Hooked on "Hooked On A Feeling"

You would have had to have been hiding in a mineshaft deep on the far side of the Moon to have escaped the hype around this summer's Guardians of the Galaxy blockbuster movie. Among its virtues, though, is the incessantly catchy hit "Hooked On A Feeling," a 1968 B.J. Thomas hit that became locked in our minds by the Blue Swede version with the "ooga chakas."  

Our new arrangement comes from Jon Nicholas, director of the Lexington Kentuckians Chorus and a name you may recognize from another chart of his that we published last year, The Beach Boys' "Little Saint Nick." You can listen to Tony DeRosa ooga chaka his way through the learning tracks, too. 

• Streamlined process for grants up to $1,5000

• Webinars beginning next week will guide you through planning and application process

Building partnerships that expand singing throughout the country will be the cornerstone of a wave of new grants made by the Barbershop Harmony Society.

"In 2014 alone, we've already invested more than $800,000 in programs in more than 100 communities," said CEO Marty Monson. "Still, we have this tremendous infrastructure of committed Barbershoppers -- more  than 23,000 men in more than 800 communities -- who want to make a meaningful impact. This expanded grants program will fuel this powerful engine for outreach to support vocal music of all kinds."

New to the grants program for 2015 is the concept of Outreach Direct Grants, a relatively simple application process for grants of up to $1,500 for programs addressing:

• Adult outreach -- all age groups, from recent college graduates to seniors; as members, fellow singers, and audiences

• Community outreach -- building partnership with other musical organizations and underserved populations, age groups, income levels, and ethnicities

• Youth outreach -- through camps, workshops, festivals and scholarships

• Education-- supporting school music programs and support for educators themselves

• Supporting community-based choral initiatives and community singing

"We are specifically tasking our members to look out the window and see how they can be of service to their communities with no strings attached," said Joe Cerutti, Outreach Director. "By the same measure, music educators and community leaders with projects that need eager support and funding are invited to come to us with ideas and needs that lend themselves to partnerships with local barbershop chapters."

Learn more - Live Webinars

In the coming weeks, we will offer several special live and recorded online events that explain the expanded grants program, answer questions about the process, and coach you in developing meaningful, fundable plans. Links to launching all webinars will be posted on the web at www.barbershop.org/grants

• Tuesday, September 23, noon CDT  - YouTube Live Hangout - Interactive session with Joe Cerutti to discuss the grants program goals and approaches  

• Wednesday, September 24, 7pm CDT Interactive session as above, additional time

• Tuesday, September 30, noon CDT - YouTube Live Hangout  Demonstration of the application web site with Ashley Torroll

• Wednesday, October 1, 7pm CDT - YouTube Live Hangout - Demonstration of the application web site with Ashley Torroll

It's hard to sing barbershop all by yourself, so the Music Publications team at Harmony Hall is adding new ordering capabilities to speed up your purchase of popular titles with Quartet Kits.

Suppose you're aching for your quartet to learn "We Need A Little Christmas," a nice Dave Briner chart we first released two years ago. Bang! Order up stock no. 209027 and we'll fit you up with

• Four copies of sheet music

• One learning CD

• License for four copies of the learning track

Easy - quick - and the list of kits is growing daily.  See them all at bit.ly/quartetkits

Fall 2014 House of Delegates bulletin now online

You all read The Harmonizer and LiveWire. You've pored over the annual plan in January, the annual report in May, the House of Delegates update in April. You're all tied into district communications and conference calls. So why a bulletin? Three main reasons:

1. To update you on info and policy changes you may have missed elsewhere

2. To spur actions you need to take now

3. To make you aware of opportunities on the near horizon

So, quickly and compactly, check out the Fall 2014 House of Delegates Bulletin for everything new and notable. (Readers interested in an even deeper dive may enjoy reading official meeting minutes of the Society Board of Directors, also posted on the web site.)

Many readers (three = many in the mailbox biz) have thanked LiveWire for running calendar items for the coming two months. A few (two) have reminded us that it would be helpful to include the major events of our sisters in Sweet Adelines International and Harmony, Inc.

Thanks for mentioning it. Now, call up AAA and get a TripTik that routes you from home to your district convention, then on to Baltimore for SAI November 3-8, then across the midwest for HI's gathering in Louisville November 12-16. And if the grandkids won't miss you for the holidays, you can just stay on the road, wrapping up your trip in New Orleans for Midwinter Convention January 6-12.