Thomas (Charly) Appel

He received his first piano lessons at the age of nine from his father, who himself performed as a jazz pianist on European stages. At thirteen, he began learning the trumpet and, together with the fire brigade band, won the German championship title in the field of bands in 1976.

During his school years, he played trumpet in the Brickhouse Ragtime Band. He completed his practical music studies at Dr. Hoch's Conservatory in Frankfurt and subsequently studied musicology for several semesters at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt.

As a pianist and keyboardist, he has played at venues including the Truck Grand Prix at the Nürburgring, in Zurich (Albisgütli) with Rosanne Cash, Jonny Cash's daughter, and at major country music festivals in Germany (Geiselwin, Rheinböllen, Greifensteine), Switzerland (Interlaken; Klewenalp; Schupfart), Denmark (Silkeborg), and Austria. He toured Germany with singer Ester Lorenz and participated in an HR2 production, the Cotton Club. He also played keyboards with several musical ensembles, including in Hanau and Giessen with "The Nutcracker" and "Beauty and the Beast."

In 1992 he founded the Büdinger Big Band and led it for 15 years.

For 13 years he has been the leader of the rock band “Die Rocker vom Rauhen Berg”.

Since his student days, Thomas Appel has been teaching piano and keyboard at the Büdingen Music and Art School and leading various working groups.