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The Fayetteville Sound is a talented barbershop chorus, singing barbershop music all over Cumberland County. This Valentine’s day they’re doing “Singing Valentines,” where a quartet from the group comes to sing or record a video personalized for your sweetheart.
Fayetteville Sound is the newest chapter of the Carolinas Barbershop Harmony District, which is 1 of 17 districts that make up the Barbershop Harmony Society.
The group is full of diverse talent, with people from all walks of life. Music teachers, veterans, and everything in between travel to meet once a week on Thursday evenings from 7 to 9 p.m. to sing polecats and different barbershop songs. They go all over the city singing at charity events, holiday celebrations, competitions and other events.
The group was created back in 2015, and they were formerly known as the Cross Creek Chordsmen. It’s been gradually building ever since, and with the BHS allowing women and mixed harmony quartets since 2019, they’ve been able to expand the chapter with more diversity.
They’re continuously looking for new talent to come join them and spread the love of singing. When talking to the president of the Fayetteville Sound, he defines a barber shopper as “anyone who likes to sing and use their God-given voices.”
Barbershop music is unique in many ways. It’s a completely a capella, close harmony style of singing; meaning they don’t use instruments, besides an occasional pitch whistle. Most people are used to hearing three-part harmonies from church — Alto, Soprano and Tenor. A barbershop quartet is four parts, and every part has its position.
There’s a lead, tenor, bass and baritone. When combined as four individuals or the four singing groups together as a choir, the results will blow you away just about every time. Another great thing about barbershop music is that they are usually singing polecat songs, which are top songs that most quartets learn and memorize all over the country. So, if you live in another state then relocate, you can find a chapter and fit right in because you know the same songs they do. They also use these songs to compete at competitions all over the world.
History of Barbershop Singing
The Barbershop Harmony Society was founded in 1939 by Owen Cash in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Cash wasn’t fond of the control that the government had over the country at the time and felt that his main source of liberation was ultimately barbershop quartet singing.
He decided to put together a luncheon for 14 other gentlemen and their guests. Almost twice the number of guests showed up, they sang and harmonized together for several hours. They started having meetings consistently and the society was born.
If you’ve never heard of barbershop music before now, we’re sure your grandparents probably have. The quartet singing style of music grew its roots in the black community between the 1880s and 1910s. African Americans would harmonize popular songs as well as spirituals and folk songs. They would sing in the streets, barbershops, near stores, in churches, among other places.
Barbershop music is also related to early Jazz and is said to be a huge influence on the music, especially in New Orleans and down south. The sound became extremely popular, and started being performed by white minstrel performers, who used blackface, dialect from Black people, and musical inspirations to portray a caricature of a Black person and the Black culture. While the blackface form of theatrical makeup was used to entertain, it was typically demeaning to Black people.
From there the sound grew, and many white male quartet groups, some still using minstrel performers, began flooding the recording studio scene. Black quartet groups didn’t have a lot of access to studios to be recorded. When they did get recorded, it was not often distributed to the public, which created a stereotype of its origins. The Black origins of barbershop music didn’t get full credit until 1992, when a professor named Lynn Abbott published an article titled "Play That Barber Shop Chord: A Case for the African-American Origin of Barbershop Harmony”.
Women get their own society
Women were not originally involved with barbershop music. Shortly after the BHS started, women formed their own society called Sweet Adeline’s International. Though the barbershop music community was progressing slowly, the country was still at a racial and equality divide, which is safe to say affected barbershop music as well.
African Americans were not allowed into some societies until the late 1950s and early 1960s as the Civil Rights movement grew.
In fact, some members of the SAI protested the women-only society because of their policy against women of color. A few members left the SAI and formed Harmony, Inc., which remained a women-only quartet society until 2013, when men were allowed to join.
Heading in the right direction
Today, barbershop music continues to head in the right direction. With BHS, and other societies allowing women in, creating the opportunity for mixed quartets, it gives the music a chance to thrive in ways that were not possible before.
When interviewing a couple of women from the Fayetteville Sound, Up & Coming Weekly asked how they feel women contribute to barbershop music. Jessica Sheri says, “Vocally, there’s a different color and tone quality. I feel like women add a richness to it. It also forces guys to hear themselves differently and teach each other differently, when singing with women.”
Watching and listening to a quartet sing in unison is truly amazing and seeing the growth over the years of barbershop music serves as a reminder that we are better as people when we are in unison with each other.
Fayetteville Sound opens its doors to anyone who is eager to sing and be a part of this passionate group of people. On Valentine’s Day, Fayetteville Sound will be doing Singing Valentine’s from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
It’s the perfect opportunity to give your significant other a unique surprise they’ll never forget. If you’re anywhere within 30 minutes of Fayetteville, you can choose a location, and a quartet will come to you. Your sweetheart will receive a rose, candy and a picture of the occasion. The price of this package is $50.
There is also the option for a virtual singing valentine for just $25. Your loved one will receive a personal message and get it emailed directly to them, so they can keep the memory forever.
For more information call 910-676–1766. You can also follow them on Facebook at Fayetteville Sound Barbershop or email them at Fayettevillesound@gmail.com.