After decades of singing in various quartets, Marco and Tom reunited in 2018 with hopes of forming a senior quartet. Joined by Nat Comisar and Steve Shiveley, the group officially launched in August 2022 after a spontaneous reunion at Tom’s 70th birthday party. With coaching from Jean and Brian Barford, and support from Joe Hunter and David Calland, they quickly found their sound—placing fourth in 2023 after just six rehearsals. In 2024, they achieved their dream: Senior Quartet Champions.

Quartet Members
Nat Comisar
Original bass of The Cincinnati Kids, Nat returned to barbershop after years in fine dining and broadcasting. Raise the Roof is his first competing quartet.
Marco Crager
A 50-year barbershopper, Marco sang with Bustin’ Loose, Rumors, Time Bandits, and Wow! Time Flies. Retired from AT&T, he now races Corvettes and dodges squirrels.
Steve Shiveley
A second-generation barbershopper, Steve joined BHS at age three and has sung in nine quartets. He’s a dedicated postman and the quartet’s unofficial pitch pipe enforcer.
Tom Rouse
Also a second-generation singer, Tom began in the 1960s and has won the Seniors contest three times—with Rusty Pipes, Hearsay, and now Raise the Roof.

Behind the Scenes
Their wives—Mary, Bridget, Dawn, and Jennie—are the quartet’s foundation, offering support, style, and patience through every rehearsal and performance.

With nearly 200 years of combined barbershop experience, Raise the Roof proudly represents the Society with harmony, humor, and heart.

Hearsay is a member of the Barbershop Harmony Society and proud to represent the Johnny Appleseed District. We are members of the Western Hills Chapter and sing with the Southern Gateway Chorus.

The venue may have been Las Vegas but our 2011 Senior Quartet champions were taking no chances as they stormed the stage with an in-your-face set of Irish songs. As witty baritone Glenn Siebert said, “Yesterday we were Over Easy and today we are ‘sunny side up’”.

Beating the odds was no task for this JAD foursome. They were third in the district competition but came up with the winning hand, out-scoring 26 other competitors and winning the gold by 22 points in a contest that saw 18 quartets score 800 points or higher.

Over Easy first appeared on the International stage in San Antonio where they gave a hint of things to come by finishing sixth. They repeated that placement in 2009 in Pasadena, and then found themselves looking for a new bass singer. They welcomed Mark Hannum and qualified for Tampa where they finished 16th, then on to Las Vegas where they hit the jackpot and become the 26th Senior Quartet Champion. The quartet is from the Cleveland/Columbus Ohio area.

Lead singer Carl Ondrus brings his energetic, lyrical style to the front and is joined by the butter-smooth sounds of Glenn Siebert. Mark gives the very important foundation with his solid bass, and Al Reese provides the sparkle of his fine tenor voice. The quartet was very animated and involved and it was clear that they “owned” the stage during their performance. From the St. Patrick’s Day Parade medley to the Renee Craig arrangement of Danny Boy, they captivated the audience and judging panel with their entire package, clearly earning their spot in history.

The members of Over Easy are very excited about their success and look forward to representing the JAD and AISQC during this year. They are very proud of the fact that they are “regular guys”, with no former gold-medalists or renowned singers in their quartet. They feel that their gold medal will encourage men all around the Society to go to work to achieve high levels of success in our great hobby.

Staying together
The only score these champs track is how 
much fun they’re havingFor a group that was formed almost entirely by accident, Downstate Express is having a long, successful run! But in our 23 years together, our best success has not been winning our district championship, our multiple appearances on the international stage or even winning the 2004 International Seniors Quartet Championship. We still count our biggest success as the fact that we’re still intact and still having the time of our lives singing together.

Lucky coincidence turns into a decades-long gig
In March of 1981, we were just four casual friends who usually only saw each other at district events. Ed, Bruce, Warren Hettinga and Gary, were at a division contest singing at the back of a room—just four guys ringing chords for a few minutes while we waited for the quartets and judges to get out of the evaluation sessions so that the afterglow could start in earnest.
The crowd was antsy for somebody—anybody—to sing, and that’s when someone approached the four of us and asked us to get on stage. Frankly, it was only coincidence that the four of us were together, but we decided to give it a shot. Warren wanted to sing bari, so we chose the other three parts and picked out three songs that we thought we could get through and went up on stage. We felt pretty good about how we sounded for four guys with literally minutes of experience singing together, but we left it at that. Bruce was still singing in the Roadrunners, so it wasn’t like we were thinking of forming a new quartet.
By the Land O’ Lakes District fall convention the next October, Bruce had dropped out of the Roadrunners, and we were all thinking back to our experience at the division contest. We started to explore the possibility of forming a quartet. One drawback was that we all lived in different cities, and it was about 150 miles between Warren and Bruce, with Ed and Gary in between. We got together a few times in November and December and registered as a quartet in January of 1982. About seven weeks later, with a three-song repertoire, we entered the division contest and won. Now we had to get serious and get ready for the district contest in October.

