Troubadour

Chordiology

"Yes! Full Throttle, Daddy! Full Throttle!", Jackson said into my ear while doing his very best to control the volume of his voice and his enthusiasm when they were being introduced. We were really excited about watching and listening to these guys given that the day before Jackson and I picked up my very own official "Full Throttle" Jacket which I donned at the show with pride. The guys came out with their bowling shirts on and their "Johnny from the Bronx" personas. The audience took to them immediately and with the singing of the introduction of each of their songs the audience would give an exuberant "ooh" or "yes" as they were all doo-wop songs that the audience knew and loved in their youths. The entertainment value in between songs was great as well. I loved the bit that went something like this (do your best to read this in your best "Bronx" dialect).

Stevey: "Hey, hey Jimmy. What are we doin' in here (pronounced "he ah)?"

Jimmy:   "Where?"

Stevey: "Here, in this church. You know I can't be in a church."

Jimmy:   "Why not?"

Stevey: "I'm non-denominational."

Jimmy:   "What's that mean?"

Mikey:    "It means, He ain't got no MONEY, stupid."

Stevey: "Yeah, yeah, can I borrow 5 bucks?"

If having fun is a measurable commodity, these guys have got it in spades. Good singing, and the fun they are having allows us as the audience to enjoy it right along with them. Check these guys out at www.FullThrottleQuartet.com . Now maybe this posting will force them to get their bios done. :)

Next out of the gate was Northbound Sound. These guys are good and easy to watch. Jackson and I particularly liked their rendition of "Trickle Trickle". I found Jackson sitting on my lap tapping his hand on my knee as my other knee tapped to the beat. The songs were fun to listen to and it was obvious to me that these guys enjoy one another's company. They had a plan in between songs as well and played off the fact that they have a "young guy" singing lead with their tongue in cheek humor which really endeared them to the audience. They came out and said that they had considered other names for the quartet that poked fun at their age disparity. I can't remember them all, but some of my favorites were "Guess which one's my Grandpa" and "AARP and ME" which got a huge laugh from the audience and from me. I don't think Jackson got this one. He really liked the "Guess which one's my Grandpa" option. In fact, he whispered in my ear letting me know that he thought it was the bass.

And then singing as the FEATURE quartet was our good friends "Singing with Dad". Singing with Dad for those who don't know these guys is a quartet built around the unforeseen theme for the day of "Father and Son", as the tenor and lead are father and son and the bass and the baritone are also father and son. These guys sang as well as I've ever heard them sing and showed why they were the feature quartet. They are all great singers, but this day I was particularly impressed with bass, Dave Anderson. He was full and bright at the same time. Just a really really nice rich sound. In addition, to the great music they brought to the stage, I found myself really enjoying the interaction between the "fathers" and the "sons" all the while thinking with my 4 year old son on my knee "Maybe some day. Maybe some day." Yes, we have many quartets that we are friends with, but these guys showed that they are likely to be among the front-runners for the fall competition crown.

After Singing with Dad's top shelf performance, the Chorus was brought back on and the MC set the stage for the reenactment of the competition set that won the chorus their most recent championship. The announcer, also member of the chorus (and what a great voice this guy had), introduced the chorus and we were treated to championship contest set. Again, you could see why these guys are the Champs. In short, impressive and almost effortless sound.

Father & Son
(click image for album)
photo credits Matt Tipton & K.A. Klein
St Margaret's Church
Guardians of Harmony

Story from Chordiology.com blog
2007 Pioneer District Champions

Thursday, June 5, 2008
macomb show: father and son (paul)
Paul Ellinger

Jackson, my 4 year old son (4 AND a half as Jackson will usually correct) and I had attended a barbershop show together earlier this year for the Detroit Oakland Chapter show. It was his first barbershop show and my ... well, I've lost count, but it felt like my first, given that it was a part of one of our "Father and Son" outings.

We had so much fun at that one together that yesterday, 06/02/08 Jackson and I decided to take a drive and attend the Macomb show for another "Father and Son" outing. We would later find that "Father and Son" would actually become a theme for the day and would make its presence known several times over before the day had played itself out.

So after church, wolfing down lunch, and getting Jackson's nap in, we hopped in my car and made our way out to the "east side" from Canton. On our way, we ran into construction on I-696 which took this superhighway down from 4 lanes to only 1 lane which had me thinking that this highway was far from super. The constriction of lanes cost us about 20 minutes, but thanks to a small delay in starting the show -- which is probably customary to accommodate rude people like us who walk in late -- we ran inside to find that the chorus had just finished its first song. I purchased my ticket and we slid into our seats close to the back row of seating. I say that I purchased "my" ticket as Jackson must have unwittingly given the people at the front counter his almost ever-present "I'm so cute" smile because I only purchased one ticket and he was given a free pass. Tickets were only $5 and would have been cheap at twice the price.
So the chorus began singing and I was immediately impressed with how smooth, musical and together they were. Chords were tuned and balanced, but never oversung in an attempt to say "see this chord is REALLY 'right'." Full attention was given to the directors during each song and to the audience or speaker between songs. Diphthongs one after another were turned (sum thin codioligy cud do mo uv). And they had a great mix of barbershop standards, more advanced arrangements which were sung with accuracy and ease, patriotic songs, and novelty songs. There were also inspirational songs in the show, which was very appropriate as the performance was held at a church which appeared to have had the acoustics of singing barbershop sevenths in mind when it was designed and built. Jackson and I enjoyed their toe tapping songs and ballads alike, but we particularly liked their rendition of "Rawhide". There's just something nostalgic, pastoral and manly about ropin' cattle and shoutin' "Head 'em up, move 'em out, RAWHIDE!" All I can say is that if you attended the show then I'm sure you can see why these guys are multiple time and the current reigning District Champions. And if you weren't there, you should seriously consider attending their next performance.

