Lately, each time my quartet has gotten together, we've been ringing chords more and more. It seems that even when we don't have time to rehearse, we're improving. Maybe we're listening better, maybe we're relaxing more, maybe it's just dumb luck, but starting with our rehearsal about 3 weeks ago, this shit keeps getting more and more fun. We sang "Zippidy Doo-Dah" 3 weeks ago and sat on a good ol' barbershop 7th chord in the tag for what seemed like years until we finally ran out of breath, giggling with glee. It happened again at the next rehearsal, 2 weeks later.
Monday night we performed for our chorus at the chapter's guest night. Our bass, Big Dave, was running a bit late, so we went on second, after Singing with Dad, a quartet of 2 fathers and 2 sons from the Macomb chapter who had been singing together and competing forever. I was a bit reticent to follow such an experienced group, but figured this was OUR chapter and some inexperienced rookies, so no big deal.
One of the other chapter quartets had been singing through "Darkness on the Delta" on the break, so that one was off our list. The chorus had been bombarded with our rendition of "Underdog" in the past few weeks, what with the prep for the annual show, and "Rainbow Connection", though a signature song of ours we do well, has been a bit done to death for these guys. We decided on "If The Lord Be Willin'", a chorus song we do quite well, and our Fall contest ballad, "I'll Be Seeing You", which we haven't touched much on lately.
WOW! It must have been the comfort of being in a familiar setting and the near bathroom-style acoustics of the church basement the chorus rehearses in, but we RAAAAANG like never before! I had one of the guys in the chorus record it for me, and after several plays, I'm still amazed:
"I'll Be Seeing You"
"If The Lord Be Willin'"
And for those of you more interested in kitsch or for some morbid reason want see how white my legs can look in mid-winter, here's our performance of "Underdog" at the Detroit-Oakland chapter's annual show a few weeks ago. Please, no comments on the bad pompadour wig - I should have just sprayed my hair black...
"Underdog!"
Special thanks to Paul F. Perry, bass and arranger of The Blanks (from the TV show Scrubs) for the arrangement. Heck of a guy, whom I now owe a few beers. I wish I was that clever at arranging!
Now, the trick is to come up with the funds to get us all to contest this April. Registration is covered by some money for singing Valentines we helped Today's Special with, but gas, food, and lodging for the 3/4 of us in the quartet who are broke is another story. Gotta try and come up with about $350 or so for the 3 of us in the next 3 weeks.
...Time to start casing liquor stores and pricing ski masks.
Monday night we performed for our chorus at the chapter's guest night. Our bass, Big Dave, was running a bit late, so we went on second, after Singing with Dad, a quartet of 2 fathers and 2 sons from the Macomb chapter who had been singing together and competing forever. I was a bit reticent to follow such an experienced group, but figured this was OUR chapter and some inexperienced rookies, so no big deal.
One of the other chapter quartets had been singing through "Darkness on the Delta" on the break, so that one was off our list. The chorus had been bombarded with our rendition of "Underdog" in the past few weeks, what with the prep for the annual show, and "Rainbow Connection", though a signature song of ours we do well, has been a bit done to death for these guys. We decided on "If The Lord Be Willin'", a chorus song we do quite well, and our Fall contest ballad, "I'll Be Seeing You", which we haven't touched much on lately.
WOW! It must have been the comfort of being in a familiar setting and the near bathroom-style acoustics of the church basement the chorus rehearses in, but we RAAAAANG like never before! I had one of the guys in the chorus record it for me, and after several plays, I'm still amazed:
"I'll Be Seeing You"
"If The Lord Be Willin'"
And for those of you more interested in kitsch or for some morbid reason want see how white my legs can look in mid-winter, here's our performance of "Underdog" at the Detroit-Oakland chapter's annual show a few weeks ago. Please, no comments on the bad pompadour wig - I should have just sprayed my hair black...
"Underdog!"
Special thanks to Paul F. Perry, bass and arranger of The Blanks (from the TV show Scrubs) for the arrangement. Heck of a guy, whom I now owe a few beers. I wish I was that clever at arranging!
Now, the trick is to come up with the funds to get us all to contest this April. Registration is covered by some money for singing Valentines we helped Today's Special with, but gas, food, and lodging for the 3/4 of us in the quartet who are broke is another story. Gotta try and come up with about $350 or so for the 3 of us in the next 3 weeks.
...Time to start casing liquor stores and pricing ski masks.
1 comment:
Looking forward to seeing Coda Honor, again, on the Amy Jamison Benefit Show in Rochester on August 2nd, 2008!
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