Surprise sweetheart with singing valentine

The Revised Edition Barbershop Quartet is back at it again. The four men are offering singing valentines just in time for Feb. 14, the most significant cultural, religious and commercial day that celebrates romance and love. “We’ll sing at businesses, bars, houses, rest homes,” said John Whitehouse, lead singer with the group. “It’s only $40, and we haven’t raised that price in 10 years. It’s a lot of fun for us and for the people we sing to.” That $40 gets the recipient two love songs and a long-stemmed rose. The quartet will offer up their voices from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Valentine’s Day. Times and locations can be reserved by calling Whitehouse at 715-853-9324. The men have to include travel time into the schedule, but they’ve been known to make a couple of dozen sites in a day. Whitehouse recalled that in addition to several Shawano locations, the barbershop quartet has traveled to Keshena, Neopit and Leopolis. Among the songs that can be sung are “My Wild Irish Rose,” “The Story of the Rose,” “Let Me Call You Sweetheart” and “Love Me Tender.” Proceeds are often donated back to community groups. Revised Edition includes Whitehouse, Randy Steffen, Jeff Brunner and Bruce Brodhagen. Whitehouse and Brunner are part of the original group that formed about 25 years ago. The current foursome has been together about six years. Steffen, the tenor, started singing barbershop in the 1970s. He is also active in his church choir and bell choir. Whitehouse is a 17-year member of the Baylander Barbershop Chorus and has been active in its leadership positions. He has been president of the Baylanders for the past four years. He is also active in his church musical activities. Brodhagen, the bass, has been active in church music his whole life. This is his 10th year, and he is active in four choirs. Brunner, the baritone, is a very versatile singer. So far, he has sung tenor, lead and baritone in the Baylanders. He has been a member of the Baylanders for 16 years. He is also very active in his church. “We’ll be singing the day before in Suamico, so that’ll be a good warm-up for us,” Whitehouse said. “We’ll sing pretty much anywhere in the area if we can fit it into our schedule. One of the guys still works for a living, so we have to work around that.” They’ve performed at church gatherings, retirement parties, birthday parties, company gatherings and more. The singing valentines always bring out a smile for the recipient. Whitehouse recalled one early start to their day a few years back. “It was for a grade school principal, and we had to be there at 7:30,” he said. “All the children were assembled in the gym, and it was a big surprise for her.” Another time, a husband had them perform for his wife three years in a row. “We told her turnabout is fair play, so we went to his work — a bank,” Whitehouse said. “He was like, ‘No, you’re supposed to sing for her,’ but we said it was now his turn. Everybody loved it.” The members of Revised Edition are all members of the Baylander Barbershop Chorus, which gets together and practices from 7-9 p.m. every Monday at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, 341 Wilson Ave., Green Bay. “The Baylanders is made up of men who like to sing,” Whitehouse said. “You don’t have to be particularly good, but if you want to learn to sing better, it’s a great group to join. We’ve become a singing family.” kpasson@newmedia-wi.com FYI According to the Barbershop Harmony Society webpage, barbershop is a style of arranging in close, four-part, a cappella harmony; it is not an era, style of music or genre. Barbershop is largely an African American folk art and was inspired by professional vocal groups that toured the United States in the mid 1800s. These amateur singers combined elements of these vocal groups with their own musical practices, adding new embellishments, complex rhythms and a much wider harmonic vocabulary. As patrons socialized in the barbershop and other places, someone with a strong voice would lead others in a popular song. The crowd would improvise harmony with a person singing harmony above, someone below and someone jumping above or below the melody to fill out the chord. Barbershop harmony was born.