The Sunlighters

         (In memoriam)

Paul Gauthier Jerry Tucker Ron Krous   Paul Madison   Tenor Lead  Bass    Baritone             5/11/25-9/28/05                        8/3/28-6/27/06

The Sunlighters had been around many years and had gone through several personnel changes. No matter who the personnel were all of them except for one would have been or are 40+ year members of the Barbershop Harmony Society.  Which says something about this quartet. Had two of them not gone to their reward it would be easy to believe that they would still be singing to this day. The Sunlighters were a most prolific quartet. It seems that every time you looked they were somewhere singing and delighting audiences all around the Yakima Valley and beyond. It is still hard to believe that they aren't still around. Those of us that knew Paul Gauthier and Ron Krous remember them fondly. While Paul Madison is no longer residing in the Yakima area we do get to see him on occasion and communicate with him regularly. Allow us from the Valley of the Sun Chorus bid the Sunlighters a fond farewell.

 

 

Apple Valley Foursome

Tim DePrey Al DePrey Jack Acord Art Ries Tenor Lead Bass Baritone                                                                         1/8/28-10/6/03

The Apple Valley Foursome has been in existence for about 15 years.  It started with father and son, Al & Tim Deprey, Art Ries, and Bill Penoyer.  After a few years Bill retired and moved to Florida.  This left a big hole in the Bass part. The other 3 recruited Jack Acord to fill that slot. For several years Jack was the primary Bass in the quartet.  When Jack wasn't able to sing for whatever reason, Scott Belanger would fill in for him.  Eventually Jack was no longer able to sing and Scott became the permanent Bass.  It has been that way for many years.  This looks to be the last year for the quartet as it is getting increasingly difficult to get together for rehearsals.  The Valley of the Sun Chorus annual show might just be the swan song for this quartet.  If you know us and like to hear us sing, come to the show and then come to the Afterglow for what could be the final performance of this much beloved quartet.  But you never know, they might decide to stick around a while longer. 

My 3 Sons is perhaps the most unique quartet in the Barbershop Society. Why? As the name implies the quartet consists of a Father and his 3 Sons.  They are Bill Sr., Bill Jr., Mike and Kelly, McCays one and all.  While there are any number of quartets with a father and son, two brothers and maybe even an uncle or two let us hazard a guess that there are no other quartets with this close of a familial relationship. That is the reason they sound so good.  It is genetics. They have no control over how they sound. It just happens.

Bill McCay started singing with the Valley of the Sun Chorus of Yakima Wa. in 1952. Bill Jr was 4 years old and Michael was 2; and they both started humming the tunes that Dad brought home from practice until they were old enough to start singing the words. With the birth of his third son, Kelly, in 1957; Bill had the makings of a family barbershop quartet. The boys all attended practice occasionally over the years, and had spent numerous occasions entertaining friends and family with barbershop tunes. It wasn't until Michael finally officially joined the chorus in 2010 that the name was registered as "My 3 Sons", for obvious reasons.

The quartet, with Bill on baritone, Bill Jr at bass, Kelly in the lead and Michael rounding out the sound on tenor, have been performing at the annual show for many years and attended their first contest in 2011. That was a major highlight for Bill who had waited many years since that first practice in 1953 to be able to sing at contest with his three boys, and proudly introduce them as "My 3 Sons".

 Behind The Times 

                                                                                                                   at our Annual Show - Nov. 2010     

Behind The Times  first got together in 2004 with two from the Apple Valley Foursome, one from the Sunlighters and our chorus Director.  We thought at the time that was the four best voices the chorus had to offer.  Our goal at the time was to be a good quality quartet that would please any audience we performed in front of.  We have done that now for the past 8 years.  The quartet had a personnel change a couple of years ago; our baritone, and chorus director, was accepted to sing with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.  That acceptance would have him out of the area for no less than 5 years.  We replaced him with Ron Kruger, and stayed in this configuration until Scott's passing early in 2012.  Behind The Times can be seen singing all around the Yakima Valley at any time of the year.  It is all about the music and getting the word out that there is Barbershop to be heard in the Yakima Valley.  We have sung for as few as one person and as many as 2000.  It doesn't matter how many are listening as long as there are 4 guys singing it.  That is the beauty of Barbershop Harmony.  In March, due to the passing of Scott Belanger, our director, David Ramsey-Warner, has stepped in as the new bass. The four members of the quartet are Tim DePrey, Jerry Tucker, David Ramsey-Warner and Ron Kruger.  We are Behind The Times no matter which way you look at it and we look forward to singing for you.  To hire us call Jerry at 961-4890.  We've sung at barbershop competitions, and we'd love to sing for you too.  Be it a wedding, birthday or business function, let us provide that special musical touch to your day!