Back in the saddle again
As I was saying...
I spent this past weekend in Bakersfield at the Barbershop Harmony Society's Far Western District annual convention. My chorus came in fifth out of 23 competitors — right where we belonged, given the relative strength of the competition, but still quite a way from recapturing our glory days from as recently as four years ago, when we won our second of back-to-back District championships. Still, a fine time was enjoyed by all. Our new District champions, the L.A.-based Masters of Harmony, will probably win the International championship next July.
Saturday morning before the contest, the chorus shared breakfast on the property of (though not exactly within) the Crystal Palace, the country and western nightclub owned by Bakersfield legend Buck Owens. (It says something about a community that its local legends are Buck Owens and Merle Haggard. Whether that something is positive or negative, I'll let you be the judge.) Those of my acquaintance who know of my antipathy for country music — an antipathy legendary in itself — found no end of hilarity in the fact that I, of all people, would be compelled to dine in a veritable bastion of redneck chic. Upon entering the banquet room, a rustic setting festooned with framed sleeves from classic C&W LPs, I experienced something akin to the reaction of Eddie Murphy's character in 48 Hrs. when he and Nick Nolte enter the cowboy bar: "Not a very popular place with the brothers." I'll admit that the breakfast was mighty tasty, though.
The quartet spent Saturday evening post-contest strolling the lobby of the convention site singing our repertoire amid the cacophony of several dozen other quartets, both organized and impromptu, all doing the same thing. Good exercise in concentration, requiring intense focus on our own ensemble sound and pitch while tuning out everything around us. We met a nice young woman from Seattle, a video game producer and barbershop singer who was in L.A. on business and decided to drive up and check out our convention. She graciously listened as we sang almost everything we know, and even joined in for a couple of numbers to which she knew the lead part.
A long, tiring weekend, especially when bookended by a 325-mile drive each direction. It really is true what they say: The best view of Bakersfield is in the rear-view mirror.
I spent this past weekend in Bakersfield at the Barbershop Harmony Society's Far Western District annual convention. My chorus came in fifth out of 23 competitors — right where we belonged, given the relative strength of the competition, but still quite a way from recapturing our glory days from as recently as four years ago, when we won our second of back-to-back District championships. Still, a fine time was enjoyed by all. Our new District champions, the L.A.-based Masters of Harmony, will probably win the International championship next July.
Saturday morning before the contest, the chorus shared breakfast on the property of (though not exactly within) the Crystal Palace, the country and western nightclub owned by Bakersfield legend Buck Owens. (It says something about a community that its local legends are Buck Owens and Merle Haggard. Whether that something is positive or negative, I'll let you be the judge.) Those of my acquaintance who know of my antipathy for country music — an antipathy legendary in itself — found no end of hilarity in the fact that I, of all people, would be compelled to dine in a veritable bastion of redneck chic. Upon entering the banquet room, a rustic setting festooned with framed sleeves from classic C&W LPs, I experienced something akin to the reaction of Eddie Murphy's character in 48 Hrs. when he and Nick Nolte enter the cowboy bar: "Not a very popular place with the brothers." I'll admit that the breakfast was mighty tasty, though.
The quartet spent Saturday evening post-contest strolling the lobby of the convention site singing our repertoire amid the cacophony of several dozen other quartets, both organized and impromptu, all doing the same thing. Good exercise in concentration, requiring intense focus on our own ensemble sound and pitch while tuning out everything around us. We met a nice young woman from Seattle, a video game producer and barbershop singer who was in L.A. on business and decided to drive up and check out our convention. She graciously listened as we sang almost everything we know, and even joined in for a couple of numbers to which she knew the lead part.
A long, tiring weekend, especially when bookended by a 325-mile drive each direction. It really is true what they say: The best view of Bakersfield is in the rear-view mirror.
SwanShadow was randomly pounding the keyboard at 10:34 AM
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