During the show there was a parade of "chapter quartets" that stepped out to perform, but as you might expect from a group of this caliber these guys were good from beginning to end.

These guys have a really smooth sound. The smooth lead and mellow bass were really easy to listen to. And it was great seeing two other "smoothies" Rich Louzon from Crossfire fame singing baritone and our friend Matt Tipton of Border Crossing fame singing tenor. I always knew Matt as a lead. In fact, he's even been known to sing lead for Chordiology, but I found out something about Matt yesterday. He's a really good tenor! I hope these guys stick together. Two words, "Sweet sound".

Matt Tipton directed several songs as did our friend Alton Fisk and they did a great job. I have always liked his real first name so I almost always endearingly call him by it, but I promise not to make the name "Alton" public knowledge. Our tenor is actually Clifton so we gotta support those "---ton" guys.

Then in closing, Glen Hipple, the chorus director and also the youngest member of the chapter, came out and explained that because he is the chorus director and gets to choose the standing arrangements that when he is not directing he gets to stand right next to his dad on the risers. He went on to say that not only what a joy it was to perform for everyone this day, but also how special it was to be able to do so as "Father and Son". I hugged Jackson just little more tightly than normal.

At this point, Glen invited those that are members of the Guardians of Harmony both past and present or those that may have joined them on the risers in the past to join the group now to sing their signature "Let There Be Peace on Earth/Keep the Whole World Singing" medley. People made their way to the stage and it appeared that they were ready to begin when Glen turned around and I heard him say "You too Paul". I looked up and noticed that he appeared to be looking at me, but Paul is a common name (there are 6 in my small chapter alone) so I looked behind me at some people in the seats that would also have been in his direct line of sight and quickly came to the conclusion that he probably wasn't talking to the lady in the flower print dress behind me. I was a little stunned and more honored and quickly make my way up stage after telling Jackson to "Wait here for me".

I popped up on the stage and got to stand right next to our friend and quartet mentor, Jim Ryan of Full Throttle. We all took the pitch and began the songs. Chordiology sings both songs so I was very familiar with them, but I paid particularly close attention to Glen's direction in hopes of picking up on any nuances. Chords rang one after another. Then after the key change that acted as the bridge between the two songs of the medley, something small pulled at my attention from the corner of my eye. I could see, while still sitting politely, my little boy stretching his neck out to its full length to peer out between the shoulders of the people seated in front of him and beaming at me with pride. He smiled and I smiled a bigger smile back at him. He then slowly raised his hand and gave me the small hand signal that he and I use to say "I love you". Time stopped. I took a mental picture of a true bonding moment between "Father and Son."

The songs finished and we all exited the stage. Jackson and I hung out to the very end and talked with a lot of great people. Then I got to sing with and listen to Full Throttle. The guys were so fun and were especially sweet to Jackson and really made him feel welcome. On the way home all Jackson wanted to do was hold the Full Throttle jacket and pretend that he and I were the guys from Full Throttle. He was Steve with his sunglasses on and I was Barry. At the dinner table he was again Steve (without his sunglasses this time, because table manners apply even to the guys of Full Throttle) and I was again asked to reprise my role as Barry. Parker, our two year old, was assigned the role of of "Mr. Bassman", Jim and our next door neighbor, Jackson's best friend, Tyler, also 4 who was joining us for dinner, was Mike. It was a fun dinner, but I have to admit that it got a little confusing trying to keep track of who was who. "Parker, I mean, Mr. Bassman, Jim, please don't put your spaghetti in your hair".

That night, I read Jackson his books as my wife, Amy, put Parker to bed. After we finished Jackson and I talked about our "Father and Son" day and all of the fun that we had together. We then said our prayers with Jackson reminding me of people that I may have forgotten while leading the prayer. I tucked him in, gave him his good night kiss, wished him his wish of sweet dreams and stood up to leave the room when Jackson rolled over in order to make what I thought was surely going to be some form of sleep-stalling statement such as "Daddy, I need a drink" or "Daddy, I need to go to the bathroom." But he floored me when what he actually said was, "Daddy, --- when I grow up, I want to be a Daddy just like you". I was speechless. I just stood there for a moment. I replayed it in my head. Smiled, then I came back to his bunk bed, knelt down and hugged him. "And Jackson, when you do, I hope you are blessed with a little boy --- just - like - you."



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