Walking around Nashville

A dip in the hotel pool was a refreshing way to start the day, just what any other penguin would do.


Nashville is the new home for the Barbershop Harmony Society, so a visit to the new headquarters is in order.


On the way, I got sidetracked by talking with a family member from Ambassadors of Harmony. You thought we were smarting from the contest, for the second year in a row, this wonderful chorus has missed out on the gold medal by 7 points. Ouch.


I was wearing my Penguin shirt, and she remarked about how fun our set was. Ambassadors had to pick themselves up for a performance in the afternoon at a Harmony Foundation show, and she told us they were rehearsing at the convention center.


A fellow penguin and I walked in as one of their coaches, Greg Clancy, was doing his best to lift their spirits. Next year should be very interesting, as Ambassadors will be back on the contest stage, this time AGAINST Greg's chorus, Vocal Majority. He joked that maybe the two super choruses should merge and compete as the "Vocal Ambassadors."


Ambassadors' director Jim Henry then stepped up and said they had to work on their "Man of La Mancha" set for the show that afternoon. When the pitch blew, those guys leaned forward, ready to change lives with their singing, and then they did! Wow! Their loss from the night before was gone, and job one was to tell a story with their music.


After that, and since we were already in the convention center, we checked out the Harmony Marketplace to see how our DVD "MVEvolution" was selling. There were only 3 left. Excellent!


Finally, we were off to the new Barbershop Harmony Society headquarters.


As you approach the building, this famous Norman Rockwell print comes into view.


The doorway has a domed portico, perfect accoustics for singing a polecat. Inside, the first thing you see is a massive circular stairway. It represents the Barber Pole. In fact, the whole building has a barber pole theme.

The cubicles are arranged on an angle, like the stripes going up a pole, and the carpet pattern is all on an angle, too.


Here's the boardroom, complete with pictures of OC Cash and Rupert Hall, salvaged from the old Kenosha headquarters in Harmony Hall.


The most exciting part of the building is the interactive museum called "Sing!" It's still on the drawing board, but will include the physics of sound, 2, 3, and 4 part a cappella harmony, and a recording studio where you can "Sing with the Champs" and take home a recording of you singing a part with your favorite quartet.


We made another quick check in the gift shop to make sure that "MVEvolution" was on display, and as I walked up, a member of the Bay City chorus had one in his hand showing some other people the pictures on the back of "Green Army," "Waiters," and "Fish!" I asked if they had any other questions about the chorus, and all they could do was rave about "Penguins." We may not have finished where we wanted to, but we changed lives with our performance.


The food in Nashville has been outstanding, and tonight our culinary journey took us to The Capitol Grill at the Hermitage Hotel. This crabcake was outstanding.

Then it was off to the quartet finals showdown. What a night of incredible singing.

Tomorrow it's back to Milwaukee. Take care, Y'all!

Oh Dear!

We had a wonderful performance, the crowd went crazy, and then we found our that the scores from the Singing component of the judging panel were a little lower than expected (OK, a lot lower!) We're all a bit disappointed, but know in our hearts that we entertained the audience, and that's our main goal. It wasn't quite the finish to a fun week that we had imagined.

We had a chapter meeting back at the hotel after the contest to talk about experiences we had had with the audience after our performance, and how moved they were by our presentation.

It is what it is, the scores aren't going to change. We'll learn from the experience and grow as performers.

Click HERE for the official results

Then we packed up the risers and the penguin suits (smelling a bit like a "late in the season" hockey team) in the trailer. Much discussion and toasting followed.

Here's some pictures of us practicing in our penguin suits from the last couple of days.

It's cold here at the South Pole, soooo coooold.

Down here you can't set your drink down for long.

Then my Mother So Dear took me under her wing

My Lovin' Pen-goo-ine!

On our way to the Sommet

After a great morning rehearsal, we had a few hours off. Steve and Tom decided to spend their time coloring at judges training school.

