Brandon Twp.- Chuck Murray remembers the moment clearly.
A young couple was sitting in a corner booth at MacPhee’s Restaurant. Murray and other members of the barbershop quartet, Northbound Sound, stood around the booth, singing the ballad ‘May I Never Love Again,? when halfway through the song, the woman reached for her boyfriend’s hand as a tear rolled down her cheek.
And with that, Murray and his fellow singers met a goal they’d set for themselves.
‘One of our challenges in singing to women is to either make them cry or smile,? Murray said. ‘Something we try to do is sing from our hearts, squeeze all the emotion and feeling we can out of it.?
Murray and Northbound Sound will perform at MacPhee’s again from 6-8 p.m. on Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14.
Murray, 66, began singing in church choirs in his late 30s. Then, about 14 years ago, he saw a barbershop show. The next week, he joined the Flint Arrowhead Chorus and within a year joined a quartet, wanting to be part of the 4-part harmony such a group produces. Since then, he has been a part of five or six quartets, sometimes with some of the same men.
‘Anytime you see a barbershop quartet perform, you’re probably experiencing a miracle,? said Murray. ‘One of the hardest things to do is keep together a group of four people from different walks of life, to get them to share common goals in music and go down the same road. It’s almost like a marriage.?
He feels particularly privileged to be part of Northbound Sound, because despite his age, he gets to sing with a 28-year-old lead, Joe Baldiga of Flint.
Murray sings bass, and when the group ‘rings a chord? he says the hair will stand up on his arm.
‘It’s exciting; it goes back to what is different about barbershop? the answer lies in harmonics,? he said. ‘It gives a feeling of expanded sound. Everyone has to be there at the same time, on the topside of that note, to ring like it should.?
Murray notes that barbershop is not in the mainstream, there are about 33,000 members across the country. He belongs to two barbershop choruses? Champion Chorus Guardians of Harmony and the Pontiac-Waterford Big Chief Chorus. He practices once a week for each chorus, the avenue through which he met his fellow quartet members.
‘Chorus is the reason we get together, then find we sound good together, and think maybe we should form a quartet and get matching socks,? he laughs.
Now they perform about once a month at various venues, including restaurants, senior centers, and hospitals.
They sing what Murray calls ‘the old songs,? classics that came about in the early period of barbershopping, including ‘My Wild Irish Rose,? and ‘Down by the Old Mill Stream.? They also work in contemporary music. They have about 30 songs in their repertoire.
Murray only wishes he had found singing earlier in his life.
‘It’s probably the most fun a grown man can legally have with his clothes on,? he says. ‘I fish, I bowhunt, but I like barbershop quartet the best… The fun is seeing people smile when singing an uptune and cry when singing a ballad and know that we’ve touched their lives.?