The Apple Chords of Grand Rapids

uper ummer GRAND RAPIDS – Just how much fun can a barbershop quartet have, on a scale of 1-10? I don’t know, but to hear the Apple Chords of Grand Rapids tell it, they’re pushing double digits when they get together – whether it’s for an official gig, a night out with their wives, or on the golf course. Spontaneity is the name of the game with these four fellows.

The group of local musicians includes Lyle Gleesing, bass; Bud Stone, tenor; Scott Shrimpton, baritone; and Niels Henriksen, lead. For more than 30 years the men have been performing for community celebrations and festivals around the region, delighting audiences with their old-fashioned barbershop harmony that sometimes veers off into country western or a heart-wrenching ballad.

One of their favorite types of performance is their special pre-parade routines. Whether it’s the Hoyt Lakes Water Carnival, the Vining Watermelon Festival, or next weekend’s Fire Days Parade in Chisholm, the schtick is the same: they go up and down the parade route before the parade officially begins, and they walk up to people on the curbs and In-Check Fantastic sing to them. “That’s one thing that I really enjoy,” said Niels. “We pick out one person and it’s so much fun to see their faces and how they respond to the music.”

The other quartet members also agreed that the pre-parade gigs are one of their favorite things to do. “No matter what age group, people really enjoy it,” said Lyle. “Even the younger kids, they’ll say later, ‘That was awesome!’”

Bud shared a few anecdotes that reflect the true spirit and camaraderie of the group. Once, while the men and their wives were in St. Cloud, they were dining at an Italian restaurant, where they received excellent service from their waitress. “She really was the most wonderful waitress,” said Bud. “So, after she brought the bill, we asked her

Best Prices Don’t Quantities to sit down on a chair, in the middle of the restaurant. She didn’t know what the heck we were doing. Then we got up and sang a song for her. The cooks, the restaurant manager, all the other customers, just stopped what they were doing and listened. She was just beaming. Afterwards, we told the manager that he should never fire that waitress because she was the best.”

There are many stories of spontaneous performances by the men – on the golf these course, in the men’s room, at a wedding reception they weren’t invited to. I asked them why they keep it up after all these decades, and the answer was one and the same, “Because it’s fun!”

See them perform next weekend

You can see the Apple Chords Barbershop Quartet on Saturday, Sept. 11, in Chisholm, before the 10 a.m. Fire Days Parade. Some tunes you might hear include, “Coney Island Baby,” “Dear Heart,” “Turn My Head,” Limited! “Daddy Played First Base [Bass],” “Under the Boardwalk,” “When I’m 64,” “If,” “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” and “Danny Boy.”

The history of Barbershop Music 

Barbershop music, with its close, unaccompanied four-part harmonies and ringing chords, is a uniquely American folk art.

It evolved in much the same way as other forms of vocal music. Although no one can ummer avings say exactly when or where barbershop music began, the growth of the tradition was certainly aided between the 1860s and 1920s by the types of songs popular at the time - songs characterized by sentimental lyrics and uncomplicated melodies that could be harmonized with a variety of four-part chords.

At the turn of the century amateur singers, usually men, could often be heard singing improvised barbershop harmony at parties and picnics. Minstrel shows also featured barbershop quartets, who sang in front of the curtain as an "olio" act while performers and stage hands prepared for the next act.

Barbershop harmony's four voice parts are still called by their traditional names - tenor, lead, baritone and bass - whether referring to men's or women's vocal groups. One of the distinctive qualities of barbershop harmony is that the melody, sung by the lead voice, is below the tenor harmony. This follows the pattern of many early American hyms written for men and women, with the melody in the male tenor voice and the women singing harmony above. The barbershop harmony of today is a highly stylized art form.