Southern Comfort Barber Mates
The Southern Comfort Barber Mates are the Dutch Association of Barbershop Singers's 2008 Silver Medal Champion.
Like every barbershop chorus, also the mates are a chorus with a mission in quality and establishing the special sound of Barbeshop in the Netherlands. In 2009, they acchieved the Silver Medal of DABS. Like every barbershop chorus, also the maes are a chorus with a mission in quality and establishing the special sound of Barbeshop in the Netherlands. In 2009, they acchieved the Silver Medal of DABS.
History
The story of the chorus starts at a fair in the year 1986 where a quartet, dressed in vest and straw hat sang. Those people were Loek de Wert, Harrie van de Zande, Wim Fleskens, Wil Pappers and as their coach Johan Jansen. Somebody from the Eindhoven daily news was passing by, stopped and loved it. He was asking about the kind of style they were singing. Guess what the aswer was: 'Barbershop'! "Why", he was asking "don't you establish a chorus for that kind of music, because it is lovely to listen to!?"
Short after that he published a small article to get some members for the chorus. It was already the end of december 1986, when a number of men met in a small pub behind the Lambertus church in Gestel. But we didn't calculated the women in, who appeared and wanted to sing as well. But because it was a cosy group of people, the decision to establish two choruses was made easily.
The first rehearsal was held on the 7th of january in 1987. Johan Jansen became the Musical Director. The first public show was already in March 1987.
Their first convention was the Dutch convention in 1990. They got the Silver medal.
In 1998, Michiel Becker took over the chorus. Since 2009, Johan Jansen is back to conduct the chorus