thanks to the coaches
Many folks don’t realize that the four of us are always working to perfect our craft. Our specialty of course is 4 part a cappella harmony. We learn music on our own and we rehearse together every Monday night. But in addition to the typical regular rehearsing that you would expect of any musician, we also schedule several sessions every year with various coaches who help us identify ways to make our performance better.
Today was such a day. Our first coaching sessions of 2007 were in Stevens Point today. Three well-respected musicians in the barbershop world made themselves available to four of us quartets from various parts of Wisconsin.
Our coaching concept is quite simple. We take in all kinds of feedback from any coaches we can. We take notes and make audio recordings of the sessions. When we get back to our next regular rehearsal, we pick through all of the feedback and decide what suggestions we’ll use to improve our performance. The instruction from today’s coaches made the 186 mile round trip well worth it.
Gary Thiel worked with us on “I’ll Fly Away” and “Turn Your Radio On”. Gary is the director of the Northern Gateway Chorus in Stevens Point, and was the tenor in Command Performance, the 1980 LOL District Champion Quartet. Dan Heike worked with us on “Circus Clown” and “Frog Kissin’”. Dan is a singing judge candidate and was the lead of Midnite Watchmen, the 2002 LOL District Champions. Bob Haase worked with us on “My Wild Irish Rose”. Bob is the baritone of Perfect Timing, the 2006 LOL District Senior Quartet Champions, and was also the bass in Badg-aires, the 1962 LOL District Champions. We can’t thank these three guys enough for giving us their time and sharing their talents and expertise with us. We also appreciate the efforts of Jack Edgerton who organized the day and arranged for these coaches to be there.
Our performance will soon reflect the great work of these fine gentlemen.
