Sounds of Aloha

What a difference 40 guys makes! Last night I practiced with the Sounds of Aloha Chorus. They are in the final 10 days or so before their May 2nd performance. The show will be The Best of Broadway - a capella. I was the only guy on the risers frantically trying to sight read the music. Luckily, we'll be here to attend the performance and the "Glimmer" planned for the next morning. No, I'm not in this picture. This is from the Chorus web site! I should mention I was warmly welcomed by each member of the Chorus at the break. (I was late for the start of practice due to a wrong turn) I did get to join in Keep the Whole World Singing at the end, however. It sounded great!

After practice a few of us adjourned to a local eatery. What's new?

Barbershoppers In Town From Ashland Kentucky

I was eating breakfast at Bob Evans in Chillicothe with some men from our church. While we were talking to one another I looked up and saw the Barbershop Harmony Society logo on the shirts and jackets of a group of men that came to eat.

My excitement level must have startled these men as I jumped from my seat to greet them and ask where they were from. I guess deep down inside I thought that maybe they were in the area already and I had overlooked them or was unaware of their existence when starting the chorus. Nevertheless they explained who they were and what they were doing in Chillicothe. These men were going to an annual competition for quartets and choruses that want to compete on the international stage.

These barbershoppers from Ashland Kentucky were just passing through but were very kind and sang a song for us before we left. They did a great job and this was evident by the applause from others eating their breakfast that were listening in.

I hope that these guys made it safely to thier destination and there admonition to us was, "keep the whole world singing". To that I say, "It's great to be a barbershopper in Chillicothe Ohio." I am thankful we have started this chorus and I appreciate all of you for your hard work and committment to helping us grow.

If you are reading this and you want to come out and give barbershop a try, we meet on Monday nights at 7:30 pm. See you soon.

barbershopHQ.com

Check out the Barbershop Harmony Society's new blog, BarbershopHQ.com. From the blog:

barbershopHQ.com is about what’s happening right NOW. It is a place where Society leaders share what they are thinking and talking about right NOW, and a place where you can respond directly and immediately. Your comments and feedback are what barbershopHQ.com is all about. Is there something you want us to talk about? Post your ideas......

Small Choruses Can Be Great...

If you live in the Chillicothe area, please come and sing with us. If you live in another location and happen to be visiting our blog, be sure to look up a local chapter for barbershop singers in your area.

Monday Night, April 6, Practice

I think practice went well last night, with nine members attending. We started sharing a few of the rehearsal tasks. I led the physical warm up (stretching), Paul led the vocal warm up, and then Mark H. took over for direction of song practice. I think Mark P. did something, but other than waving his hands a bit, I can't remember what it was.


Ed Weisenberger (the gent on the left in the photo) was able to join us along with his wife. Ed is a BHS member, but has a very full work schedule. We were glad to have Ed and his wife join us for the evening.

We warmed up with some Pole Cat songs, then we practiced the songs we'll need for Mother's Day and, hopefully, for a performance at a Paint's game. MOTHER (A Word that Means the World to Me),Take Me Out to The Ball Game and The Star Spangled Banner (Val Hicks' arrangement). We also practiced Shenandoah. I think we just need a bit more work on the key change and we'll have it. We did a little quarteting and sang the new Tags Mark H. gave us last week. (If Happy Little Bluebirds Fly, Hello, and Angel Devine, Mother of Mine). We finished with Keep the Whole World Singing, as usual. The die-hards then sang more Tags for a bit. Then Mark and Paul tried to out do each other using their falsetto's. It was a screaming match. We had to fight off the stray cats at the windows. All in all, a great time!

Ducky Talks Barbershop

Last night, Tuesday, 31 March, there was a good reference to barbershop singing on the NCIS show. For those who couldn't watch, use this link and go to 29:30 on the time:

http://www.cbs.com/primetime/ncis/video/video.php?cid=446409482&pid=uQH9Paq1v4hoooNVrehQI1DrbSTe25xy&play=true&cc=