Harmonising with the Jim and Tonics

This typical blokey shed, complete with fridge stocked with beer and a sign reading ‘Beer and bull**** area’, at first glance is not a place you would expect to find four men perfecting their singing and delivery of hit songs barbershop-style.

But this is exactly where, week after week, the Jim and Tonics - Redlands own a cappella barbershop quartet comprised of John White, Don Avery, Jim Wellings and Alan Weatherilt - perfect their craft.

As members of the Barbershop Harmony Association of Australia, the men formed a quartet some 10 years ago and have been entertaining the people of the Redlands, and further, ever since.

While the shed out the back is their ‘home’ they have competed successfully in eisteddfods and barbershop conventions from Brisbane, to Sydney, Hobart to Perth, to New Zealand and the islands including Stradbroke.

Their sound, catchy songs and choreography haven’t just been seen on local stages, but on the worldwide stage.

Those familiar with YouTube, a video-sharing website, can spot the group in a performance called ‘I’m a Grumpy Old Man song’.

The video, filmed by the group in the shed one day, has been viewed a whopping 25,000 times.

“We put up a cheap little camera on the table and the three of us sat around and sung to the camera,” Mr Avery said.

“We didn’t really think it would be seen so many times. It is quite a surprise.”

Watching the video and reading the praise, you would have no idea that each had humble beginnings in singing.

“I used to play a lot of lawn bowls and one evening the Bayside Barbers came along to a dinner night,” Jim Wellings said.

“They sang songs I really liked and I was invited to go listen; that was 20 years ago now.”

Jim, a optical technician by trade before retirement, didn’t consider himself a singer, but nonetheless fi nds himself singing lead; the lead carries the melody of a song.

At just 13 years of age he performed in the chorus of a performance of Pirates of Penzance.

Don, who sings bass, was 60 when he first began picking up the hobby after too seeing a performing barbershop quartet.

Singing for the pleasure it give him as well as for the health benefits (“It’s good for the lungs.”), he looks forward to the challenge of rehearsals each week.

“We pull out the CD player and the printed music and we’ll try and piece a song together,” Don said.

While audiences hear the smooth, perfected version of their songs, what they aren’t aware of is the rehearsal and hours of work put into achieving the right sound.

A song can take up to a month to perfect before it is added to the Jim and Tonics repertoire; the repertoire currently stands at around 80-odd songs.

Favourite songs to perform include: I’m Yours, In the Still of the Night, Galway Bay and Breaking Up is Hard to Do.

Not every song the group rehearses will be heard by audiences, but Don said it doesn’t matter.

“We do it because it helps keep us young,” he said.

Quartet baritone John White retired from the police force after 33 years taking up singing as something for himself.

Not wanting to use an instrument he chose to use his voice instead.

“I still remember when I first started, it took a while to get the notes right,” John said.

“I remember the moment when the musical director rushed over and he said: ‘You’ve got it!’.

“Baritone is not a melodious part; our note forms a chord, or warble which makes a song ring.

“New songs can be challenging, and it keeps me interested.”

Former teacher Alan Weatherilt, who wrote ‘I’m a Grumpy Old Man’, said the group doesn’t actively compete anymore, preferring to focus on providing entertainment to Redland residents and perfecting their craft.

While each fell into barbershop in different ways, they have continued with the art form for the same reason.

“We just love singing; it gives us a lot of pleasure,” Alan said.

Any men interested in fi nding out more or starting barbershop singing is welcome to visit the Bayside Harmony chorus who rehearse every Tuesday night from 7pm at the Donald Simpson Centre, Cleveland.

Any women interested in singing may also like to contact the Redland Rhapsody Chorus. To fi nd out more visit www.redlandrhapsody. org.au.

Barbershop singings origins lay with its namesake. Barbershops have a long history being a community hub for men.

Beginning in the United States in barbershop, particularly for African American men, men passed the time singing popular and folk songs.

It generated a four-part harmony which became very popular in the early 1900s.

In the late 1930s, it was revitalised into the modern version it is today.

The crux of barbershop is it being a cappella four-part harmony comprising of:

When singing together in perfect harmony, a ‘ringing’ sound is made.

It is this distinct sound which brings joy to both the singers and the audience.

While very much about the technical, yet fun side, of singing, it also has a strong base in presentation.

If you have ever seen a quartet perform, props and choreography will often be seen to give a performance added entertainment value.

A dip of a hat here, a co-ordinated comedy or simply moving in unison adds to a quartets flair.