The Beaufort Harbormasters: American Entertainment

Story by  CINDY REID      Photography by PAUL NURNBERG

For the uninitiated “barbershop” is  beautiful music made by voice only. Specifically barbershop singing is acapella, four-part, close harmony vocal music, which means the singers create music by voice alone without musical accompaniment. For the last fifteen years, the Beaufort Harbormasters have been making beautiful music together and sharing it with the community.  The Harbormasters consist of twenty gentlemen, from which there two separate groups of four men who make up the Tidal Fource and the EU-4-IA quartets. The Harbormasters are the entire group, singing as a chorus. In addition there is a women’s barbershop group, the Beaufort Belles.
As red, white and blue as our flag, the barbershop quartet roots go so far back that no one really knows when they began. Barbershop quartets often sing the standard songs that form the canon of popular American music and have been an entertainment stable from the mid 1800’s to today. Tim McGrath, President of the Beaufort Harbormasters, says, “Barbershop is a uniquely American music, it roots are in gospel, folk songs and several other genres.” Tim has been singing eleven years with the Harbormasters and says , of barbershop music, “It is some of the most fun you can have singing it ,and listening to it. Almost any music can be sung in this style”.
Tim continues, “Any number of songs can be done in barbershop style, which is very close in style to 50’s doo-wop. We have also done a Beach Boys melody, but traditional love songs are mainly what we sing.”
Every Valentine’s Day, the Harbormasters are available to deliver personal singing valentines to lucky recipients. It is a very popular gift, in fact this year they delivered 52 singing valentines. Tim says , “This year we sang to all kinds of people, from to a nine year old girl to a Marine drill sergeant. We were all over Beaufort!” He says the reactions of the recipients usually start at total surprise and always end at complete delight.
Jim Valieant is the group’s Musical Director, and although this is his first experience with barbershop music, he has been professionally  involved with music for many years, as a band director and as a church music director. This is Jim’s second year with the Harbormasters and he says ”I fell into this by complete accident. And they were crazy enough to hire me on! I have always been a fan of acapella singing. Barbershop is a distinct American art form, and we have so much fun!”
The Harbormasters and the Belles  are non-profit groups, whose primary goal is to enrich the community by supporting local events and charitable causes with their time, talent and treasure. Throughout the year they provide entertainment at no cost to many different audiences such as nursing and assisted living homes, hospitals, meetings of civic organizations and gatherings at military bases. In addition, they are available for a donation at private functions of various kinds. The Harbormasters, with the Beaufort Belles, present an annual show every March that is a principal source of funds for their expenses for music, professional chorus directorship and their charitable donations.
Tim says “We sing at nursing homes, at assisted living facilities and  at Beaufort Memorial Hospital. We love cheering people up and being the bright spot in their day.” And he says when the fellows have spare time,  “We love to go down to Bay Street and we have no problem sticking our head in a door of a local shop and just start singing!”
The Harbormasters may sing traditional music in a traditional style but they are far from stuffy and are always seeking new tunes to adapt to their singing style. When asked what are the most unexpected songs they sing, Tim answers,  “We have done Broadway tunes, “How Deep is the Ocean” and “We Call the Wind Mariah.” You never know what we will sing!”
Acapella singing has gained popularity in recent years due to campus singing groups and such shows as “Glee” and the movie “Pitch Perfect.” The Harbormasters are thrilled with the renewed popularity of acapella and joined forces with Beaufort High School Voices program by taking six high school students to “Harmony Weekend “ at Clemson a few years ago.
The men meet every Monday evening for rehearsal and every rehearsal opens with “old songs,”  such as “My Wild Irish Rose,” “Let Me Call Sweetheart,” “Heart of my Heart.” Tim says that not everyone who enjoys singing in the chorus necessarily enjoys singing in a quartet, and that is just fine. He says, “To the men out there- come out and join us! You will find us a welcoming group. We do not hold auditions- it is fun singing!”
“We can’t stress enough; we are twenty guys who are great friends. No experience necessary here. But we have two rules:
Rule #1 Have Fun
Rule # 2 Check rule number one!”
Tim smiles broadly and says, “It is joy for all of us, it’s happy, we look forward to it.”
The Beaufort Harbormasters meet every Monday evening from 6:45 – 9:00 PM, at the Sea Island Presbyterian Church, 81 Lady’s Island Drive on Lady’s Island. www.beaufortharbormasters.org