Thriving under a mentor
The next—and probably one of the best—decisions we ever made was to drive to Minneapolis and meet with Richard Dick, who became our coach and mentor. He had a wealth of knowledge and experience and had coached many quartets. He relentlessly drilled us on vowels, attacks and releases and wouldn’t let us slide over the little things. We had set a goal to win the district championship in two years. We all agree that Richard is the reason we instead won the first time out.
Richard coached us for many years and was truly the fifth man and best friend of Downstate Express. The next three years we represented LOL at the international quartet contest and placed as high as 22nd. Then, after an 11-year layoff from competing, we entered the 1996 international prelim contest and qualified to represent LOL in Salt Lake City. 
Warren dropped out in 1997 and eventually ended up in Las Vegas. We were lucky to have Richard “Trep” Treptow available to sing with us. Trep has been a great asset to Downstate Express. When Trep joined, he had three weeks to learn 16 songs for our next show. He made two mistakes in the 16 songs, and we have never let him forget it.

Contest results do not equal growth and enjoyment
How is it that Downstate has lasted so long? Maybe a bit of quartet philosophy will help. Most quartets peak at some point, reaching a natural barrier such as time, jobs, or possibly the talent of individual members. Unfortunately, for too many quartets, their peak is measured solely by their contest rankings. What does a quartet do when it bumps up against one of those limits and can’t reach its competition goals? Many simply break up when one or more members feels the barrier is not his doing, and he wants to keep “progressing.” But, what is “progress”?
For Downstate Express, the measuring stick for the quartet was simply: Are we enjoying (1) being together as friends, (2) singing together as a quartet, and (3) entertaining audiences together, OR is there another quartet opportunity where we would receive more enjoyment than from the four of us in the Downstate Express? If there’s not, why break up a good thing?
In terms of competition, Downstate Express probably peaked several years ago, but we are yet to peak in the very important areas of our hobby: enjoying our friendship, the joy of singing together, and the positive feedback we receive from our show audiences.
It may be a fact that strictly competition quartets don’t last as long as quartets who measure their success in broader terms. Downstate won its district contest more than 20 years ago and a few years later we stopped competing in international preliminaries. But we kept singing simply because it’s fun to do. That alone is a very good reason.
If you are in a competing quartet, ask yourself what would happen if you eliminated competition as a factor in your quartet experience. Ask:
• Are we having a good time together?
• Are we making good music?
• Do audiences like us?
If the answer is yes to all three, then what is to be gained by breaking up? For Downstate Express, even if we had come in dead last in Biloxi, we’d be singing and entertaining and enjoying our time together, doing what we love to do. N


Ed Wirtz, tenor, joined the Society at age 13 after the Four Teens sang at his New Ulm, Minn., high school in 1951. A former chorus director, with two district quartet championships, Ed has been a member of the Mankato Riverblenders since 1973. He is retired from working in international engineering sales. He and his wife, Barbara, live in Wabasha, Minn.

Bruce Odell, lead, has been quartetting in the Society continuously since he joined in 1964—in only three quartets. He lives in Winona, Minn., with his wife, Karen, and is a member of the Winona Area Barbershop Chorus, for which he is a former director. He has 20 Man of Note awards and has served as a clinician, faculty member for many Land O’ Lakes schools and programs, and as coach for many choruses and quartets.

Richard “Trep” Treptow, bari, has three district quartet championships to his credit and sang with the international champion, Happiness Emporium. Richard is the Society’s current Presentation category specialist. He lives in Indianapolis, Ind., where he is a financial advisor to state and local governments. 

Gary Rogness, bass, has been a Barbershopper since 1975. Gary lives with his wife, Ginger, in Rochester, Minn., where he is an electrical component technician. They have three children: Ryan, Laura and David. He’s held numerous chapter officer positions and was recipient of the Chapter Barbershopper of the Year. He has 11 Man of Note awards.

