Winona Fighter

A trio of music business survivors, Winona Fighter draws inspiration from ‘90s mainstream rock and generations of American punk and hardcore, building a fan base with melodic pop-punk tunes and an inclusive attitude. The group spent years honing their incisive debut, 2025’s My Apologies to the Chef, brimming with catchy cuts like “HAMMS IN A GLASS,” “I’m in the Market to Please No one," and “Swear to God That I’m (FINE).”

The members of Winona Fighter -- singer/guitarist/drummer Chloe “Coco” Kinnon, lead guitarist Dan Fuson, and bassist/producer Austin Luther -- had diverse performing careers before joining forces. Kinnon came up in the Boston hardcore scene as a drummer in bands like Lost Thoughts and Left Hand Blue before studying music business at Belmont University in Nashville. Luther, a native of Minnesota, also had a stint in Boston studying at the Berklee College of Music before decamping to Los Angeles, where he became a touring musician for Sabrina Carpenter and Rachel Platten. (The duo met either in Boston or Los Angeles, and married in 2023.) Fuson is the sole Nashville native, with plenty of guitar experience under his belt as well as other gigs behind the scenes.

Taking inspiration from Foo Fighters, Paramore, Weezer, Turnstile, and others, Winona Fighter sought to bring some of the Boston scene energy to Music Row: raw and unfiltered, but able to be channeled by anyone who wanted to listen. Debut EP Father Figure was released in 2022, featuring some songs that would later be featured on My Apologies to the Chef. (The band’s penchant for offbeat titles was evident from the start, with tracks like “You Look Like a Drunk Phoebe Bridgers” and “I Think You Should Leave,” the latter named after the Netflix cult comedy series.) Not all the material was quite as upbeat -- “Johnny’s Dead” was a sobering tale about drug addiction, and “I’m in the Market to Please No One" was about an abusive relationship -- but it was delivered with enough brio and determination to hook scores of new fans.

Signing to Rise Records, a label home to pop-punk veterans (AFI, Sum 41) and upstarts (PUP), Winona Fighter gradually assembled the best of their material in a home studio, eventually releasing My Apologies to the Chef at the beginning of 2025. They also gigged relentlessly, eventually making it onto festival bills at Bonnaroo, Shaky Knees, and Louder Than Life; they also opened for Incubus, Taking Back Sunday, and Bayside and were seen at several South by Southwest showcases. ~ Mike Duquette