Journeymen take first-ever tour, with stops in Alexandria, Marvin

Touring for the first time ever, with two Land O’Lakes District Quartet Champions also on the bill, The Journeymen Chorus made stops in Alexandria, Minnesota, and Marvin, South Dakota.

Along with acclaimed quartets Chord Smash and Kordal Kombat, The Journeymen performed their brand of high fidelity barbershop at Abbey of The Hills on Saturday, March 22 and at the Alexandria Performing Arts Center on Sunday, March 23.

As any such Journeymen event would, the tour was a boatload of fun for the guys. That was doubly true following the first show at Abbey of The Hills, which served as both the performance venue and as a lodging/retreat center. An afterglow, with lots of tag singing, beverages, and fellowship carried on well into the evening.

“For me, it was what The Journeymen are all about,” Journeymen bass Kyle Weaver said. “Singing great music, putting it out to great audiences, then putting your arms around each other’s shoulders and kicking back afterward. Even the tour bus ride home, when you’re tired and ready for a nap, is still a hoot.”

The tour got lots of great local press coverage, with a radio plug and a feature story in the Alexandria Echo Press. Journeymen members Keith Olson and Dan Schroeder deserve a lot of the credit for their local knowledge and efforts at helping to put the tour together.

A big thank you also goes out to Twin Valley Tire, of Milbank, S.D., which sponsored parts of the tour.

Another shoutout goes out to Journeymen bass Tim Milbrandt, who, following an illness, pinch hit on bass with Kordal Kombat on a few quartet show songs.

“It is a total nod to the talent that the Journeymen Chorus has assembled,” Journeymen President Jay Fahl said. “To be able to go to our entire bass section with a list of songs and say ‘who knows this song, that song, etc.,’ and have a handful of guys who could have stepped in. I don’t know there are many other groups who could have done that.”