by Audrey Samora

If you hear the term BLT, I bet you think of bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwiches!

Well… it can be something very different. B-BLT is the name of a barbershop quartet, and the letters stand for Bass-Baritone, Lead and Tenor. The B-BLT Quartet was part of a delightful performance by the Folsom Harmony Express during their annual recital in Orangevale.

The Folsom Harmony Express is a chorus of approximately eighteen men who meet weekly to rehearse music in the barbershop style. It is very obvious they enjoy singing together, and their love of barbershop harmony is evident from the first note.  The setting was "fall inspired" with baskets of beautiful fall flowers center stage. Members of the chorus wore black pants, white shirts and red vests.

To give you an idea of how "audience friendly" the chorus is, the songs in the program are listed with the key they will be sung in!

(Click here to open the program in a new window.)

Friday night’s show theme was "The Building of America," spanning the time period from the 1800s through the 1900s. Song after song was well executed and audience response was very positive all evening. Yes, barbershop singing is done in a chorus, as well as in the familiar quartets!

Jan Vecchio, popular songstress in this area and dressed in Southern Belle attire, joined the chorus to add a bit of sparkle, as they sang "East Side, West Side," "Meet Me in Saint Louis, Louis" and "Old Susanna."

The Fat City Four Quartet from Stockton were guests for this night of fun, and they entertained us with several memorable songs. They are a well established group, sing barbershop with a very different style than the Folsom Harmony Express, and added a nice variety to the show. They were welcomed by the audience with enthusiasm.

Stan Trumbull, in his white dinner jacket, did a fine job as MC. Some of the vocal selections were enhanced by special arrangements featuring Les Cudworth, Roger Perkins and Gordon Fawkes.

Three lucky winners of the drawing went home with gifts.

One last round of applause for the Folsom Harmony Express please!