Msg #13: Bonus: Vict'ry Road

Useful Links are at the bottom of this message.

Volunteers Urgently Needed

You'll be hearing soon about open Board positions for 2019.

In the meantime, we have important jobs that no one is doing -- please volunteer directly to Daniel Schwartz.  These activities may not happen without you.

• Organizing Friday-morning singouts.  Have you done this in the past?  Would you like to do this again in 2018?  Currently we don't have someone to organize the gigs and the quartets.  If you enjoy the singouts, help us make it happen!

• Organizing a Thursday-night dinner in Marlborough.  Want to find a local place and make the reservations?

• We need a Show Chair to script the Saturday show.  We have an able Stage Manager (Tom Misner) to run the show...  but someone needs to plan it.  Is that you?

• We need someone to MC the Saturday show. Haven't you always wanted to introduce OC Times?

Preparation And Frustration
This is frequently the time of summer when NEHB preparations feel both exhilarating ("I've started and know most of the 12 songs: so close!") and frustrating ("It's been weeks of preparation, and I'm not done").  For a very few it's "I've put this off a little bit too much, and I'm worried".

For those of you who feel behind - we are here to help.  Ask, and we'll do our best to find a way.

For those of you who have frustrations - me too. :-)  I keep an active list of trouble spots I'm working on, and it feels like that list may never end.  BUT: if I take a look at my music, I can also see all the trouble spots that I've fixed.  Don't just look at your "todo" list for your music.  Look also at your accomplishments.

For those who are having some trouble with songs and sequences, there are a number of memory tricks you can try.  They may seem silly - but something works for everyone.

Mnemonic: I'd had the toughest time remembering My Wild Irish Rose.  Is it sweetest/dearest or dearest/sweetest?  I use the simple trick "She lives in South Dakota".  Sweetest/Dearest.

Memory Palace: Sometimes you can fix trouble with remembering sequences of things by remembering a familiar walk or path and "placing" the ideas in sequence along the way.  Say you walk from your car to your office the same way every day.  In your mind as you walk, place each "verse" at a different small landmark.  It's amazing how you can suddenly remember a sequence.

Movement: For some songs, when stuck, I remember hand motions.  I don't have to make the hand motions, but for example if you go up at the end of a first verse and down at the end of a second, point up as you practice the first spot and down at the second.  The act of making the motion can help reinforce memories.

There are many memorization techniques - this just scratches the surface. 

Victr'y Road (NEHB 2018 Challenge Song)

It is not too late to get in on the fun of the Challenge Song. Email Joe Dempsey.

Much like our song #12, Vict'ry Road is a hard-charging gospel tune.  This one was written by J. D. Sumner. Sumner was a prolific gospel song arranger, who sang in multiple Christian revival quartets from the 1940s until his death in the late 1990s.  According to Wikipedia, he was a fervent promoter of Southern Gospel. (Another variant on barbershop.)

Sumner became friendly with a young Elvis Presley when Elvis was 14, and they stayed friends until Elvis' death.  Sumner credited the young Presley with helping him resolve a serious drinking problem.  Sumner often appeared on stage and in recordings with Presley. J.D. was also a founder of the Gospel Music Association.

Apparently, Sumner also held a record for 18 years - lowest sung bass note.  You can hear an example of that range here.

The song is yet another example of Christian Gospel Quartet music.  Much like I'm Feelin' Fine, it uses classic Christian iconography to paint a picture of the acceptance of Jesus and the resulting help received.  Simple in tone and word, the music pulses and drives, and the arrangement (David Wright) puts lovely variety into the arrangement.

This is a song for basses - who maintain a driving simple patter during each chorus. Learn your breath spots as carefully as you learn the words and music - one missed breath can be a disaster. :-)  While the song wants to move - be cautious of singing it too quickly.

Video Links:

• J.D. Sumner in his Blackwood Brothers Quartet
• Lunch Break sings our arrangement of Vict'ry Road
• Gas House Gang stitched the song into their Old Hymns Medley (5:41)
• History of Southern Gospel

Useful Links

• The NEHB Preparedness Blog.
• Critical Information About The Rally
• Run Through Calendar
• Tools for recording yourself
• Map of participants
• If you have to withdraw (before Aug 1, 2018)
• Additional learning tracks available to attendees, order from Music VP Will Johnson
• $15 per part, electronic only
• $17 per part, electronic + CD plus $3 shipping per order
• It's not too late to add the Challenge Song "Victr'y Road".
• Contact Joe Dempsey for more information.
• Travel Assistance (questions to Mark Schuldenfrei)
• If You Need A Ride From The Airport
• If You Need A Ride To The Airport
• If You Can Offer A Ride
• If you are using other transit, send me an email.