Growing up a rock ‘n’ roller
Playing before 50 or so fans
in the WOW Hall in down
town Eugene on a Satur
day night can only mean one of
two things for a lead vocalist
and guitarist — his career is
either on the way up or the way
down
Wyatt Richter is definitely on
his way up, in more ways than
one Standing about four-and
a-half feet tall and weighing 80
pounds, Richter still has some
growing ahead At 10 years of
age, he also has some growing
up to do.
And despite the fact that his
hands are barely big enough to
reach both hyperphase and
thrust at the same time or to grip
the threads of a pee-wee
football, Richter already can
"stretch the frets" of a guitar as
well as many professionals
twice his age
"I want to be a rock-and-roll
star," says Wyatt matter-of
factly after his one-hour perfor
mance, in between bites of a
bagel
Salvaging a chunk of cream
cheese that has gravitated to his
blue jeans, he admits he is not
immune to the adulation and
applause he draws “I like it It
makes me feel real good "
While performances featuring
pre-pubescent youngsters,
namely Wayne Newton and
Donny Osmond, historically
have produced nausea in most
true rock n' roll fans, Richter's
performance is different
Despite poor sound mixing,
his voice comes through with a
strong, medium-pitch that does
justice to the lyrics of such
classics as "China Grove" and
"Smoke on the Water "
His guitar, which is nearly as
tall as he, is cocked at the
proper angle There are no ex
aggerated pelvic thrusts or on
stage antics Rather, the music
gets his message across
"I love to watch him up
there," says his mother, Patti,
cutting short the thought to join
in the applause. "You can tell he
loves being up there "
Wyatt, who is adopted,
has dark, kinky hair
and light brown skin
While he looks like a typical
10-year-old, he has a street
wise air about him
Wyatt's father, Bob Richter,
plays bass guitar and Mike
James mans the drums. They
are both competent musicians,
but they clearly defer to Wyatt
on stage
"But when he gets off the
stage, he’s just like any other
10-year-old," says Patti. “He
likes Pac-man and that kind of
stuff, and he likes girls. He’s girl
crazy "
His mother says success
hasn't gone to his head
"He has to keep his grades
up He has to maintain a B aver
age or we won't let him do this,”
she says "He doesn’t play foot
ball, he doesn't play sports
"He just says Hey, this is just
something I'm good at. why
should I get a big head ? Other
kids are good at sports, and
some are good at other things
This is just what I do.' ”
In between dates, Bob Richter
manages a feed store in Yon
calla, a town about 35 miles
from Eugene
He says that while most of
Yoncalla’s residents are
country-western fans, friends
and co-workers have been sup
portive of his second career
When Bob and Wyatt ap
peared on Good Morning
Oregon, ' they all brought
television sets to work. They’ve
been real good about it,” says
Bob. "We (my employers) pretty
much have an understanding
that if I have a conflict between
working with the band or work
ing at the store, the music
comes first.”
A long-time observer and ad
mirer of rock musicians, Richter
got his chance to take the stage
largely because of his son's
talent Her husband "went
along on Wyatt’s guitar lessons
just to see what he was doing,”
Patti remembers
"He had never picked up an
instrument in his life."
It is plain to see that Richter
enjoys sharing the stage with
his son
"It’s a kick, especially playing
with Wyatt,” says Richter. "He
All of 10 years old, Wyatt Richter belts out the lyrics of rock n ' roll tunes like a pro.
Tke Moose
is
Loose
Catck it tonigkt at
Moose calling contest
starts at 8:30
Playing a guitar almost as tall as he, Wyatt impresses a large WOW
Hall crowd Saturday night
could go out and make a living
at it right now He's as good as a
lot of them around, although
he’s not mature enough to do it
yet. I'd say his future is unlimit
ed
"Our main goals are to keep
doing what we re doing and
polish up some songs. Like
most musicians, we want to get
a record out, and get on the
radio to get well known "
Wyatt "has about 45
songs down" says his
mother, including an
original titled "Long Way to
Go " He selects the music for
performances Loverboy is his
favorite group
Throughout the summer, the
band had dates for all but three
weekends, including B J Kelly's
in Eugene and Sam McGee's in
Roseburg
When the band returns to B J.
Kelly's at the end of November,
Wyatt will be playing on his
favorite turf "It's just the kind of
place that I would like to be in,"
he says
His mother suspects it might
have something to do with the
video games available
Wyatt began playing the gui
tar when he was six years old,
randomly strumming along with
the music while listening to
bands, such as Fleetwood Mac.
"He just liked the music,"
says Patti. "We took him to
concerts with us, and of course
the music we liked must have
influenced him. He's literally
been listening to rock music
from the day he was born."
"When he was eight, he said I
want to learn how to play this
thing' so we started him out on
lessons He took them for about
eight months and then stopped,
and learned on his own.
"He's decided this is what he
wants to do He wants to be a
rock n' roll star," says Patti, her
voice straining to out-decibel
the sound system "We've got a
seven-year-old girl that says she
wants to play the cymbols
Whew It's a good thing I like
this kind of music."
Story by
Scan Meyers
Photos by Scott Levy