I headed to the Sommet (pronounced So may y'all) Center for the first session of the chorus contest. These Swedish Vikings were the first thing I saw. The crowd loved their presentation and they were the big hit in the lobby. Later that evening, after our show, I knew we would be out taking lots of Penguin shots with fans.

Back at the Doubltree Hotel ballroom, we started the contest cycle with a short warm-up, then headed to makeup.

The white eyes go on first, then the orange triangle under the mouth, then the black.

Without our great volunteers, we could never do the things we do.

Here's Dan, the frozen pizza delivery guy we sing about.

Here I am, all suited up and ready to go!

One last stop before we hit the stage.

The Day is Here

It's performance day in Nashville. Tonight around 8pm, Midwest Vocal Express will take the stage at the Sommet Center in front of an audience of 10,000 and show 'em what we've got.

Here's a shot of the guys doing the "Spooky hell-winds" segment of our uptune. Nice socks on some of the guys (huge hint about the set.)

After rehearsal, everyone grabbed a prop and headed down to the trailer, so everything could be taken backstage for our show tonight.

I wish I could show more photos of rehearsal, but they were in costume, and we're keeping that a secret until showtime. Our performance team likes to have the effect of surprise on our side, especially from the judges down front, but more importantly from all our fans.

Until I can show you some more, here's a shot of a wonderful porterhouse steak I had last night at the Stockyard Restaurant.

What, you think I'd skip dessert? Check out this key lime pie!

Afternoon Quartet Semi-finals

Here's the view of the stage inside the Sommet Center in Nashville, TN. This shot is taken from the MVE seats are in the back left corner.

We'll be on that stage, and up on the big screens, tomorrow night.
















While we wait for our next quartet to sing, my thoughts are drifting to last night's dessert, Peach Cobbler. Yum Y'all!

Thursday Morning Rehearsal

Thursday July 3, 2008, 1 day til the big show and the Front Line is up early, practicing their moves. Is that a letter of the alphabet they're forming? (Cryptic clue!)

The rest of the guys joined in the fun (hard work!) We're going to rock the house tomorrow night. We're singing 5th on the 2nd half of the show. For those of you planning to watch the webcast, it should be around 8pm.












After rehearsal we visited the Harmonizers from Alexandria, VA in their rehearsal hall and sang a couple tunes for them. Here's Grant leading us in "Beautiful Savior."














Alexandria entertained us as well, here doing the sea shanty "What should we do with a drunken sailor?"

Time to head to the Sommet Center for the quartet semi-finals.

Welcome to Nashville, TN

Off we go on with Midwest Exp;ress to Nashville, TN. There were severe storms in the area, but we just got a splash of rain at Mitchell International, and off we went.

It was just an hour and two minutes to Nashville. After a bit of discussion, the flight attendant assured us there was no time difference between Milwaukee and Nashville.

The only way we knew we were in Music City, USA, was by this marble sign at the baggage claim.

A short Van-cab ride to the DoubleTree Hotel and we were ready for MVE rehearsal number 1.

Grant Wilson was at the ready, and the singing was great.













Here's a "numb behind" moment from the uptune rehearsal. I'd love to show you our full costume run-through, but it's a secret until we hit the International stage on Friday night. Until then, it'll just be little hints of what we're up to.

After rehearsal, a small group head out to "The Standard," a wonderful restaurant just a few blocks from our hotel. Here's a sneak peak at the Strawberry salad. Yum.

Nashville Here We Come

Midwest Vocal Express is off on another International Barbershop Harmony Society contest adventure, this time to Music City, USA, Nashville, TN.

Here's the guys, all decked out in our finest at the "Champions" show, June 14, 2008 at South Milwaukee PAC. Right now, our contest set of songs is a "secret" that won't be revealed until we perform onstage on Friday, July 4th. In the meantime, I'll bring you some behind the scenes photos of our rehearsals, social outings, and just 'hanging around' in Nashville, the new home for the Barbershop Harmony Society headquarters.