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With Sing2023 (the British Association of Barbershop Singers 49th Convention at Bournemouth) now only a couple of weeks away, the Kingsmen are putting the finishing touches to their two competition songs and getting ‘stage ready’ for their performance on Saturday 27th May.

Whilst we will not reveal in this Blog Post what we will be wearing on the day, we can say that our uniform for Sing2023 includes a blue bow tie and handkerchief. These items have very kindly been purchased and donated by our Club Chair, Barrington Sowden – seen here presenting Graham Palmer (left of shot) and Shaun Fewtrell (right of shot) with theirs.

When asked about his donation Barrington said: it is such a privilege to be Chair of this wonderful Chorus and I really wanted to mark this occasion and our attendance at Bournemouth, our first Convention since the pandemic.

Our current uniforms are in need of an update and we are hoping to do this later in the year following fund raising activities and a Chair’s Concert in October. So achieving a quick ‘make-over’ and ‘uniform uplift’ with new bow ties and handkerchiefs, and the fact that funds are a little short, gave me the opportunity to make this small gesture. As I said to the Chorus at rehearsal, if we look and feel good, then hopefully we will perform well. Come on the Kingsmen!

Graham, a Kingsmen Member for over 30 years and an Honorary Life Member, has attended many BABS Conventions before. When asked to share some of his experiences of these events Graham immediately recalled the nervous anticipation of his very first Convention. Here are some of his many memories of that and the others that followed.

In 1999, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the forming of BABS, instead of holding regional preliminary rounds, all member choruses were invited to the national Convention held that year in the splendid backdrop of the Winter Gardens, Blackpool.

At our allocated time to sing, we assembled behind closed curtains, I seem to remember, and the spine-chilling words “Stewards, close the doors” were heard. The curtains rolled back and we stared out into a pitch black auditorium from which powerful theatre lights illuminated every detail of our tentative group of singers.

This was it! All that preparation, all the drill, and all the pep talks-would they see us through? We swallowed and breathed deeply as the next announcement drifted across to us – “From Kingsbridge, under the direction of Roy Hann, THE KINGSMEN!”

Our first song was a lovely ballad “An Old-Fashioned Girl (in a Gingham Gown)”. I believe our second was ‘Roll out the Barrel’ which involved several intricate, well-practised moves. We sang it with great gusto, probably very quickly, but that’s what nerves can do to you! When the results were announced, we didn’t know what to expect but we finished a very creditable 15th. Fantastic!

Over the following years, we’ve attended Conventions in a variety of locations including Scarborough which it took 11 hours to get to by coach - and it wasn’t a stagecoach! We went to Harrogate 3 times - my favourite with its classic architecture and great pubs and Bournemouth 2 or 3 times not including this year. Our most successful performances were at Cheltenham Racecourse and Southport where we were placed 10th.

Since the first Convention the experience has been a little less spine-chilling but there’s still a tremendous buzz of excitement and a wonderful camaraderie about the occasions. Now, just around the corner-a return to Bournemouth.

So gird your loins chaps, take a deep breath and prepare to hear; “From Kingsbridge, under the direction of Gary Rowe, THE KINGSMEN!” Remember to enjoy every minute of this unique experience!

Shaun has been a Member of the Kingsmen since 2016 and is Section Leader of the Tenors and Member of the Music Team. Commenting on the run up to Sing2023 and the rehearsal schedule of recent weeks Shaun explained that: we always seek to do our best with any performances or competitions we take part in but for those of us who take part in this hobby, the National Convention is the pinnacle of our efforts. It allows us to take stock of how we compare to other Choruses nationally and in turn allows us to consider where is best to place our future efforts to ensure we always perform at our best.

The amount of work put in by all the guys in the Chorus is immense and a testament to how much we all get from our shared hobby of singing together. I look forward to the competition and hope that we will do our town of Kingsbridge proud.

So do wish us luck in our final days of preparation and ‘watch this space’ for our next update in which we’ll let you know how we got on…..and of course, show you what we wore!