The Gentle Folks
In 2003 Arlene and Rex Raudenbush sat down with Grace
and Fred Holmes to a dinner of roast salmon with fresh asparagus, Caesar
salad, and mango dessert.
Being musical they wondered if they could sing together. To their great surprise their four voices were nicely matched in
tone and quality, just like the fresh asparagus, roasted salmon, Caesar
salad, and mango dessert. After a month of experimentation they
discovered they could sing classic barbershop harmonies in the male
range. Rex, a rare natural tenor, found the lead part to his liking
and Arlene naturally gravitated to the tenor part, the harmony above the
lead. Fred rumbled along down in the bass range and Grace, to the
surprise of all, found that she could sing the male baritone part, bouncing
along between the lead and the bass. They have been singing barbershop
arrangements of popular songs of a bygone era and of gospel music ever
since. Their repertoire included old favorites, such as songs from
Meredith Willson’s The Music
Man, as well as gospel favorites like Amazing Grace.
When the spirit moved them, they'd even find time for a little comedy with their
music.
As fate would have it, in April of 2017, our lead singer, Rex Raudenbush, died suddenly and
thus ended the two couple barbershop quartet that had been singing in the Kansas City area for fifteen years.
There was no way to replace Rex, and his widow, Arlene, did not feel she could continue.
Grace, the baritone (the rare woman singing in the male baritone range) and Fred, now in
their mid eighties, to start all over again seemed beyond them.
It is tragic in another sense because, at the time of Rex’s death,
they had just completed two years’ work mastering a very nice First World War songs repertoire.
In that regard, though unrelated to music, you might find interest in Fred's website “Medicine in the First World War”
It is the oldest, largest, and best on this subject in the world.
Gentlefolk would like to thank Harmonize.com for fifteen years of hosting.
With best regards,
Frederick Holmes, MA, MD, FACP