Miranda Pederson/Daily NewsThe Caveman Chorus finishes the national anthem on Sunday during the Hot Rods’ audition for National Anthem performers and the team’s first public address announcer at Capitol Arts Theater.

I got an invitation, as I recall getting several times in past years, to see Bowling Green’s own Caveman Chorus (actually they have members from Glasgow and points a little farther north as well). The difference this time around was that a friend of mine who I haven’t been keeping in touch with enough had joined the chorus and would be performing. So this was the time not to put it off any longer. Off to South Warren High School I went to catch the Cavemen for a serving of barbershop harmony with no instrumental backing. What a nice change of pace.

When most people think of barbershop harmony, they’re thinking of those four guys, the quartet, who sing a cappella in perfect harmony. Not to get too technical, but in music there are notes and there are chords (among other things). When you hum a song you are humming the melody, and usually that’s produced by notes. In barbershop, the melody is produced by chords, which are made up of four consonant parts (notes, if you will). So maybe you have already made the connection – four parts sung individually by four singers – together! The lead sings the melody, the tenor sings above lead, the bass below lead, and the baritone is the swingman, singing above or below lead according to the arrangement. I did say this was a chorus; think of quartet multiplied.

There are several of each range of voices in a chorus; it’s as simple as that.  

If this sounds a bit complicated, let’s just say that’s why it’s an art form. And the sound can be glorious. The theme of the evening was “music of the night,” so the songs were about night, darkness – well, you get the idea. We heard a great version of “Music of the Night” from “Phantom of the Opera.” Several styles of music were included (I’m sure I heard a little doo-wop and gospel in there). Various members of the chorus took turns getting up front and center singing lead. There is a bit of choreography involved in the performances too, if only from the waist up (just to keep it more interesting)! And there were two quartets that emerged from the chorus to do a few numbers. The quartets have names (I’m thinking they do their own shows from time to time) and one was called Lock and Key and the other was Past ‘n’ Present. No matter what formation we were watching, the harmonies were always in sync and the sound was clear.

After intermission I got a big surprise. My friend just said, “Let’s go hear the Cavemen,” but what wasn’t mentioned was that a traveling group called Vocal Union would be performing. This is a group of a cappella gospel singers who do not sound a cappella. They produce beats and bass lines with their voices so you would swear there were drums and bass guitar up there. They were so good at this they took me by surprise in two ways – first I wasn’t expecting them at all so I didn’t know what they did, and two, I was hearing drums and said to myself there must be a drum machine up there because I didn’t see a drummer. Vocal Union did both fast-paced and slow, reverent gospel tunes that really got the crowd going. The only fault I could find with this entire evening was that I thought there was a bit too much banter in between some of their tunes. But the music was excellent. For more info on Vocal Union, go to www.vocalunion.com.

The Chorus came back to close out the show. Perhaps my favorite performance of the night was their heart-felt rendition of “My Old Kentucky Home.”  And by the way, the Chorus does not consist exclusively of a group of senior citizens. I’d say their youngest member was about 8 or 10, and all age groups were represented. So the music is alive and well. The Caveman Chorus website is www.cavemanchorus.org. Go check it out. They’ll be competing in a competition this fall.

The Caveman Chorus performed at the South Warren High School on June 9, 2012.