-based Sophomore Lounge Records announced that a 30th anniversary limited edition vinyl LP record reissue of the Warren Winters Band Crossbar Hotel album would be released on April 5, 2019. Then And Now by the Warren Winters Band was released in March of 2020; the record included previously unreleased songs written by Edward Winterhalder that were recorded between 1974 and 2020.
Bandidos
In May 1997 Winterhalder established the Oklahoma chapter of the Bandidos and was the high-ranking member of the Bandidos responsible for the assimilation of a Canadian outlaw motorcycle club known as the Rock Machine into the Bandidos, which became the first Canadian chapters of the Bandidos motorcycle club. Winterhalder left the Bandidos in September 2003 to spend time with his family, pursue business interests and better manage his construction company.
