Barbershop Harmony

The Kanawha Kordsmen

Winning the AA Plateau at the 2008 JAD Spring Chorus Contest

The Kanawha Kordsmen Chorus
Skipp Kropp, Director

Barbershop Harmony

I have had the joy of singing in both Barbershop Quartets and Barbershop Choruses for 35 years. I am presently a member and Immediate Past President of the Greater Kanawha Valley Chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society. Our singing element is The Kanawha Kordsmen Barbershop Chorus. The Society is the world's largest male singing organization. We are all amateurs who simply love to sing a cappella music in the Barbershop Style. The Society currently has about 30,000 members and we span the country as well as enjoy affiliate organizations around the World. From Scandinavia to Australia, we do our best to "Keep the Whole World Singing." As you might imagine, that is our theme song.

The Society is broken into 16 Districts, mostly for administrative convenience, but it is through the Districts that we provide the bulk of our educational efforts, support, and events. The Kordsmen are part of the Johnny Appleseed District (JAD) which takes in all of Ohio, the southwestern corner of Pennsylvania, and nearly all of West Virginia, save the Eastern Panhandle which participates in the Mid-Atlantic District. The Ashland, KY also sings with the JAD. Within the District, we have between 55 and 60 Chapters of singers that total about 2,400 men.

The Kanawha Kordsmen meet every Monday evening (well, in the past, we have taken Christmas and New Years off) at 7:15 in the Auditorium of the Columbia Gas Headquarters at 1700 MacCorkle Ave SE in Charleston, WV. We love to have visitors and you don't have sing if you don't want to. . .  but most want to. For more information on the Kordsmen or for booking information, you can call 304.346.SING (7464) or check out their web site  here.

More about the District, its contests, activities and event photographs are on this page.

Quartets

The Kordsmen have been providing a cappella music in the Barbershop style since 1948. But singing Barbershop is about singing in quartets and the Kordsmen support four quartets as this is written. Three of them are highlighted below.

My quartet is Three Quarts and A Pint and although we have been together for more than a dozen years we are taking some time off and not accepting bookings at this time.

Three Quarts and  A Pint

Three Quarts and A Pint
Ken Stevens, Tenor; Ron Williams, Lead; Rod Hall, Baritone, and that's me, the Bass

Main Attraction is one of our newest quartets and has actually been competing.  Here is Main Attraction at the microphone in the 2008 JAD Quartet Semifinals. I would think for now the tenor Bert Gross would be willing to field queries about performance.

Main Attraction

Main Attraction
Bert Gross, tenor; Rich Sargent, bass; Kirk King, lead, and John Anderson, baritone

We are certainly not the only quartet presently singing out of the Kanawha Kordsmen. We're not even the longest lived quartet in the chorus, The Pitchhitters seen below have been together more than 30 years. However, only Marshal Carper, the bass, and Elmer Miller, the baritone are original members. They have been joined now by Chuck Young on lead and Bob Cremering on tenor.

Pitchhitters

Pitchhitters
Bob Cremering, tenor: Chuck Young, lead; Doc Carper, bass; Elmer Miller, baritone

Our only Senior Quartet for competition has been Melodium, not active right now, but it is another quartet that I was in and it is my web site. To be a senior quartet the average age of the quartet must be 60 or greater. The youngest member cannot be less than 55.  Pitchhitters just don't want to compete, but they could make the age range easily. With Melodium is was a little tighter but we were able to average Skipp in with only a couple years loaned to  him (he has since made the cut totally on his own.) Melodium formed specifically to compete in the Senior Category; we did; we lost; but it was fun. This photo is from the 2005 Johnny Appleseed District Contest for which we qualified only due to misfortunes that befell other quartets. Hey, it's the Clay Center in Charleston, and it doesn't get much better than that.

Melodium

Melodium
Bert Gross, tenor; John Fuller, lead; Me again, bass; and that's Skipp Kropp, baritone

Contact me at here.

This page was updated last:  07/07/2009