Barbershop Harmony Australia

Misty Mountain Moonshiners

Misty Mountain Moonshiners
Type of post: "In Harmony" Newsletter
Sub-type: No sub-type
Posted By: Dick Bushell
Status: Current
Date Posted: Tue, 19 Dec 2017
Hello from the Deep North! 
We have been working hard with the recruits since our membership drive and instructions from a knowledgeable coach is invaluable for their development. Firstly, BHA generously funded flights for Richard Reeve to come up here and run a workshop for our diminished chorus and some of our new recruits. We have had a very exciting couple of weeks of workshops and performances. 
 
Escapade at the ORB
The thousand dollars we received from the Sunshine region funded our membership drive and I think we have six or seven recruits who are keen to stay on. A week later, Shane Graham and the quartet "Escapade" arrived on our doorstep. 
 
There are many people and organisations we need to thank for this visit. They are:-
  • The Sunshine region for paying the airfares, Apex Dental Laboratory for the hire car
  • The Netting Company for fuel cost
  • Friends of Steve Griffin for accommodating the quartet at Tinaroo.
  • Shane had to put up with me for the weekend.
  • The volunteers who run "Tablelands Music Lovers, The ORB", where we held our concert,  were very obliging with their assistance and we thank them very much.
Moonshiners Quartet at the ORB
Escapade ran a workshop for us and the general public on the Friday morning which was attended by another group called Bellacapella who are now keen to start collaborating with us for any future events. We may consider starting a mixed chorus? 

In the afternoon we  checked the venue and set up for the concert that night. The concert of course was the highlight of the weekend. Our quartet also formed a small chorus with the bulk of our recruits and sang five songs during the evening. The local "Hotshots Big Band" provided some great music and of course "Escapade" thrilled the crowd with their performance and Shane acted as Emcee. We even attracted another recruit at the concert. A budding tenor! 

Saturday saw us with another workshop. The skills of our instructors certainly lifted the aspirations of all our members to greater heights. I hope we can manage to attend the next regional competition with our new found talent. The whole exercise was very worthwhile to promote barbershop singing. There are some interested persons who may even try to start a group in Cairns. I hope so!

In Harmony,
Graham Morrow.