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After eight terrific years of close friendship, close harmony ... and close calls, The Bay Rum Runners announce (Gulp!) our retirement. No, we're not fooling ... it's time. How fortunate we have been to have enjoyed this wonderful ride for so very long. Again at the top of our game and still best of friends, we have no regrets - only great memories.
We are delighted with our recent Top-20 finish in Nashville and proudly add this to our mantle of accomplishment. What more could we want? Hugs and kisses from the Swedish Bikini Team? Yes, of course! But, we appreciate far more your kind words of encouragement, congratulations, and especially your applause over the many years. We hope we have given you something lasting in return. Amazing to each of us (and baffling to our coaches) is our good fortune and level of achievement, particularly given our casual, "lower-latitude" attitude approach to singing in a quartet. From the beginning, we have wanted simply to be an everyman's quartet, just sharing the hobby and having fun. We have made it our mission to close down every afterglow, sing with every willing barbershopper, and ring out a final screaming tag in the early hours of the morning. To be sure, we have been very serious about not being very serious. In doing so, it seems we have spent all of our money on gaudy shirts, fishing trips, parties, hot wings, shrimp, Corona and Cuervo. Oh, the fun we have had!
Over the years we have had the privilege of working with some terrific coaches and arrangers, many of whom have become good friends. The list is very long, but we want to acknowledge in particular the generous help, expertise, and support of Freddie King, Stephanie Brictson, Dwain Brobst, Jim DeBusman, Joe Connelly, John Hohl, Walter and Margie Latzko, Ed Waesche, Dennis Malone, Geri Geis, Bill Biffle, Don Kahl, Lance Heilman, Al Baker, and Scott Kitzmiller. We have sealed lasting friendships with the men of several Mid-Atlantic District quartets including Hijinx, Runaway Sound, Premiere, Casino, BSQ, and others - all of whom have all inspired us with their music and pushed us to be better. We have also made friends among the many chapters who, at great risk to their patronage, invited us to perform on their annual shows. We extend our special appreciation to Cheri and Bud Laumann for graciously opening up their home to us for rehearsals. We thank the leadership of the Mid-Atlantic District, especially Ron Knickerbocker, for their continued assistance and for giving us the opportunity to hone our barbershop skills at Top Gun School and Harmony College East - we are all better performers because of it. We have proudly carried the banners of our home chapters, the Lancaster Red Rose Chorus and the Alexandria Harmonizers, and greatly appreciate their encouragement and participation in our endeavors and antics. And to our wives, significant others, friends, and families ... we will never be able to repay you for permitting us this overindulgence, but please allow us to try.
We will surely miss the chapter shows and afterglows, the preparation for contests, the coaching, the backstage camaraderie with fellow quartets, and the music that we have made together. But most of all, we will miss each other. The Bay Rum Runners have always been about having fun and enjoying our wonderful friendship ... singing barbershop, it seems, was just an excuse to get together to do this. Though our music will soon end, the love we have for one another will continue. "That's Life." Let the reminiscing begin - please remember us fondly. We bid you farewell.
Yours in harmony,
Ed, Lynn, Steve, and Barry
The Bay Rum Runners
1996 Mid-Atlantic District Quartet Champs & 2001 International Quartet
Semi-Finalists
PS: We will continue to fulfill our show commitments for the coming year and may even accept additional show offers ... Hey, our farewell tour has just started. Just give us a shout (703-643-0503 or bayrumrunners@hotmail.com).
PPS: If anyone knows how to arrange things with the Swedish Bikini Team, ...
( Friday, July 27, 2001)
This site was last updated on 07/27/01 |
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"So, who are they?" you might ask. Well, these are four experienced singers, Eddie Cazenas (tenor) , Lynn Conaway (lead) , Steve White (bass) , and Barry Galloway (that other part) , who gathered together and sailed from the island ports of Alexandria, Virginia and Lancaster, Pennsylvania just over eight years ago, leaving nothing but good times in their wake.
The quartet has repeatedly placed in the top ranks of international singing competition, placing 18th in the world at Nashville in 2001, and was the Barbershop Quartet Society's 1996 Mid-Atlantic District Quartet Champion. The quartet's first album, "On the Beach … in "Acappella," was a nominee for the national Contemporary A Cappella Recording awards. But the most amazing thing is that, although they have performed in eleven states, for audiences from ten to ten thousand, they have yet to be thrown out even once!
The simple truth is, they love to show audiences just how much fun singing is supposed to be. With a powerful, easy style that's all their own, a repertoire of a cappella songs that ranges from killer ballads to jazzy swing tunes, and a presence that makes every listener a part of their family, you can count on them to create a storm in every port.
Well then, if you must, click on one of these for more information:
Do they have any recordings worth listening to?
Tell me more about those four good-looking guys.