These merry Raleigh Christmas carolers scored a really big gig this year: the White House
Dressed in their top hats, their colorful waistcoats, their velvet bodices and gathered skirts, The Oakwood Waits look and sing as though they stepped out of the pages of Dickens — which has always been the point.
Since 1984, the Raleigh troupe of carolers have celebrated their merriness in the most traditional fashion, mixing “Pat-a-Pan” and “Fum, Fum, Fum” in with “Jingle Bells.”
Relentlessly festive, the a capella ensemble of 16 sings at churches and benefit concerts around the Triangle with the exuberance of Scrooge after all three spirits.
But on Tuesday, they bring their harmonies to the nation’s stateliest residence:
The White House.
“It’s the greatest honor we’ve ever received and we’re deeply grateful,” said Lee Baker, a longtime Waits singer. “Just to see people’s faces and know we’ve put them in a good mood.”
Christmas, ‘the one thing I’m not really jaded about’
This will mark the group’s third presidential trip: the first in 1997 and the second in 2004. More than the return after two decades, the Waits consider having endured through the pandemic, which wiped out less sturdy volunteer musicians unable to practice or perform.
“It speaks to the long life of the group, the little flame that’s still lit,” said Jon Douglas, one of the Waits. “It’s like, for me, the one thing I’m not really jaded about. I love Christmas. I’m going to be cheerful no matter what, damn it. That sentiment goes across the group.”
The Waits started as a quartet in Raleigh’s Historic Oakwood neighborhood, and even as as membership grew to an elaborately costumed ensemble, the neighborhood caroling continued through a tradition now known as “The Traipse.”
The term “waits” refers to the British term for street musicians — sometimes spelled “waites.” And while the Oakwood repertoire includes carols dating to medieval times, the group has always thrown in the odd “Rudolph” or jazz tune.
‘Jingle Bells’ and more
“For years,” Baker said, “the only children ‘s song we had was ‘Jingle Bells,’” Baker said. “We’d be at a gig and we’d probably sing ‘Jingle Bells’ 10 times in two hours.”
Getting to Washington required an application, a considerable Secret Service review and some influence from North Carolina First Lady Kristin Cooper.
And while the Waits will be singing for White House visitors rather than the First Family, it will be during a special arranged tour.
Still, one imagines President Biden catching a few bars of “Masters in this Hall,” and sneaking downstairs for a peek.
