The Rural Voice, 1982-01, Page 5Making music:
Barbershop harmony from a Seaforth group
by Dean Robinson
Man, it seems, has always been able to
entertain himself with music.
Well, maybe using the word "music"
is stretching it just a bit. Man has always
been able to make noise. And it didn't
take him long to call some of that noise
"music."
Whether the music came from within,
past the tonsils and over the tongue, or
from without, by using any manner of
stick, string, or reed, it was ever present.
And it has stayed with us, particularly
in what we have come to know as the
rural community. There's no such thing
as town music or city music but
everybody knows what country music is
all about.
The fact is, our rural roots are closely
tied to music. Barn dances on Saturday
nights and pianos in the parlour are as
much a part of obr heritage as draft
horses and three-legged milking stools.
Without radio, television and records,
necessity mothered much of the music of
our forefathers.
Technology has long since eliminated
a lot of that necessity but, thankfully
some would say, our marriage to music
has remained intact.
The Canadian countryside is a veritable
smorgasbord of homegrown talent, some
professional, sbme not so professional.
Southern Ontario is no exception.
A case in point is a quartet from in and
around Seaforth. Known as The Town
and Country Four, it specializes in
singing barbershop.
George Ribey, of Seaforth, Marlen
Vincent, of R.R. 1, Seaforth, and brothers
Ken and Bill Campbell, each of R.R. 1,
Dublin, make up the quartet, and they
have for more than a decade. Their
coming together as The Town and
Country Four grew out of a Women's
Institute's call for help in putting on a
variety show. That was back about 1971
and they've been belting out tunes ever
since.
Whether to perform or rehearse they
try to meet at least once a week
"whenever there's a piano." Though
they've appeared in a couple competitive
talent nights, and fared well, their
performances are more often in front of
service club members (Vincent is active
in Lions, Bill Campbell in Optimists),
church gatherings, and at special events
The Town and Country Four don't always belt out their tunes from a combine but, in
the right mood, they'll sing almost anywhere. They are typical of the musical talent
that abounds in rural Ontario. From left: Marlen Vincent, Ken Campbell, George
Ribey and Bill Campbell
such as centennial celebrations, anniver-
saries or fall fairs. It's not unusual for
them to know many of the people to
whom they are singing.
"We'll sing pretty well for anybody
who'll listen to us," says Bill Campbell.
"We sometimes sing when they don't
want to listen, too," adds brother Ken
with a broad smile. "We get asked back
some places so somebody must like us,"
says Ribey.
All of the Four had musical pasts
before they formed the quartet. Vincent
sang in a foursome in Ayr before moving
to Huron County. Before that, well before
that, he and his brother did some
amateur radio shows in Brantford, and
they worked the garden party circuit.
The Campbells were singers in their
Junior Farmer days, and in 1961 they
teamed with George Turner and Larry
Wheatley to win a provincial quartet title
in Toronto.
Ribey, too, was a singer while in Junior
Farmers, in a choir. Later he was a
member of the Harbouraires, a male
chorus out of Goderich. He and Vincent
continue to sing in church choirs.
To a man, the Four point to fellowship
and "sheer enjoyment" as reasons for
their sticking together. A number of
(cont. on page 15)
THE RURAL VOICE/JANUARY 1982 PG. 3