Sweet Adeline

So, I've been singing barbershop. Yeah, I know. Most of us think of those guys from "The Music Man" - who were they, they Buffalo Bills, I think? And it's probably not the art form people probably associate with me, especially if they've caught my cab act - pianist and all that. But, like their tag line says, "It's not your grandmother's barbershop." There's not a (good) musician alive who doesn't enjoy making close harmony, and in barbershop, it's not always easy to do it well. Those of us with the big Broadway-style voices have a harder time of it. While there may be a few solos here and there, there are no "stars" - something I've grown very accustomed to over the years. There are no accompaniments, just voices. Voices "agreeing on how to sing a note". And when they do agree, the mathematical harmonics apply and build; and overtones are produced. It's a satisfying thing to "ring a chord" - create overtones. For true musicians, those are the kind of challenges we live for. And that's one of the main reasons I'm singing with the Royal River Chorus (http://www.blazenetme.net/~michauds/)- because I've become musically lazy. I have, if not mastered, become extremely competent at so many different musical forms: Classical Voice (too restricted for me), Musicals (made for a very nice career - one I still miss), Jazz (a little too much on the Math, very hard work for me), Country (my preferred radio station), Blues (my song-writing style of choice) and, of course, karaoke - which really doesn't count as music but always sounds better proportionally to the amount of alcohol one has consumed. Now it's time to master something new.

I love a challenge. It's both an esteem-booster and a pitfall. Sometimes I choose paths simply for the challenges to be conquered, forgetting that people aren't Mount Everest and sometimes challenges fail to be solved. Sometimes they continue to grow harder and harder until you're at twenty-six quadrillion feet, gasping for air and watching chunks of your skin fall off while battling the elements and you have to decide if it's more important to be stubborn or suckin' dirt.

But I digress.

I need some serious mental stimulation, and I need to make good music. More importantly, I need the opportunity to make friends and, even more importantly, a couple of hours without my freakin' kids. My daughter thought she might be interested in joining. After all, they're singing stuff like "It's Raining Men", "We Are Family" and "Locomotion" - all with choreography, my friends. But you can be sure I shut that idea right down. "You are not gonna come hang out with me and my friends. That's just embarassing!" She doesn't know how many mother/daughter combinations there are in the choir. But, in my defense, most of them are all adults and they actually like their mothers! Stop raining on my parade, kid.

Anyway...

Our four-week Newbie initiation is at an end this coming Thursday. We actually have a little graduation thingy and then a one-month trial membership (once we pass our audition to show we can handle singing a capella with 3 other voice parts in our ear - piece a cake). These ladies are cultish in their art form. I can hang with that.

And for that serious competitive streak in me (hey, I almost always walked away with the part), there's International competitions (2007 in Hawaii - if I find a new husband by then, it could be my honeymoon, too...) and Quartets - which tend to be the dedicated cultists.

And there's a great deal of sequins, too. Gee, all I need is a baked ham and a sidekick named "Brenda" or "Bambi" or "Candi" and I'm all good.