Hello everyone. I'm just back from judging the Indiana
Harmony Brigade contest in Indianapolis and I thought you might be interested in
this since Joe Queen and Rob Halsey (and probably others I don't know of) are
attempting to start a Brigade here in Pioneer!
Let me start with some preliminary stuff. When I received the invitation via an
e-mail I was honored to be considered and asked if I'd also like the music and a
voice predominant CD of the 10 songs! "Sure!" was my reply. Bingo, they
were there within a few days. Great songs, awesome, tough arrangements and
terrific learning CD! Now, all I had to do was learn all 10 and I could
enjoy singing them with the other guys. Oh yeah...along with the songs came this
message which sounded it had been written by a Marine drill sergeant reminding
me to KNOW MY SONGS; DON'T BE THE WEAK LINK; DON'T LET THE OTHER GUYS DOWN!
Ok, I'm a judge, I don't really have to learn those songs. But still, there were
some great songs. I took that learning CD to work, in the car, at home, on the
plane flying to and from the Evergreen contest I judged 4 weeks ago. Everywhere!
I listened to those songs for 4 1/2 hours driving down to Indy (I even listened
to them coming home)!
I arrived at the Clarion hotel where the brigade was meeting on Friday afternoon
around 4 p.m.! Right away I spotted Rob Halsey and several others I knew.
Checked into my room and went to check in with the Brigade. I was given a name
badge with a white colored lanyard to signify I sang lead. Yellow was tenor,
green bari and blue bass! One of the original founders of the Indiana Brigade,
Terry Silke, introduced himself and welcomed me. Then, before I could go move my
car, we found a bass and tenor and we found a "quiet" spot (there really isn't
such a thing) and sang a song! I'd been there all of 10 minutes! Guys were
everywhere singing those 10 songs. Well, a few were avoiding COME FLY WITH ME
but the sounds coming out of those quartets were pretty darn good for 4 guys
who'd just gotten there. I realized later why this was happening. You see,
besides the joy of singing, there was a contest in about 3 hours and everyone
was trying to make sure they were ready.
There was a terrific supper at 6. A general meeting followed at 7:30 where all
the ground rules were covered again and everyone was reminded about being
prepared. If you couldn't sing your song you were to excuse yourself and a
substitute would be assigned to your quartet to replace you. If you couldn't
sing your song and you didn't excuse yourself the other quartet members (who
were prepared) could ask for you to be replaced! Was that guy talking with the
mic in his hand wearing a Marine drill sergeants uniform? Scared the heck out of
me and I was just judging!
There were 28 quartets for that evening. Some guys sang in more than 1 quartet!
Each quartet was assigned a song to sing from one of the 10 we learned. The
leads were asked to line up along the walls. Everyone was given a sheet with the
names of the members of their quartet and they had to "find" each other and then
they had like 45 minutes to go rehearse their assigned song and come up with a
quartet name. The other judges, Ken Hatton (gold medal lead in The Bluegrass
Student Union) and Richard "Trep" Treptow (Gold medal bari in 2004 senior
quartet champs Downstate Express) and I (4th place lead, fall 2007 Pioneer
District quartet contest-Harmony Transfer) received the scoresheets and
discussed how we would score the contest. At 9PM the contest started.
I was really impressed how well everyone sang (even those who had some
troubles). The evening was over in a blur and the top 10 were announced. There a
tie for 10 so 11 quartets actually made the finals. Then it was off to
bed...OOPS, not so fast. We need a lead Mike to sing Irish Lullaby and then Blue
Skies and then After You're Gone and the Wee Small Hours of the Morning and then
When I Lift Up My Head and then.... So, at somewhere around 1PM I begged off and
went to my room.
Up at 7 AM. Hate those hotels where the light comes into your room like you
never closed the drapes! What's next? Oh yeah, 9AM meeting. Covered history of
the Brigade (first one started like in 1958 or '59). IHB had a opportunity to
ask questions of the judging panel, Jim DeBusman and Gary Texeria (gold medal
tenor in GOTCHA) . Breakfast at 10:30. Everyone be ON TIME (there's that Marine
again) at the school, 12:30, to rehearse for the Saturday night show. I missed
the turn while driving over with the mad Russian from Kalamazoo, Alexander
Boltenko, (he's a really nice guy BTW) and was late! Hey, I'm a judge. When we
fly to a contest they pick us up at the airport, take us to the hotel, take us
to the contest site, tuck us into bed and take us back to the airport (I'm
making that part about bed up you understand).
I'm a little ahead of myself. The IHB holds a show on Saturday night at Crispus
Attucks high school in downtown Indy. It was originally an inner city high
school where only blacks attended school since everything was segregated back
then. It has been converted into a kind of museum which shows how things were
back in 1927-1986.
Hanging on the wall are senior class pictures of the graduates and basketball
fans might be interested to know that the BIG O, Oscar Robertson, graduated from
there in 1956?
The show is for anyone in the community and raises $ to help offset the cost of
attending IHB. Friday morning while many of us were driving or flying to Indy
some 25-30 guys showed up to sing at schools and a few retirement homes in the
area. I saw two busses from those homes in the parking lot! 96+ guys warmed up
the 10 songs. We didn't have to cover notes or interp. or nothing. Most of the
riser time was for us to get used to the directors, the script and to fix any
sound issues!
Hotel by 4PM to rest and watch football. Supper at 5. Be at school at 6:30
(DON'T BE LATE). I think I know why they call it a "Brigade". The original
founders must have been singing military men! I got there early! Dress is black
shoes, socks, pants and that beautiful yellow shirt the Brigades have! My newly
acquired 2X fits! Show goes great! What a thrill to sing with almost 100 guys
again.
10 great songs which everyone knew! Turns out I'm the only judge to learn all
the songs and sing in the show - ever! Cool! Finish with America The Beautiful
with the overlay done by guest quartet, TKO, recent JAD champs! Hardly a dry eye
as Kenny Hatton, MC and director, read a story about a German naval vessel
asking permission to approach a US destroyer right after the 9/11 attacks. The
German boat was flying a US flag at half mast, everyone was standing attention
in their dress uniforms and as they came along side they had a sign which read:
"We stand by you".
Load the risers and back to the hotel for a quick change. The finals start
at 10:30. Wives and friends are in the audience as well. Tonight the quartets do
NOT know what song they will sing. As they are called they come to the stage and
one of them pulls a song title from a glass bowl and that's what they have to
sing. No time to go sing it through. Blow the pitch, sing! This is unique to the
IHB as other Brigades allow the quartets time to rehearse the song they've
drawn. In a show of hands vote Saturday morning the IHB reaffirmed this
position. Some of the singers said it really got their hearts beating this way!
10 pretty good quartets cross the stage and the top three are recognized with
bronze, silver and gold certificates. There are some really funny moments and
some pretty tired voices but everyone gave it their best.
Now there is pizza and pop waiting but first...let'
contest and chorus.
I may have missed a few things as my brain is pretty fried from 4
barbershop weekends in a row. I'd have to say that this past weekend ranks right
near the top of my barbershop memories however. I also hope this explains a
little bit about a Brigade experience. There's no way to fully explain what it's
like. You have to be there. Make sure you go to MIHB.org and indicate your
interest in starting a Brigade here in Pioneer. Talk to Joe or Ruben Queen about
it. Call Rob Halsey. I think he sang in about 40 quartets this past weekend.
He's also a member of 3 or 4 Brigades in other parts of the Barbershop World. He
KNOWS all about Brigade!
Yours in Harmony,
Mike O'Donnell, PRS
Lead - Harmony Transfer