PLAINS, Winston's first recording in three years, continues his tribute to his home state, Montana. One hears the trees and mountains on the Grammy-winning FOREST, but Winston's PLAINS captures a broader panorama: the mass of slowly moving clouds and the tenderness of a Saturday night slow dance. Winston penned only four of the tunes -- he considers himself more of an arranger -- but every one of them bears his unmistakable imprint.

The "limited edition" of PLAINS shows another facet of Winston's interests, the Hawaiian slack key guitar. He's an accomplished player, and his passion is to record the instrument's masters on his own Dancing Cat Records label. Meanwhile, his ten fingers are moving New Orleans-style; he's studying rhythm and blues piano -- a style founded by the legendary Professor Longhair -- and working on an R&B solo piano album titled DANCE.

Carol Wright, bn.com's new age music editor, spoke with Winston by phone as he drove through an L. A. traffic jam en route to one of his many live concerts.

barnesandnoble.com: Why don't you like the new age label applied to your music?

George Winston: I don't use that term. My music is not meditation music. I wouldn't listen to music to meditate. I'd want to empty my mind, not put in more sound. My music has a harder edge: I have melody, I have rhythm, and I don't use a synthesizer. It's piano, totally folksy and simple, so I call it "folk piano." I also love to play rhythm and blues and stride piano. My next album, DANCE, is R&B.

bn.com: Since it's R&B, will you be tempted to jam with a band?

GW: I like to work solo. I like to be the band. If I had a bass player, what would I do with my left hand? Tie it behind my back? What would I do with the upper part of my left hand that's taken by the guitar? That's just how I am, and I try to make the best of it and turn it to my advantage. Make who you are work for you -- that's one of the great lessons in life.

bn.com: Let's talk about PLAINS a little bit. There's an obvious strength and nobility in your music.

GW: That's Montana, not me. If you like what I do, then look at Montana and the musicians who have influenced me. Without them, I would be a lost soul. What inspires me most in my melodic music is the element of seasons. Second, it's the regions, like the forests or plains of Montana. Third, I play solo instrumental music -- that's how I can express my love for the seasons and the earth. Fourth is the choice of instrument: solo piano, solo guitar, or solo harmonica. And finally there are the tunes themselves. These five elements work together, and if one element isn't there, then I don't have anything.

Also I'm always on the lookout for others people's tunes, ones that would make good piano pieces, like Sarah McLachlan's "Angel" or Vince Guaraldi's "Peanuts" music. I listen especially for interesting chord progressions. Beyond that, I just play what I like.

bn.com: You've been influenced by the Hawaiian slack key guitarists for many years, and now you're quite a proficient player yourself.

GW: Keola Beemer is one of my heroes. I've known his music since 1974. In fact, when I originally contacted Windham Hill, it was to turn them on to these slack key guitarists, not to record my own music. I'd like folks to know that slack key is not the steel string guitar typically heard on recordings of Hawaiian music. This slack key finger-style guitar predated steel string by sixty years. I've formed my own label for slack key, Dancing Cat Records, and I'm now working with fourteen players.

bn.com: The question your fans keep asking is when can we expect George Winston sheet music?

GW: There is no sheet music, and there won't be any. I don't use sheet music. That's not the spirit in which the music was created. I play my music in concert hundreds of times a year, so that's taken care of.

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