There is no better feeling than to sing along with others and sound great in the process. This is one of the main mottos at The Barbershop Harmony Society. From its humble origins since April 6th, 1938, this organization specializes in a very particular type of music, the Barbershop harmony. Barbershop singers originated… well, in barbershops of course. These were places were these quartets found find to rehearse their songs before hitting the big stage.
The Barbershop harmony is a unique style of unaccompanied vocal music generally conformed by four members, each of this singing with one specific chord where the same words sound at the same time forming its characteristic harmonious melody. This style of artistic singing exhibits a high degree of vocal skill, precise intonation and the full expansion of the sound. In other words, in sound nice, but takes a high level of talent and good vocal range. The four singers have to sing at just the right pitch for the harmonies to sound great while blending in with each other.
During a celebration in Las Vegas on July 8 of 2017, Mike Rowe received an Honorary Lifetime Membership into The Barbershop Harmony Society. These honorary members are usually performers and leaders who made a positive impact on the world of music or draw significant attention to the barbershop harmony through their influence.
Mike is an American actor better known as the star of the popular Discovery Channel series “Dirty Jobs”, a television program that shows disgusting, strange and messy jobs being performed by its typical employees with the full assistance of the host. But there is another side in Mike’s history, nearly 30 years ago Fred King the world-champion barbershop quartet singer went to Mike’s high school to teach music, it was a great fortune as he encouraged him to become a barbershop singer and learn about this harmonious melody.
On the night of the celebration, the four champions of The Barbershop Harmony Society started to sing, but before they could complete the first strophes, the crowd was fully surprised with an unexpected guest. With a big smile on his face, the awarded Mike Rowe walked to the center of the stage and smoothly stepped in the middle of the quartet, moving aside the baritone. The people were wondering about Mike’s intrusion and how this could ruin a perfectly good song, but what happened next broke everyone’s opinion.
The minute he opened his mouth the people changed their laughs for applauds during his outstanding interpretation of the song “Sweet and Lovely”, Mike Rowe sang like he was a true professional. Click the video below and watch how Mike Rowe steals away the show with his performance of Sweet and Lovely at The Barbershop Harmony Society’s celebration in Las Vegas, Nevada.