Biography

Narrated by Andy WyattChristmas

The Beginning
I will never forget the day I decided to sing myself from now on. For someone like me, who had never sung in a band before, that was a life-changing experience. I have to say that I had played in various bands since 1987, and they all had a singer. And they always broke up when the singer left… So at some point, as a complete “non-singer”, I decided to give singing lessons a try. Simply to see if I could manage it. The first few lessons were very difficult for me because I had to have the courage to sing off-key in front of the singing teacher as my voice was still completely untrained. Unfortunately, I am not one of those natural talents who can sing straight from a young age and have the perfect pitch. So I had to learn everything from the scratch first: controlling pitches with my voice, abdominal breathing, warm-up techniques and so on.

Some time later, when I felt I could do it, I booked my first gig as a singer. In a small pub, with the first incarnation of The Wyatt Christmas Trio. That was around 2009 in Cologne. When I stood on stage that evening and we started playing the concert, I felt quite uneasy. As a singer, you don’t just sing; you also have to be an entertainer and communicate with the audience. So, all of a sudden, for the first time in my life, I was the center of attention on stage. And I regretted having done that to myself. Somehow, the songs worked quite well, and I was relieved when I got that first gig behind me. More gigs followed. Giving up was definitely not an option. So I restructured the band, and in 2010 we had our first permanent line-up, and we began to play regular gigs. That took us all over North Rhine-Westphalia, and the gigs helped us develop a routine. At that time I was also dancing Lindy Hop intensively in Cologne and Düsseldorf, hence the danceability of our songs.

The WyattChristmas Trio (2011-2015)
We kept this going until mid-2011, when a significant lineup change occurred. I was the only one left, and Lee Diefenbach on drums and backing vocals and Ralf Exter on double bass joined, launching the new WyattChristmas Trio. The first gig with this lineup took place on August 20, 2011, at the Galopprennbahn in Krefeld. Since this constellation harmonized exceptionally well, both personally and musically, we recorded our debut album, “Well, It’s Allright!”, that same year. An album with 13 original compositions. At the same time, I came into contact with Andy Widder from Part Records, and we began a collaboration that continues to this day.

The album was released on Part Records in December 2012, and we began touring throughout Germany. Over the next three years, we played an extremely large amount of live music, by our standards—I think we even played 30 gigs in one year. Slowly, the name The Wyatt Christmas Trio became more well-known in the scene. Even back then, we played mostly original compositions, often with a slight jazz touch.

In 2013, in addition to our many gigs, we also wrote and recorded a whole bunch of new songs. These were released in May 2014 on the album “I Got Rhythm.” We also shot a video clip for “I Wear My Suit,” which perfectly matched the checked suits the three of us always wore to concerts.

At the beginning of 2015, this band constellation ran out of steam; our drummer Lee wanted a musical change and left the band. Luckily, Ralf and I quickly found a new drummer in John Williams, an American from Texas living in Germany.

The WyattChristmas Four (2015-2016)
Sometime in early 2015, I met Peter at a party in Düsseldorf and learned that he sings and plays the harp. It sounded interesting to me. I invited him to our next gig to spontaneously jam with us on the harp. He did, and has remained loyal to the band ever since. For obvious reasons, we were then called The WyattChristmas Four.

Many more gigs followed, taking us as far as Lausanne, Switzerland. At the end of the year, Ralf also left because the band was clearly taking up too much of his time. Various lineup changes followed on drums and bass, with Peter and me as the permanent fixtures. The end of 2016 marked the end of The WyattChristmas Four. I was close to giving up music. Thankfully, my wife convinced me otherwise, and Peter and I started thinking about a new lineup.

The WyattChristmas Five(2017 until now)
I knew Martina Jansen from dancing, Lindy Hop in Cologne. After she had already appeared as a guest musician on a song on our album “I Got Rhythm,” she joined us as a pianist in early 2017, along with Dennis Jansen on drums. All that was missing was a bassist…

And we met him at a party at Martina’s and learned that he had once played electric bass. Jokingly, I mentioned that we needed a double bassist, whereupon Olaf Schumacher shortly thereafter bought the right instrument and began learning to play that very double bass. And he did so surprisingly quickly, fittingly for our first gig on August 27, 2017, at the US Car and Bike Show in Grefrath.

The new five-piece lineup now had a completely new sound, especially thanks to the piano and the now polyphonic vocals of Peter and me. New songs were created, fitting the instrumental possibilities. About 30 shows later, the new album “Slide’n’Jive” was released in early 2019, and with it we played many more concerts and also at renowned festivals.

On New Year’s Eve 2019, Dennis Jansen played his last concert with us and then left the band of his own accord. Fortunately, we were able to quickly find a more than adequate replacement: Philip Flottau. A drummer with a background in jazz who was able to add a new and very interesting touch to our music.

Unfortunately, the coronavirus pandemic brought major disruption in 2020. Concerts were canceled or cancelled, and we couldn’t rehearse or record. It was a year to forget… 2021 wasn’t any better, but at least we were able to rehearse again. During that time, we built our small recording studio and started writing new songs. The result is our latest and most recent album, “Are You Ready.”

Venues we played in the past:
Rockin‘ Around The Christmas Tree, Dortmund
Moersquake, Moers
Feel The 50ies, NL-Venlo
Walldorf Weekender
Rollin Dudes Festival, AT-Leibnitz
Bethune Retro, FR-Bethune
Summer Shelter, Magdeburg
Return 2 Back Weekender, AT-Graz
Firebirds Festival, Trebsen
Rock That Swing, München
White’n’Blue Weekender, Peiting