John Newell, the lead for Realtime, the Barbershop Harmony Society’s 2005 International Quartet Champions, spends entirely too much time on Facebook.
He can be blamed for my introduction to “shredding.” In this context, to “shred” is to take an otherwise perfectly good video, remove its audio track, and replace it with something audibly painful.
In this Northwest Sound video, we aren’t technically shredding, but it sure sounds like someone took our harmonies and threw them out the window!
What a treat we had when long-time barbershop judge, coach, and director Ron Black joined Northwest Sound Men’s Chorus for the day to work on our contest set.
Here’s what Ron had to say about Northwest Sound, director Donny Rose, his background, and a short explanation between what singing versus music judges (he’s been both) look for in a performance.
But first his quote of the day:
Q: When can we breathe?
A: Before and after rehearsal!
We may be gifted songmen but not always the best planners.
Exhibit A:
The Singing Valentine Tragedy of ’08
A lovely lady ordered our popular singing valentine package for husband John.
Your “gifted” chorus forgot to ask, “John who?”
So we turned up at a much-bigger-than-we-thought building and they were, like, “Um? Which John? We have, like, 10 Johns here.”
Shown: Bass Bob Thomas delivered a rose, hand-written card, and “Let Me Call You Sweetheart” to (sorry) “John.”
What a treat!
In addition to performing for the Fairwinds Retirement Community last night (first video), we got a visit from KJ McAleesejergins from Lunch Break. He picked up three new President’s Council members ($1,000+ donation to the Harmony Foundation and seven new Ambassadors of Song ($10 per month).
I never got to meet Bob Hodge. I just discovered this video last night and am already on my 20th listen. (Click here to read the comments and add your own.)
Also see this awesome photo from 1977!
Did you know him? Tell us about him in the comments. And if you have a link to his famous “Wizard of Oz” set, share it. I’ve never seen it.
^JDH
P.S. We have a new calendar on the site. Let us know if we can add your barbershop news to it.
Newly crowned International Champions, the Ringmasters quartet treated the afterglow crowd to their rendition of “Blackbird.” (If you’re reading this over email, you’ll need to click through to watch the video.)
Speaking of afterglows, how about joining us next Wednesday night after rehearsal at long-time sponsor Pegasus?
One of the best – and certainly funniest – performances ever to grace the International stage.
If you don’t know the back story, Max Q was a “powerhouse” quartet comprising three gold medalists from other quartets. When they hit the International scene, everyone said, “Oh, Max Q will easily win.”
But they didn’t. They came in second. Three years in a row!
As part of our service to Bellevue and the surrounding community, Northwest Sound Men’s Chorus just completed its fourth “sing, Sing, SING!” program, a free six-week course teaching American a cappella and the joy of locking chords in harmony.
Not the best video quality but the audio is great: Our NVP brothers came in sixth in the world(!) at this year’s International Barbershop Harmony Society competition with this selection, “In the Wee Small Hours.”
So beautiful.
Congratulations to Neal Booth & Company!
Barbershop singing. Friendly sport, right?
Check out what happens when two competitive quartets get the notes out to out-sing one another!