06
Dec
2005
Davenport's Chordbuster Barbershop Chorus - the local chapter of the national Barbershop Harmony Society - has been performing concerts and benefit shows in the area for more than a half-century now, but chapter President Leo Schubert acknowledges that his organization is still flying under the radar.
"We've been around since '52," says Schubert of the 61-member vocal ensemble, "singing all the time, putting on performances regularly, every year. But barbershop's a tough sell in a lot of ways. I don't think a lot of people are aware it's still around."
Yet barbershop, and the Chordbusters, are still very much around, as audiences will see and hear during the group's "A Holiday Harmony" concert on Sunday, December 11. The Chordbusters, four of their individual quartets, and special vocal guests will perform at the Dr. Tracy Spaeth Performing Arts Center at Alleman High School at 3 p.m.
"A Holiday Harmony," hosted by KWQC-TV's Marcia Lense, is the Chordbusters' 6th annual fundraiser for Toys for Tots - admission to the concert is free with the suggested donation of a toy or non-perishable food item - and Schubert, who has been singing with the Chordbusters since 1989, says the performance will allow audiences to see that "Modern barbershop isn't The Buffalo Bills (the famed Music Man quartet). We don't wear straw hats and striped vests and sleeve garters anymore."
What the Chordbusters do is perform tight, thrilling a capella arrangements in the traditional barbershop style, which Schubert describes as "hard enough to do that it's challenging, yet simple to do, because the structure to it isn't that complex.
"In barbershop," he continues, "you have a lead, or a melody line, you have a bass a third below that, a tenor a third above, and a baritone that sort of fills the gaps. But when you hear a good barbershop quartet or chorus, you can't distinguish who's singing what part. You wait for someone to sing alone and then say, 'Okay, I got the bass figured out..."
This seamless melding of voices - what Schubert calls "a unit sound" -- is what the Chordbusters strive for in their weekly rehearsals at the Davenport YMCA. "We work long and hard on blending with the man next to us," he says. "You should never sing louder than the man next to you. It's got to come out as one sound."
When a blend of this type occurs, what results is a sound unique to barbershop, and one that - not so coincidentally - helped inspire the organization's moniker. Davenport's chapter adopted the name "Chordbusters," says Schubert, "from the 1941 international quartet champions called The Chordbusters. But 'to bust a chord' also means 'to create an overtone.' If barbershop is sung properly, and there's a perfect unit sound in all four parts, you'll hear a fifth note an octave above, a harmonic of some kind."
This harmonic - an overtone - is the sound all barbershop performers strive for, and the pursuit of it, Schubert says, becomes addictive. "It's not fun to sing alone anymore," he reveals. "You want to match that sound, and when you do, you get that feeling of, 'Wow! Let's do that one again!'"
Excitement of this sort inflects Schubert's conversation, which helps explain why, despite the limited public awareness, those who sing barbershop can't seem to get enough of it. "It's just a thrill to sing with people," he says. "Barbershop is fun, but it's also creative. It must be like what happens in a symphony. To match that sound and be with them, and then, after a while, to fool with it and begin to play with it. You begin saying, 'What else can we do with this song? What if we changed this here and did that there?'
"Music is forgiving," Schubert says. "If you get it wrong, you can always do it again. And it sounds hokey to say, but there's a natural camaraderie to performing [barbershop]. With a lot of modern music, the performer becomes the performance, rather than focusing on what they're creating. And in barbershop you're not. You don't have to be a solo act."
The members of the Davenport Chordbusters, who range in age from 16 to nearly 80, are always seeking new participants, and Schubert says that admittance into the organization is a surprisingly simple process. "Our attitude is, if a man can match a pitch, he can sing with us. If you can't read music, we'll give you a CD or a version of it. If you can read music, all the better. I'd say over half the men in the group can't read music.
"I mean," he continues, "they can follow it; once you start 'em they can look at it and know where it goes. But you couldn't say, 'We got some guys in the baritone section that aren't quite getting up to that A [note] there.' They'd be like, 'A? What the hell is that?'"
Although Schubert says the Chordbusters endeavor to sing in public "at least once a month," performing for retirement villages, sporting events, and fundraisers for area schools, the highlights of their year are the group's spring concert (next year's will take place at the Captiol Theatre on April 1) and their annual "Harmony Holiday." In addition to vocal performances from the ensemble as a whole, the December 11 event will feature the St. Pius Children's Choir and the Savior Soul Trio, and four Chordbuster quartets - A Touch of Fun, Possible Side Effects, Possible Notes, and the Riversong Quartet - will enable audiences to experience not only that divinely harmonious barbershop sound, but the brotherhood that develops among its singers.
"When you join the society," Schubert explains, "you get a book of ten songs, and it's asked that you don't change those arrangements, that you learn those ten songs at some point in your career. So anywhere you go on the road with other barbershoppers, you can sing those arrangements.
"You haven't lived 'til you've been to an international convention," says Schubert with a laugh. "There's about 10,000 barbershoppers there, and our name tags all say our name and our chapter and our part," meaning that, wherever barbershoppers go, their talents are in demand. "You can't go to a bathroom. Or an elevator. Someone will pop in and say, 'Hey, we got a bass in here?'"
