And now, just for the fun of it, here are web site links for men and women who enjoy singing traditional songs, "the old songs" arranged and sung in the "barbershop style." (This is my major hobby!)

http://www.barbershop.org
http://www.youcansingtoo.com

Both of these links take you to what we once called the "Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America, Inc." (SPEBSQSA) now called The Barbershop Harmony Society. We are an organization of men worldwide who enjoy singing traditional unaccompanied ("a capella") four-part close harmony. So we sing the old songs like Sweet Adeline and My Wild Irish Rose. We are the largest singing organization in the world. I've been a member of the Hartford nsurance City Chorus since 1982, and I currently sing with the Manchester (CT) Silk City Chorus. Here's our web site link:

http://www.silkcitybarbershopchorus.org

The choruses in Connecticut are named for the town's nickname they sing in. Manchester was the "silk city" because it was once the center of colonial silk trade. Hartford (the other chapter I belong to) is the "Insurance City" because so many insurance companies were and are located there.

I will be posting a picture of our chorus from the 2006 Northeastern District contest in Providence, RI, where we took 3rd place. This was our highest placement ever! (Our district has about 75 or 80 choruses.) The Northeastern District is comprised of all six New England states, a large chunk of Canada, and eastern New York state.  We look forward to taking first in a couple of years, and going on to the international competition.

http://www.meninblackquartet.com
These four guys, all in their early 20s, have already been, several times, to sing on the international contest stage! And in 2005 they won first place International College Quartet Champions! Men In Black met and formed their quartet at the University of Hartford while they were all music students there. They will represent our District at international contest in July 2007 (and perhaps in later years, seeking to become world champs...or because they became world champs!

They are our chapter's favorite quartet, since two of them (Oliver and Tony) sing in, and are section leaders in, our chorus. Their address is above; click on it to see pictures of them, and hear them sing.

http://www.sweetadelinesintl.org

This is the link for Sweet Adelines International, the organization for women who enjoy singing unaccompanied four-part music in the barbershop style. Sweet Adelines is the second largest singing organization in the world. Their songs tend to be of more recent vintage, such as show tunes that have been "barbershopped" or arranged in the barbershop style, because the traditional barbershop songs were pretty much written for men to sing, and from a man's point of view. My girlfriend Carolyn sings here in Connecticut with the Valley Shore chapter, and is also still a member of Harmony Crossroads, in California, where she was born and raised.

P.S. -- On all these sites, you can hear barbershop music being sung by a chorus or by a men's or women's quartet (and in some cases you can see them as well). I haven't figured out yet how to create a way for you to click something right here and hear them...but I'll work on it!