We had a fantastic rehearsal last night! We have two main warm up drills that we use, and it usually takes us 5-10 minutes (sometimes longer) to get going and get our voices blending. But last night, holy cow. We hit the ground running. We did one warm-up, then went right into “That’s An Irish Lullabye”. This is a song that we had in our repertoire a number of years ago, and we just dusted it off last month.

And if I have to say so myself, it sounded great (the goosebumps were plentiful). I love singing with Brian, Chris and Kelly. We get along quite well (we don’t tell Chris that we actually don’t like him), and when we click, we click. We were listening to each other very well last night, and every chord was ringing.

We’re preparing for the Fox Valleyaires annual show, where we’ll do “Frog Kissin’”. This is a very fun song that we just added a bit of interp to, and I think we’ll have a blast singing it.

By the time rehearsal was over, it was obvious that we were singing best when we just relaxed, didn’t think too hard, and just enjoyed it.  Of course our rehearsal had to end with us watching the NCAA basketball championship on TV (Kansas beat Memphis).

We have a lot of fun when we’re together, and we hope that you’ll join us at the show in Appleton on Saturday.

We had our first major snow storm of the year today, and I love it!

Today, we sang the national anthem at the UWGB women’s basketball game. This was one of those gigs where we had to drive through the winter weather to get there. No canceling out. No staying home due to snow. Ya gotta go. We all made it, and it was a great opportunity to sing in the new Kress Events Center. What a nice facility.

A LOT of things had to come together for GQ4 on April 9 and 10 to make this rare opportunity a reality. We created a bit of our own good fortune. Made our own luck.- Just last week I mentioned that we should go to other major league teams, since we haven’t gotten through to the Packers yet, to perform anthems. HAH! Another team came to Wisconsin! How unlikely is THAT!?!

- Not only unlikely, but it’s also the FAVORITE MLB team of the Crevier’s! Scott proclaims his wife is the “biggest Angels fan in Wisconsin”.

- I caught the “breaking news” from a Milwaukee radio station (that I’ve only listened to 2 or 3 times in the last 3 or 4 years) while I was driving to McD’s and back to work which was about 8 minutes of radio time.

- While in the drive thru, I text messaged Scott from my cell phone regarding the game, and maybe they needed an anthem singer since it was such short notice. I didn’t really think much of it, at least not seriously, that we could get in on the anthem for this game.

- He got my message and was taking the day off from work! If he would have had to work Monday, I don’t know that this would have been able to happen as it has, if at all. It was tremendously fortunate that he was off.

- The Brewers were away, playing in Florida.

- If the Milwaukee Brewers ticket/promotion manager had not picked up the phone when Scott called, this easily could have stalled or not happened at all. Scott has called her before only to get voicemail.

- A minor ticket count issue, to be resolved on Game Day. Thanks Scott!

- Six of our nine children, and two of our spouses will be accompanying us to the game. Cool!

- I’m still surprised we all got off with such short notice.

- We’re really looking forward to this fun, momentous occasion.

For a group of guys who sings our national anthem at many sporting events, the ultimate privilege is to do it at a major league sporting event. NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL. The big time.

That opportunity just fell into our lap for tonight. The Anaheim Angels (yes, that’s the correct name) and the Cleveland Indians were scheduled to start a 3-game series tonight in Cleveland. But due to all the snow falling in Cleveland, they moved the series to Miller Park in Milwaukee (121 miles from my driveway), a stadium with a dome. Miller Park is home to the Brewers, who are in Florida this week.

My wife, being from Southern California, is the biggest Angel fan in Wisconsin. So, we decided to pack up the family (the kids are still on Easter break) and head south. Then Brian wondered if maybe they need a national anthem singer. A couple of phone calls later, we’re booked.

So the four of us are heading down to the cream city with 9 family members, and we’ll perform the Star Spangled Banner for the crowd at Miller Park tonight. According to an article I read, they’re selling tickets to the game for $10. Sounds like a great deal. Can’t wait to see the Angels.

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.

Man, groundhog day was rough this year!

What fun! We did a gig last night for Orthodontic Specialists of Green Bay. It was their Christmas Party and we had the usual fun we have at Christmas parties. But this one was special for a couple of reasons. First, my wife works there, so I knew a lot of people. It was cool to perform for friends. Second, Dr. Richard Steinke is retiring.

Dr. Steinke started the practice decades ago, and in the several years that I’ve known him, it’s easy to see why so many of his employees like him and respect him. What a great guy. I wore braces for 18 months a couple of years ago, and Dr. Steinke knew how to handle my treatment quite well. Being a guy in my 40s, it took some convincing from my wife to get braces in the first place. But Dr. Steinke saw that and knew that I wasn’t the most eager of patents. I’m glad to have had the opportunity to meet and know him.

So we (Brian, Chris, Kelly & I) figured that we can’t just let him retire without sending him off well. So we took an old standard song that we do, and rewrote the words as a tribute to Dr. Steinke. It went over quite well, and we were very touched that the song was well accepted.

This is one of those gigs that we’ll remember for a long time. Thanks, Doc, thanks!

We’ve been working on our Christmas repertoire for a few weeks now. We’ve got our first Christmas gig this Saturday. I love pulling out the old favorites and bringing them to life with some great harmony!

One of these years, we gotta learn my favorite, Oh Holy Night. I’ve got an arrangement, just gotta do it.

Merry Christmas!

Wow!  It’s finally here.  GQ4 is heading over to Rochester, MN tomorrow for the Friday night quartet competition.  I’m excited, and nervous, and hungry for a great performance from all 4 guys.  We’ve been practicing hard, working on presentation, getting the vowels right, holding out the phrases…man, that’s tough work!  I’m only getting a glimpse of what the International boys do week in and week out.  All the more reason to admire those barbershop CDs we listen to in our cars every day.  Someday we’ll cut a track or two….

This contest is very exciting for our quartet due to our novice status.  It’s our one time shot at District Novice, and being the Packerland Division Novice champs we want to do our division proud this weekend.  I hope we have some great news to share on Saturday!  Wish us luck!  I can hear the crowd now…GQ4!…GQ4!…GQ4!!

What a great day! We traveled 237 miles to Durand today to participate in their sesquicentennial celebration. We were one of many entertainers at Memorial Park. And just before that, we performed for the residents of Oakwood Care Center.

It rained quite hard on the way there, but once we got there, the sun came out and it warmed up quite nicely. We really enjoyed spending the day with the residents of this quaint little town of less than 2,000. Everyone was in the spirit, with dozens and dozens of folks dressed up in old-time garb.

On the way home, we stopped at Dooley’s Pub in Eau Claire for dinner. There was a wedding party in there, so of course we had to sing a song or two for the bride and groom.

It’s good to be home after a long day. Thanks to Patty Blount of the Durand Community Library for inviting us. We hope that today won’t be the last time we’re ever in Durand.
Happy 150th Durand!