All my life,
I've always been drawn to vocal group harmony.
REALLY close harmoney, but not dissonant harmony.
With VERY little vibrato.

I think it all started, when, as a kid, I saw an old movie (from the '40s) with a vocal group in it. I wish I knew what movie it was,
but there was a (mostly male) vocal group, sitting by a pool of water, singing and looking at their reflections, as they sang.
MAN! I wish I could see that film again....It made a BIG impression on me. I never before had heard such a rich, close-harmony sound.
I must have been about 10 or 11 when I saw it on TV. It just thrilled me, and I've never gotten over that moment.
My happiest musical moments have been singing tight 4-part harmonies with people, even just in rehearsal.

Anyway, a lot of my life has been shaped by harmony, and vocal groups I've been in. I met my first girlfriend in one, and met
and married my wife in one. I've been lucky to have worked with a lot of really talented singers.
You know, not just anyone can fit into a vocal group situation.
Besides having a decent voice, the KEY to being a good harmony singer is having a good jazz ear,
and learning how to blend.| (Oh, and not singing flat or too sharp, too!)
Some great soloists I've met can NOT sing harmony with others,
and drift on to others' harmony parts, instead. Not good.

I've worked with several singers who normally sang with a fairly heavy vibrato, but they adapted
very quickly into the vocal group format, and completely toned-down their normal vibrato for the sake of
the group' sound. Wild vibratos beating against each other are the worst!

When I first moved away from Seattle to Los Angeles, my focus went into songwriting and playing in bands.
After moving back home to Seattle, I wanted to get as far away from pop music as possible.
(At that time, the popular styles were disco, punk and new wave. Triple-Yecchh!)
So, as a kind of rebellion against the current pop music of the day that I hated,
I went really retro! At age 25 I formed my first jazz vocal group, The Swingaires.


We ONLY did music of the Forties -- Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey, - that kind of thing.
We were ahead of our time, because about 15 years later, a Swing craze renaissance hit the land!
Oh, well, we had fun, back in 1980. We did gig a lot, including playing Reno, Nevada. I played electric bass and sang.
We had a piano player and a drummer, too.



The Swingaires (my first vocal group) only did songs from the Swing Era.
We were together from April, 1979 to May, 1981.
We were stuck in musical time warp, that we never actually lived
through, the first time! Incredibly uncommercial and fun!
We did had a full band, but here are some demos, featuring piano and guitar only....
(I played piano and guitar, for rehearsal only.)

Hold Tight
Soprano: Lisa McPhaden
Alto: Janice Lakers
Tenor: Dana Countryman
Baritone: Bob Kaiser

(Arr: [for 4-part harmony]
by Dana Countryman)

San Fernando Valley
Soprano: Janice Lakers
Alto: Lisa McPhaden
Tenor: Dana Countryman
Baritone: Bob Kaiser

(Arr: Unknown)



The Amazing Pink Things were directly born out of the Swingaires. Bob Kaiser and I founded the "Pink Things",
to present good harmonies and funny songs. We did really well, and within a few months of our debut, had
lines around the block for our show! What a great feeling! We had two men and two women in the group,
and we were all single. Meaning, we were free to travel, which we did all over the West Coast, and over
to New York City. Some of our favorite audiences were in Anchorage, Alaska, and we performed up there
for three years in a row.

We had eleven members come and go, over the course of 6 years, and I was the only one who was
there the whole time! My favorite member of the group was our last alto, Tricia, who foolishly
agreed to be my wife! All these years, and we're still making music together!


 
The Pink Things were together from 1985-1991.

We were known for our comedy, but we occasionally liked to do a serious ballad.
We always performed with a pre-recorded backing track, but did at least
one a capella song in each show. Here are four of those:
two serious ones, one goofy one, and one Christmassy song!

   It Could Happen To You
Soprano: Mimi McLeod
Alto: Tami Martin
Tenor: Dana Countryman
Baritone: Bob Kaiser

(Arr: Dana Countryman)

Link to photo of this combo

   Walk Softly
Soprano: Tami Martin
Alto: Brenda Sonnier
Tenor: Dana Countryman
Baritone: Bob Overman

(Arr: Unknown)

Link to photo of this combo

   Hal and Lulu
Soprano: Tami Martin
Alto: Maureen McKenna
Tenor: Dana Countryman
Baritone: Bob Overman

(Arr: Dana Countryman)

Link to photo of this combo

   Have Yourself a
Merry Little Christmas
Soprano: Tami Martin
Alto: Tricia Countryman
Tenor: Dana Countryman
Baritone: Bob Overman

(Arr: Dana Countryman)

Link to photo of this combo


More info on The Amazing Pink Things here.

 


"Moonlight Express" was formed at a time when I was really missing singing harmonies. Tricia and I started the band in 1993,
just as I was finishing college. We had a regular gig at a Seattle hotel, and played a lot of conventions. I sang and played
electric bass, and we had a great jazz piano player, Steve Rice. Moonlight Express were meant to be a 'non-comedy' jazz vocal group,
along the lines of "Manhattan Transfer".

We had a lot of fun, but never did make a big dent in the Seattle music scene. Sniff. Nevertheless, it was a great group.
The most fun we ever had, was performing the following song with the Seattle Seahawks' official 10-piece band.
Sadly, I never got a recording of our one-time performance with them. But it's indelibly printed in my mind.


 

This band was together from 1993-1996.

Here's a demo of the vocals, with just (a very out-of-tune!) piano:

    Welcome To The Club
Soprano: Denise Doering
Alto: Tricia Countryman
Tenor: Dana Countryman
Baritone: Aaron Douglas

Piano: Marty Olchea

(Arr: Dana Countryman)



 

During the Pink Things' days, one time I was killing time in my studio,
and decided it would be fun to get one of our girl singers, Maureen McKenna
to come in and record a song, just for kicks.
I discovered this old Little Anthony and the Imperials' song
"I'm On the Outside Looking In", and I loved it.
I went ahead and recorded all the backing harmonies and
instruments, in Maureen's key.

Well, as it turned out, she never made it
out to my Lynnwood studio, so I went ahead and
challenged myself to sing the solo in her key! I could never do it now!
This remains my favorite solo vocal of mine. From 1989.

    I'm On the Outside Looking In
All instruments and vocals (about 7) by Dana
(Arr: Dana Countryman)

One afternoon, around 1990, I decided to do a "one man band" production.
Here I am, playing all the instruments, and singing all the parts on this classic early
doo-wop tune. I lifted the Beach Boys' arrangement from their
record by ear, adding my own ending. I thought about doing
a whole "oldies" album, but never did...

    Why Do Fools Fall In Love
All instruments and vocals (about 10) by Dana
(Arr: Brian Wilson, with a Dana ending!)

I've always been a big fan of the Four Freshmen. One afternoon, during the same summer of 1989, I copied down one of their arrangments by ear, and sang all the parts. I

t's not perfect, but chances are that I'll never record it again:

    Nancy with the Laughing Face
Four vocals by Dana
(Arr: Dick Reynolds)
Wow! Exactly have visited here!