Who needs an orchestra — or even a piano — when you've got voices like these?
Richard McAllister, Mike Willson, Phil Kesler, Mike Bearden, John Luthy and John Huff — collectively known as Voice Male — make music, quite literally, the old-fashioned way: by voice alone.
Surely you hear drums on "Walking On Sunshine" on their latest "Hooked" CD? Nope, that's just Luthy. And the harmonica on the Clint Black-Steve Wariner "Been There"? That would be Huff. How about the whole section of horns on "The Shadow of Your Smile"? Give credit to Luthy, Huff, Willson and Bearden.
But the music this a cappella group produces is more than sound effects and quirky backgrounds; it is music in the fullest, richest, most harmonious sense of the word. And the sextet does it in a diverse range of styles and genres: everything from Christmas songs and LDS hymns to pop, rock, jazz, folk, country and barbershop.
No surprise that Voice Male is finding a growing audience. "Hooked" is the group's fifth CD. Voice Male's Christmas album, "Jingles," was named best Holiday Album for 1999 by the Contemporary A Cappella Recording Association (an award that has been won previously by the likes of the king'singers and Take Five).
And this weekend, Voice Male has been invited to take its incredible talent to the West Coast A Cappella Summit in San Rafael, Calif. "It's a big deal in the a cappella world," says Luthy. "It's kind of like a Trekkie convention, only for a cappella nerds," laughs Huff. Voice Male will perform at one of the Saturday concerts. "It's really an honor to be asked to do that."
The group got its start in 1994, when the guys were all at Utah State University and sang in the LDS Institute Choir. They started out as a nine-member, breakout barbershop group called Hooligans, which over time got pared down and evolved with some new members into the six-man Voice Male. The group released its first CD in 1996.
By now all the members have graduated, although some are working on advanced degrees; four of them are married; most have "day jobs." They are lawyers and computer experts and graphic designers. But they have the same passion and enthusiasm for performing, for making music.
The group is cohesive, good friends with shared values on and off the stage. Bearden, who sings tenor, does most of the musical arrangements; Kesler, who sings baritone, also does the design of album covers and such. Luthy, the guy with a "mouth full of drums," does bass and percussion and also handles most of the business affairs. McAllister sings tenor; Huff is a tenor and baritone; Willson sings bass.
They have a big following in Cache Valley; are popular in Afton, Wyo. "Because our CDs are released nationally through LDS bookstores, we get little pockets of followers all over," says Huff. "Oakland, Cleveland; we get random e-mail from all over. It's pretty cool."
What's really nice, says McAllister, is that their audience's demographics cut across generations. "Parents can bring grandparents or send their kids; we're popular with teenagers; college kids like us."
The group has about 70 songs in its repertoire — from such diverse artists as the Beach Boys, U-2, James Taylor, Brooks & Dunn, Paul Simon, Jim Henson and Blessed Union of Souls. Voice Male does TV theme songs and folk ballads and some original compositions.
The group has learned a lot, Luthy says, about studio recording and about producing, about developing new techniques. "We've been able to work with some of this area's top musicians." But more important, he says, is that the group's members feel they are providing good entertainment. "We're gratified that people enjoy what we do," he says.
"We hear from people who tell us that our music touched them," adds Huff, "that it changed them, that we made a difference." That's the kind of response that makes it all worthwhile.
E-MAIL: carma@desnews.com