Walter Hyatt

Walter Hyatt (October 25, 1949 - May 11, 1996) was an American singer and songwriter. His band, known as Uncle Walt's Band, was involved in the alternative music scene in Austin, Texas, from its inception, and is credited by many with being the Godfather of Americana Music or the Original Americana Artist, never easily pegged into any one musical genre or format of commercial music styles.

Born in Spartanburg, South Carolina, Walter Hyatt was exposed to different styles of music at an early age, including styles favored by his parents and the multifaceted nature of pop radio of the time. He started playing the guitar at age 13, using a Mel Bay chord book to learn all the music chords, and formed his first band in his midteen years. Walter attended Wofford College for two years, but left before graduation to pursue his music career.

At age 20, Hyatt formed Uncle Walt's Band with Champ Hood and David Ball, two of his fellow Spartanburg citizens. They moved to Nashville, Tennessee, in 1972, where they caught the attention of Willis Alan Ramsey, a famous and revered Texas singer and songwriter. Luring them to his studio, Ramsey became the band's first noted fan.

The band returned to the Carolinas in 1974, recording Blame It on the Bossanova, their first record, at Charlotte's Arthur Smith Studios.

A year later, Uncle Walt's Band split up, with Hyatt returning to Nashville and forming a new band, The Contenders, with Champ Hood and Nashville musicians Steve Runkle, Tommy Goldsmith, and drummer Jimbeau Walsh.

In 1978, Uncle Walt's Band played a reunion gig in Austin, and the success that followed kept the band together in subsequent years. That success was not limited to the South, however. Uncle Walt's Band gained a cult following around the world, ranging from the University of California - Berkeley to Moscow University in Russia. They released three more albums on what is now considered Austin's original independent labels, Lespedeza Record Company: An American in Texas, Uncle Walt's Band Recorded Live, and Six * Twenty-Six * Seventy-Nine.

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