Gas House Gang (quartet)
Encyclopedia
Gas House Gang was a barbershop quartet that won the 1993 SPEBSQSA international competition. They started singing as a group in 1987.
The quartet won the International Quartet Championship of the Barbershop Harmony Society
in 1993. The Gas House Gang toured the United States extensively and performed around the world, singing with many musical groups, including The Chordettes
, the King's Singers
, and Chanticleer.
, was diagnosed with esophageal cancer
on May 30, 2003, and died shortly thereafter on September 4, 2003. Several prominent barbershoppers helped fill in after Rob's death, including Mike Slamka (Power Play
), Tony DeRosa (Keepsake
, Platinum
, and Max Q
), Brandon Guyton (Four Voices
, Crossroads
), and D.J. Hiner (The Ritz
), but on June 3, 2004, the quartet announced their retirement at the end of 2005.
Jim Henry http://www.aoh.org/jimhenry.html, Rob's younger brother, went on to direct the Ambassadors of Harmony
in their victory at the 2004 international championship in Louisville, Kentucky
and again in 2009 in Anaheim, California
. Jim's new quartet, Crossroads
, also won top honors in 2009 making Jim the only man in society history to direct the winning chorus and win with his quartet in the same year.
Kipp Buckner started singing barbershop when he was 14 and has won the International Champion Quartet Medal three times, once with the GHG, again in 1987 when he sang with the Interstate Rivals
, and most recently in 2011 with his new quartet Old School http://www.oldschoolqt.com.
Rich Knight has sung with the Ambassadors of Harmony since the 1970s. His smooth lyrical lead voice creates the defining sound of the GHG.
The quartet won the International Quartet Championship of the Barbershop Harmony Society
Barbershop Harmony Society
The Barbershop Harmony Society, legally and historically named the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America, Inc. , is the first of several organizations to promote and preserve barbershop music as an art form. Founded by Owen C...
in 1993. The Gas House Gang toured the United States extensively and performed around the world, singing with many musical groups, including The Chordettes
The Chordettes
The Chordettes were a female popular singing quartet, usually singing a cappella, and specializing in traditional popular music. The Chordettes were one of the longest lived vocal groups with beginnings in the mainstream pop and vocal harmonies of the 1940s and early 1950s...
, the King's Singers
King's Singers
The King's Singers is a British a cappella vocal ensemble who celebrated their 40th anniversary in 2008. Their name recalls King's College in Cambridge, England, where the group was formed by six choral scholars in 1968. In the United Kingdom, their popularity peaked in the 1970s and early 1980s...
, and Chanticleer.
Members
Rob Henry, the quartet's baritoneBaritone
Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...
, was diagnosed with esophageal cancer
Esophageal cancer
Esophageal cancer is malignancy of the esophagus. There are various subtypes, primarily squamous cell cancer and adenocarcinoma . Squamous cell cancer arises from the cells that line the upper part of the esophagus...
on May 30, 2003, and died shortly thereafter on September 4, 2003. Several prominent barbershoppers helped fill in after Rob's death, including Mike Slamka (Power Play
Power Play (quartet)
Power Play is a barbershop quartet based in Michigan. They were the 2003 Barbershop Harmony Society International Quartet Champion. Each member of the quartet is a member of the Slamka family. Power Play was formed in 1988, and won the Pioneer District quartet championship in the fall of 1989...
), Tony DeRosa (Keepsake
Keepsake
Keepsake was an American barbershop quartet from Florida that won the 1992 SPEBSQSA International Barbershop Competition. Members of the quartet areJoe Connelly , Tony Derosa , Don Barnick , and Roger Ross .-Discography:...
, Platinum
Platinum (quartet)
Platinum is a barbershop quartet, created in 1998 and the 2000 SPEBSQSA international quartet champions. They are famous for their long posts , particularly in their adaptation of the song Be Our Guest and in Clay Hine's arrangement of Auld Lang Syne, which is on Platinum's CD of the same...
, and Max Q
Max Q (quartet)
Max Q is the barbershop quartet that won the gold medal Barbershop Harmony Society International Barbershop Quartet Contest at Denver's Pepsi Center July 7, 2007.The quartet's run for the title is featured in the 2009 feature documentary American Harmony....
), Brandon Guyton (Four Voices
Four Voices
Four Voices is a barbershop quartet based in Tennessee. After winning the SPEBSQSA Collegiate Barbershop Quartet Championship in 1996, Four Voices went on to become international champions in 2002....
, Crossroads
Crossroads (quartet)
Crossroads is the barbershop quartet that won the International Quartet Championship for 2009 at the Barbershop Harmony Society's annual international convention, in Anaheim, California...
), and D.J. Hiner (The Ritz
The Ritz (quartet)
The Ritz is a barbershop quartet from the of the Barbershop Harmony Society The Ritz is a barbershop quartet from the of the Barbershop Harmony Society The Ritz is a barbershop quartet from the of the Barbershop Harmony Society (comprising Ohio, West Virginia, and the western half of...
), but on June 3, 2004, the quartet announced their retirement at the end of 2005.
Jim Henry http://www.aoh.org/jimhenry.html, Rob's younger brother, went on to direct the Ambassadors of Harmony
Ambassadors of Harmony
The Ambassadors of Harmony is a 160+ member men's barbershop chorus, based in St. Charles, Missouri. The chorus won International Championship gold medals in 2004 and 2009, each time singing two arrangements by David Wright, under the direction of Jim Henry...
in their victory at the 2004 international championship in Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
and again in 2009 in Anaheim, California
Anaheim, California
Anaheim is a city in Orange County, California. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was about 365,463, making it the most populated city in Orange County, the 10th most-populated city in California, and ranked 54th in the United States...
. Jim's new quartet, Crossroads
Crossroads (quartet)
Crossroads is the barbershop quartet that won the International Quartet Championship for 2009 at the Barbershop Harmony Society's annual international convention, in Anaheim, California...
, also won top honors in 2009 making Jim the only man in society history to direct the winning chorus and win with his quartet in the same year.
Kipp Buckner started singing barbershop when he was 14 and has won the International Champion Quartet Medal three times, once with the GHG, again in 1987 when he sang with the Interstate Rivals
Interstate Rivals
Interstate Rivals is the Barbershop quartet that won the 1987 SPEBSQSA international competition in Hartford, CT. Formed in 1982, the Rivals won the Cardinal District championship that fall. The next summer at International they placed tenth, followed by sixth, third, second place finishes before...
, and most recently in 2011 with his new quartet Old School http://www.oldschoolqt.com.
Rich Knight has sung with the Ambassadors of Harmony since the 1970s. His smooth lyrical lead voice creates the defining sound of the GHG.
Discography
- Our Rough & Tumble Best (CD; 1989)
- A Little Night Music (CD; 1992)
- Face The Music (CD; 1996)
- Some Children See Him... (CD; 2000)
- The Gas House Gang's 5th (CD; 2003)