McKinney's Cotton Pickers were a United States jazz band founded in Detroit, Michigan in 1926 by Bill McKinney, who expanded his Synco Septet to ten pieces. William " Bill" McKinney (September 17, 1895 - October 14, 1969) was an American jazz drummer born in Cynthiana, Kentucky. He worked as a drummer in a circus band, then after serving in the United States Army in World War I settled in Springfield, Ohio where he took over leadership of the Synco Jazz Band.