The Heart O' Lakes Harmony Men's A Capella Chorus will present its annual spring show, "Tales & Tunes of the Old West," this Friday, March 23 in Fergus Falls and Saturday, March 24 in Detroit Lakes.
"The first half of the show will include a lot of traditional country western music," says the chorus's director, Brent Gerber. "We'll also be featuring a bluegrass band from Fargo, Beyond Blue, who will accompany us on some of our numbers as well as playing their own music for a section of the show.
"It's an entertaining show," he added. "It features Rick Schara as our lead character, Wild Cat Kelly, who'll tell stories from his illustrious past in the Wild West."
Some of the featured tunes will include "Man of Constant Sorrow," (a very traditional tune popularized by the 2000 movie, "O Brother Where Art Thou") as well as more familiar fare like "Tennessee Waltz," "Rocky Top" and "a lot of good old western favorites," Gerber said.
But because the chorus is also celebrating 50 years of making music this year, the weekend's concerts will also include a 'family reunion' of sorts, Gerber added.
"We're inviting all of our former members to come join us up on stage and sing a couple of numbers with us during the second half of the show," he said. "We'll be featuring some of the choruses' former directors as well."
Though the Heart O'Lakes Harmony Men's A Capella Chorus has only been around for about 15 years, its roots stretch back much farther than that, Gerber explained.
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"The Heart O'Lakes Harmony Chorus was formed when two area barbershop groups, the Detroit Lakes-based Skippers Chorus and Fergus Falls-based Lakes Country Chorus, joined forces to form one large group," Gerber said. "As it happens, both the Detroit Lakes and Fergus Falls groups were formed 50 years ago."
So all former members of the Skippers Chorus, Lakes Country Chorus, and Heart O'Lakes Harmony are invited to take part in this weekend's festivities, Gerber said.
Besides the two concerts on Friday and Saturday, the singers will also be doing a free "Afterglow" performance in the Holmes Ballroom following Saturday's show, with a much more informal atmosphere that could include some audience requests - "and we'll even have a 50th anniversary cake!" Gerber said.
Friday's show in Fergus Falls will take place at the Kennedy Middle School Auditorium (601 Randolph Ave.), while Saturday's show in Detroit Lakes will be on the main stage of the Historic Holmes Theatre (826 Summit Ave.). Both shows start at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets for both Friday's and Saturday's shows are $12 in advance, or $15 at the door for adults, and $5 for students (ages 13-18), while children age 12 and under are admitted free of charge. They can either be purchased in advance at the Historic Holmes Theatre in Detroit Lakes (
www.dlccc.org/holmes.html
, 218-844-7469, or in person at the box office, 806 Summit Ave.) or at Victor Lundeen's in Fergus Falls; they will also be available at the door.
For more information about the group, please visit their Facebook page, found under the name Heart O'Lakes Harmony Men's A Capella Chorus.
