NORTHWEST ARKANSAS — They stand just inside the building’s entrance in a line, the picture of neatness in their matching red vests and navy blue blazers.
The four gray-haired men, all members of the Greater Ozarks Chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society, were at the Billy V. Hall Senior Activity Center in Gravette on Feb. 14 to serenade those gathered before a special Valentine’s Day lunch.
“We’re giving you dessert first,” croons Bryce Hopkins, whose deep voice instantly marks him as the quartet’s bass singer.
After the blow of a pitch pipe, the four - Hopkins, baritone Ed Downey, tenor Rob Sabata and lead Brian Scott - launch into “Let Me Call You Sweetheart” in four-part harmony.
They shift their weight as they sing, slowly turning their bodies to face different people in the crowd.
They gesture gently with their hands, motioning to a listener with an open palm or touching their hearts. Their eyebrows raise. Their eyes pinch shut. They sing with great big smiles.
And when they’re done, they receive giddy applause.
The men finish their short set by singing “My Wild Irish Rose,” which is met with more applause.
“We’ve never sung that song before together,” admits Scott.
In fact, before that morning, the four had never sung together as a quartet at all.
Singing With Strangers
The Barbershop Harmony Society is an international organization that preserves and promotes the a cappella music of barbershop quartets. “It’s the world’s largest men’s singing organization,” Downey says, with 28,000 members in the United States and Canada, and 5,000 men in affiliate chapters in countries like New Zealand, Australia, Germany and Great Britain.
Germany and Great Britain.
When someone joins the society, “the first thing we learn is the PoleCat book,” says Sabata. Called the Barberpole Cat Program, it’s a collection of 12 songs such as “Down By The Old Mill Stream” and “Sweet And Lovely (That’s What You Are To Me).”
Because almost every barbershopper knows those songs, “any four guys can get together and sing,” explains Hopkins. And at conferences and the like, they most certainly do.
The conference nametags just so happen to list what part the wearer sings, Scott says, so it’s easy to throw together a quartet, even of complete strangers. “Hey! He blows the pitch and we start singing!”
A large conference room could have six quartets going at once, Hopkins says with a smile. (And stairwells are a particular favorite locale for an impromptu barbershop quartet to sing; the acoustics are generally quite favorable.)
Singing in barbershop harmony is just fun, they agree, which is the number one reason they participate.
“If you like to sing harmony ... you wish you could sing more than one part at the same time,” Scott admits, which is metwith nods and an “Oh, boy!” of assent from Hopkins. Singing with others allows that rich, layered sound to happen.
It’s a cliche, Scott says, but - when a group is in tune - “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”
Another reason to barbershop is to share music with others, says Sabata, who played trombone in a band before joining the society.
“I wanted to do something where we were doing outreach, like we are here today,” he says, standing in the sunshine outside of the senior center.
Singing valentines are a common fundraiser for the Barbershop Harmony Society, and the Greater Ozarks Chapter has been offering them for the 15 years it’s been in existence.
So the four men head back to a slate blue SUV bearing a Barbershop Harmony Society license plate holder, and climb in to continue to the next appointment. They were one of two quartets traversing Northwest Arkansas on Valentine’s Day, their members pulled from the chapter’s 20 or so active participants.
The singers say they look forward to the deliveries, when they give the valentine recipient a rose, a card and a serenade. “We’re not just a rehearsal chorus,” Sabata says. “Sometimes we perform!”
And they love it, capably turning up the charm to solicit wide smiles and flushed giggles.
“There’s a little bit of ham in every barbershopper,” Scott says. “They like to perform.” Pitching In
The Barbershop Harmony Society is “a friendly group,” says Sabata, who joined fouryears ago. “Everyone’s welcome. It’s not like you have to be a professional” (though there are selective groups in certain chapters that could be, they say).
“You don’t have to be a soloist,” Scott echoes. “If you just like to sing, there are chapters, there are places you could sing with.” And there are people who will work with singers at any level of ability or commitment, he says.
But potential barbershoppers should take care to know what they might be getting into, the men warn with knowing smiles. Because with practices, conferences and performances, the hobby easily becomes a very big part of a singer’s life. Just ask their wives, they joke.
Hopkins and Scott both grew up singing barbershop music, and have each been in the society for decades. Downey was already married with three children when he was introduced to the music style, and has been a faithful member for the 50 years since.
Each time the men and their families have moved to a new city, one of the first orders of business has been to find the closest Barbershop Harmony Society chapter and sign up.
The Greater Ozarks Chapter meets at 7:15 p.m. every Thursday at the Benton County Senior Center in Bentonville. Many of its participants are seniors, though a couple of newer members are teenagers from area schools.
It’s a great group to be a part of, they agree.
When they sing to an audience, they think about many things at once: the music, the listeners and their reactions, as well as other times they may have sung that song, Scott says. “Music has that power. It’s very evocative of memories.”
And there’s always someone in the crowd who has never heard barbershop harmony before and falls in love with it, he says. “And we’re just the amateurs.”
Downey, Sabata, Scott and Hopkins stroll into the office at Spring Hill Middle School in Bentonville while the open cafeteria bustles with animated students. The singing valentine recipient, a teacher at the school, is called to the office, where she’s met with a rose and four smiling faces.
She covers her face and giggles as they start singing. Other office workers stand, watching and grinning. Some nod along to the beat. As the singing continues, more people drift into the room to listen. And smile.
School children walking past the office windows slow to peer in inquisitively. Some stop to gape.
Happy in front of an audience, the quartet does an encore number for newly gathered listeners. “You don’t ever have to ask us twice to sing,” Scott had said earlier.
When they finish singing their valentine love songs, warm claps and words of praise issue from the people in the office.
“It’s beautiful,” coos a woman wearing a red top. “I’m gonna tell my husband what I want next year !”
Our Town, Pages 1 on 02/20/2011