More information on Chordbusters and "A Harmony Holiday" is available by contacting Leo Schubert at (309) 797-3451 or leobarb71@earthlink.net.
"We've been around since '52," says Schubert of the 61-member vocal ensemble, "singing all the time, putting on performances regularly, every year. But barbershop's a tough sell in a lot of ways. I don't think a lot of people are aware it's still around."
Yet barbershop, and the Chordbusters, are still very much around, as audiences will see and hear during the group's "A Holiday Harmony" concert on Sunday, December 11. The Chordbusters, four of their individual quartets, and special vocal guests will perform at the Dr. Tracy Spaeth Performing Arts Center at Alleman High School at 3 p.m.
"A Holiday Harmony," hosted by KWQC-TV's Marcia Lense, is the Chordbusters' 6th annual fundraiser for Toys for Tots - admission to the concert is free with the suggested donation of a toy or non-perishable food item - and Schubert, who has been singing with the Chordbusters since 1989, says the performance will allow audiences to see that "Modern barbershop isn't The Buffalo Bills (the famed Music Man quartet). We don't wear straw hats and striped vests and sleeve garters anymore."
What the Chordbusters do is perform tight, thrilling a capella arrangements in the traditional barbershop style, which Schubert describes as "hard enough to do that it's challenging, yet simple to do, because the structure to it isn't that complex.
"In barbershop," he continues, "you have a lead, or a melody line, you have a bass a third below that, a tenor a third above, and a baritone that sort of fills the gaps. But when you hear a good barbershop quartet or chorus, you can't distinguish who's singing what part. You wait for someone to sing alone and then say, 'Okay, I got the bass figured out..."
This seamless melding of voices - what Schubert calls "a unit sound" -- is what the Chordbusters strive for in their weekly rehearsals at the Davenport YMCA. "We work long and hard on blending with the man next to us," he says. "You should never sing louder than the man next to you. It's got to come out as one sound."
When a blend of this type occurs, what results is a sound unique to barbershop, and one that - not so coincidentally - helped inspire the organization's moniker. Davenport's chapter adopted the name "Chordbusters," says Schubert, "from the 1941 international quartet champions called The Chordbusters. But 'to bust a chord' also means 'to create an overtone.' If barbershop is sung properly, and there's a perfect unit sound in all four parts, you'll hear a fifth note an octave above, a harmonic of some kind."
This harmonic - an overtone - is the sound all barbershop performers strive for, and the pursuit of it, Schubert says, becomes addictive. "It's not fun to sing alone anymore," he reveals. "You want to match that sound, and when you do, you get that feeling of, 'Wow! Let's do that one again!'"
Excitement of this sort inflects Schubert's conversation, which helps explain why, despite the limited public awareness, those who sing barbershop can't seem to get enough of it. "It's just a thrill to sing with people," he says. "Barbershop is fun, but it's also creative. It must be like what happens in a symphony. To match that sound and be with them, and then, after a while, to fool with it and begin to play with it. You begin saying, 'What else can we do with this song? What if we changed this here and did that there?'
"Music is forgiving," Schubert says. "If you get it wrong, you can always do it again. And it sounds hokey to say, but there's a natural camaraderie to performing [barbershop]. With a lot of modern music, the performer becomes the performance, rather than focusing on what they're creating. And in barbershop you're not. You don't have to be a solo act."
The members of the Davenport Chordbusters, who range in age from 16 to nearly 80, are always seeking new participants, and Schubert says that admittance into the organization is a surprisingly simple process. "Our attitude is, if a man can match a pitch, he can sing with us. If you can't read music, we'll give you a CD or a version of it. If you can read music, all the better. I'd say over half the men in the group can't read music.
"I mean," he continues, "they can follow it; once you start 'em they can look at it and know where it goes. But you couldn't say, 'We got some guys in the baritone section that aren't quite getting up to that A [note] there.' They'd be like, 'A? What the hell is that?'"
Although Schubert says the Chordbusters endeavor to sing in public "at least once a month," performing for retirement villages, sporting events, and fundraisers for area schools, the highlights of their year are the group's spring concert (next year's will take place at the Captiol Theatre on April 1) and their annual "Harmony Holiday." In addition to vocal performances from the ensemble as a whole, the December 11 event will feature the St. Pius Children's Choir and the Savior Soul Trio, and four Chordbuster quartets - A Touch of Fun, Possible Side Effects, Possible Notes, and the Riversong Quartet - will enable audiences to experience not only that divinely harmonious barbershop sound, but the brotherhood that develops among its singers.
"When you join the society," Schubert explains, "you get a book of ten songs, and it's asked that you don't change those arrangements, that you learn those ten songs at some point in your career. So anywhere you go on the road with other barbershoppers, you can sing those arrangements.
"You haven't lived 'til you've been to an international convention," says Schubert with a laugh. "There's about 10,000 barbershoppers there, and our name tags all say our name and our chapter and our part," meaning that, wherever barbershoppers go, their talents are in demand. "You can't go to a bathroom. Or an elevator. Someone will pop in and say, 'Hey, we got a bass in here?'"
More information on Chordbusters and "A Harmony Holiday" is available by contacting Leo Schubert at (309) 797-3451 or leobarb71@earthlink.net.
