The more beer the singers drank, the better everything sounded. That’s no surprise.
Upcoming gatherings of the ‘Couve Beer Choir may get kind of, sort of semi-serious about actually polishing up the music, song leader Bob Barrett said, rather than just falling back on the friendly forgiveness of brewskis.
But real musical finesse will never be the goal of the ‘Couve Beer Choir, which launched one sunny Thursday night in July at Heathen Brewing Feral Public House and reconvenes Friday for another boisterous blend of beer and song.
July’s occasion brought together some serious singers looking to shake off any hint of seriousness. Many were members, or family and friends of members, of the Reprise Choir, a top-flight group of music educators and semi-pro singers who perform one ambitious concert series every spring.
Ambition was in short supply as Barrett led the ‘Couve Beer Choir through “Roll Out the Barrel,” “Schnitzelbank,” “Dough, Ray, Me” (a beer-focused rewrite of that kiddie tune from “The Sound of Music”) and even all 15 racy and violent verses of “What Shall We Do with a Drunken Sailor?”
Yes: 15 verses. If that doesn’t require a beer, what does?
“This brings back a German beer hall tradition” that’s sadly lacking in America, said Reprise Choir member Colby Hagen. “It brings song into the community. Getting music out there for everyone to enjoy and participate is really important to us.”
When she visited Wales, Nancy Goering said, she was won over by all the public singing. “Everybody sings and it’s so accepted,” she said. “Why don’t we do more of that here?”
Goering was a member of various Vancouver choirs before recently moving to Portland, but in July she returned to grab a brew and a provided Beer Choir Hymnal and join her old friends in song.
“I can’t not sing. It’s a spiritual thing,” she said.
Beer Choirs are a trend sweeping the nation. They were launched in 2015 by St. Louis, Mo., composer and choir leader Michael Engelhardt, a proponent of social singing as a way to build community during an era of deep divisions in our nation. There are now so many Beer Choir chapters that Englehardt’s website says he’s given up trying to track them all.
Reprise leaders April Duvic and Amber Tripp cooked up the new ‘Couve chapter. During the launch party at Heathen Brewing, Duvic played along on a portable electronic keyboard and belted out the words with great spirit.
“Beer and singing have always gone together,” Duvic said during a break.
Tripp asked for a show of hands and counted roughly 55 founding ‘Couve Beer Choir members. They didn’t clump together in traditional choir formation; everybody sat at outdoor patio tables, chatting, clapping and laughing while they sang.
“Which verse are we on?” somebody asked, peering at a page in the Beer Choir Hymnal.
The answers came simultaneously: “Pick one,” and, “All of them.” Both correct.
“There’s a rumor going around that there are some singers here,” said Rik Smoody of Vancouver. “But don’t look at me.”
The group is always open to more members. You pass the audition by showing up. Sticking with pop, iced tea or whatever nonalcoholic substitute you prefer is just fine, of course. And needless to say, all “real” local choirs, including Reprise, are clean and sober when they rehearse and perform.
But there’s no doubt that opening your trap to down a beer can help you keep it flapping with song, participants agreed. It didn’t hurt the mature vibrato coming out of Katie Hebner as things got slightly melancholy with “Hey, Ho, Nobody Home” and “Shenandoah.” It even bolstered Vancouver School District choir teacher Bethany Schweitzer as she added a sweet harmony to the climax of Engelhardt’s “Beer Choir Theme Song,” whose demanding lyrical message consists largely of “beer beer beer beer.”
The free event took donations for Reprise Choir’s scholarship fund for student singers, with Heathen Brewing pitching in some sales proceeds, too.
The next Beer Choir gathering is set for 5:30 p.m. Aug. 16, and it’s planned as a CouveCycle pedal to visit various beery locations around downtown Vancouver. There’s limited seating on the CouveCycle, though, so check the ‘Couve Beer Choir Facebook page for the itinerary and feel free to catch up with those cycling singers via your own two feet.
