Winsford Devine

Mr. Winsford Devine is a prolific song writer, affectionately known as “The Joker” amongst his peers in the Calypso fraternity.

Born in the early 1940s hailing from Penal, Mr. Devine attended Morne Diablo Roman Catholic School and then moved on to San Fernando Technical College. As a young man, he was introduced to the sweet sounds of steelpan and began to learn to read and write music. Having not engaged in formal music education as a self-taught artist, Mr. Devine still managed to compose over five hundred calypsos in a career that spans thirty years.

From the 1970s onwards, Mr. Devine has written songs for some of the most popular calypsonians such as Lord Blakie, Explainer, Baron, Singing Francine, Sugar Aloes, and Poser to name a few. He has particularly written songs for the Mighty Sparrow that have gone on to be memorable hits such as “Saltfish”, “Capitalism Gone Mad”, “Survival”, “Miss Mary” and the list can go on. Some of the other artists Mr. Devine has worked with include Karen Ashe, Machel Montano, Charlene Boodram, Marcia Miranda and Atlantik.

In 1998, Mr. Winsford Devine was awarded the Humming Bird Silver Medal for Music and the Arts for his invaluable contributions.