Born 1961 in Deggendorf,
grew up in the Bavarian Forest,
Elementary school in Ruhmannsfelden,
attended grammar school in Viechtach.
1974-1993
THE HOBBY MUSICIAN
1974 ... I got my first guitar, made of plywood for 90 Marks.
1976 ... the second one was a Höfner.
When I was 15 years old, I took the train to Bubenreuth near Erlangen,
I paid 400 marks for my guitar, which had been reduced by half
and had slight paint damage, and then I proudly rattled home on the train.
Then it started with gigs, with stage fright, with technical equipment that was a pain in the ass, lousy sound, but also with joy, fun and euphoria.
My hobby horse was found:
Playing guitar!
Jam sessions, school concerts, open stages, campfires were the order of the day.
1979 ... the Bozo was added, it cost about 1,800 Marks.
Leo Kottke, my hero in the Acoustic Guitar at that time, has played one of those.
So this heavy piece had to enter my fleet as well.
In the 80's and 90's I afforded myself another Yairi,
an Almansa concert guitar,
a Continental resonator guitar and a Martin.
1986 to 1988...I was on the road from time to time as a street musician.
With Sören Eller (violin),
Ulrich Karmann (guitar, vocals) and Walter Weißenborn ( drums, percussion) there were sessions in Deggendorf and surroundings,
but also trips in the summer months to Italy to offer street music there.
"Heiderabad", that was quite fun.
From 1984 to 1993, however, I worked full-time as a freelance illustrator
in the Bartussek studio in Clemensstraße, Munich.
When in the early 90s computer software took the work away from the manual graphic artists,
I was virtually forced ( what a luck ) to turn my hobby into a profession.
The more than 10,000 hours I had invested in my instrument as a
hobby musician were now turned into money.
1993-2007
IRISH PUBS
AND OTHER SMOKY EVENTS
Since 1993 I have been on the road as a professional musician with my "acoustic coversongs“.
First in pubs and Irish Pubs in Munich and surroundings.
This resulted in further gigs in Irish Pubs all over Southern Germany.
Soon thereafter followed gigs for street parties, weddings, birthday parties,
cabaret stages etc etc.
150 events and more per year were already from the second year.
What a luck, I could mutate seamlessly from a commercial artist to a professional musician.
But I was also hardworking, the initial repertoire of about 50 songs became 500 in no time,
which meant I could reach a much wider audience.
The genres pop, rock, blues, country, hits, popular songs were covered.
As they always say:
From ABBA to Zappa, but also from Comedian Harmonists to Led Zeppelin.
I also interspersed my own songs at my events,
which was not at all unpleasant for the audience, next to the All-Time-Greatest-Songs-Repertoire,
with which I sweetened their evenings.
Two guitars were added in 2006 and 2014.
Two custom-made guitars by Andreas Rall from Peißenberg.
With all kinds of songs in the luggage I could since then with my voice
and my guitar already very many people, per year it is certainly 10,000 or more,
pleasant hours.
But there are also unforgettable moments from time to time,
my feedback and memory box is chock full of them.
2003-2019
BE TWO, BE THREE AND THE SMOKING BAN
In 2001 a house was built in Forsthart in the district of Deggendorf to settle down with the family.
There I met Stefan Ammer in 2002, the duo BE TWO was born...
... and off went the "Luzie".
With the rocking voice of Stefan and his crisply played Cajon
the repertoire has grown to about 1000 songs.
Then came the reprieve for all singers, the smoking ban in 2007.
From then on I thought, now I will continue to sing until I have to drive to my events with a rollator.
In the meantime, I often had my doubts about how long I would give it to myself,
to have to passively smoke two packs of cigarettes every evening.
On the following day I was often busy preparing my croaky voice
with inhalations and Isla-moss-pastilles and other home remedies for the next performance.
I sing, play rhythm guitar, and throw in the indispensable solo riffs on guitar to go with it.
This is so my style when I perform, without playback and other aids.
Throughout the years, other top-notch musicians have expanded and refined my sound,
depending on the client's wishes.
Here is an alphabetical list of these people:
Andy Schechinger
( Cajon, Percussion, Drums )
Basti Näpflein
( drums )
Franz Pink
( violin, mandolin , electric guitar )
Herry Jendro
( percussion, vocals )
Loddy Müller-Beer
( cajon, percussion, vocals )
Lukas Herrmann
( bass, vocals )
Matthias Wittenzellner
( cajon )
Richard "Bumm" Kopp
( bass )
Rudi Hahn
( harmonica, percussion, vocals )
Sören Eller
( violin )
Stefan Ammer
( cajon, percussion, vocals )
Stefan "Stevie" Kotz
( solo guitar, vocals )
Ulrich Karmann
( guitar, vocals )
Walter Weißenborn
( percussion, vocals )
Wolfgang Grewe
( piano, guitar, vocals )
2003-UNTIL TODAY
RIVER CRUISING
AS MISTER 2000 SONGS
Since 2003 I have been working mainly for English-speaking,
international guests on river cruise ships on the Rhine, Main and Danube.
These are more like concerts, for an eavesdropping audience, whose evenings I entertain as an
evening entertainer with cover versions of Johnny Cash, Neil Diamond, Gordon Lightfoot etc..
But sometimes there is dancing, shredding and hooting,
the group dynamics of the guests are unpredictable.
My repertoire has grown again to about 2000 songs by 2021.
So the guests on the river cruise ships call me:
MISTER 2000 SONGS
The guests often ask for more unusual songs.
Songs that not every solo entertainer dares to play:
In-a-gadda-da-vida,
What a Fool Believes,
Sultans of Swing ...e.g.
From March 2020 to April 2022, for well-known reasons, the order situation was very thin.
It was more or less limited to outdoor events during the summer months.
I used this Corona time-out creatively.
Songs I had written in the last 40 years were finally arranged
and some of them have been released on 3 EPs in the meantime.
They are available on various download portals.
...and there is still material for at least 4 more EPs slumbering in my drawer.
Lyrics and download links to these EPs can be found on my singer-songwriter page.
I also discovered a whole new passion during the involuntary time out:
Writing film music.
I diligently participate in international competitions,
in the hope to be able to build up a second mainstay with it.
2021 CENTRAL FRANCONIA
OUTDOOR AND NEW BAND
In April 2021 I moved from Vilshofen in Lower Bavaria to Wolframs-Eschenbach in Middle Franconia.
Loddy Müller-Beer, like me a professional musician crippled by the pandemic, ran into me there in June. Three days later we had our first gig together.
A week later we gave our two-man band a name:
ACOUSTIC BLEND
With guitar, percussion and vocals we want to establish ourselves in the region.
... and it looks like we will succeed...
The business cards after our outdoor and beer garden gigs are in great demand.
Since May 2022, a certain event backlog has even been noticeable in our order books.
People are partying again and need background music to go with it.
Also my gigs on river cruise ships are coming back, even if only 50% of the usual capacity in 2023 and approximately 60% in 2024.