The BARONS first registered with the Society in 1971 and have remained active in the Cardinal District since that time. Another combination of BARONS won the Cardinal District Championship in 1978.Establishing themselves as a top drawer comedy quartet, the BARONS have performed throughout the Midwest for these past 30+ years. After wearing down several lead singers over the years, Carl Taylor has emerged as the one who will "go the distance". Carl is a high school choral music teacher in Ashland, Kentucky. He is married to Bobbie Jo and has 2 children, Kerri and Brad. Buddy Haggard, tenor, and Bill Woodward, bass, are the originals and have sung together in the BARONS, and other quartets, for nearly 40 years. Buddy owns an appliance store in Winchester, Kentucky and is married to Phyllis. They have 2 children, Elisa and Ron. Bill is retired but still piddles around doing odd jobs mostly for his friends and neighbors. Bill and Charlotte have one son, Alan, and reside in Lexington, Kentucky.Ken Buckner, baritone, lives in Louisville, Kentucky with his wife Hollie. He replaced the baritone of 26 years in August of 2001. Ken previously sang with the Citations. Ken and Hollie have two sons, Kipp and Todd. Together this combination of BARONS has over 130 years of membership in SPEBSQSA and all are active in their respective chapters Ashland, Lexington and Louisville #1. Quartet rehearsals require quite a bit of road time for all the members of the BARONS. Ken starts east from Louisville, meeting Bill and Buddy along the way and Carl heads west from Ashland. They all meet at Morehead University and rehearse in the music building on the campus. Total roundtrip for Ken is about 240 miles and just a bit less for Carl, Bill and Buddy. But when you enjoy each other's company and are having fun singing together... this is a small price to pay.The BARONS are honored to have been selected as the 2003 Senior Champions and look forward many years of singing together.

Members of HARMONY bring a wealth of experience to the stage as show and competition chorus and quartet singers, chorus directors, coaches, and competition judges. But their first love is performing in a barbershop quartet. 

The road to the championship
HARMONY was formed in the fall of 1999. Just six weeks later, the quartet won the Land O' Lakes District seniors' quartet championship and the right to compete in the January 2000 international seniors' quartet contest in Tucson, Arizona. In only its second competition appearance, HARMONY won the international seniors quartet contest bronze medal. The following October, the quartet again won the district seniors quartet championship and a spot in the international seniors quartet contest in Jacksonville, Florida. It was there, in January 2001, that HARM
ONY sang its way to the gold medal. 

Meet the members of HARMONY 
Meet the members of HARMONY: Tenor Rudy Zarling is a financial planner. The other three quartet members are part of the headquarters staff of the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America. Joe Liles, lead, is a past executive director of SPEBSQSA and is now director of music publishing. Darryl Flinn, baritone, is the executive director of SPEBSQSA. Reed Sampson, bass, is the Society's public relations manager. Their show is a great blend of up-tunes, ballads and light-hearted humor. The quartet's spirited style, close harmony and lively banter keep the audience involved from start to finish. So, get ready to have some fun! It's show time with HARMONY. harmony@wi.rr.com
 

Finally-- yet suddenly -- after a century-plus of barbershop harmony experience and 250 years on the planet, this endangered foursome evolved into the Jurassic Larks Quartet in July 1997. Just a few weeks later, they won the Central States District Seniors Quartet Championship. This achievement qualified them to represent the district in the Barbershop Harmony Society's International Seniors Quartet Contest, in Tampa, Florida, in January 1998. There, the Jurassic Larks won the championship on their first try, besting 25 other quartets from around the United States and Canada.
Since then, the Larks have been dazzling(?) audiences young and old in 22 states with their home-grown parodies of otherwise respectable popular songs and barbershop standards. For 2002 alone, their performances took them to nine states; for 2003, six states. The Larks are known for the finest in tailored costumes--retro leisure suits--and they feature a highly animated (?) choreography that folks really appreciate. Rave reviews have gone so far as to describe the Larks as "the cat's meow," "catatonic," "comatose," "warped," "awesome," "awful"--whatever. 
Victor Neilsen (Tenor) and Barney Alleman (Bass) have made a parody of retirement. After a long career as division manager of vocational rehabilitation, Victor now is a library volunteer and also mentors an elementary student. Barney had been an insurance executive--and has retired many times. He is going to keep doing it till he gets it right. He is an avid golfer, hunter, and new car go-fer. Vince Yinger (Lead and Curator of these prehisterical relics), is the youngest and newest of the four grandfathers. Now retired, he had been--for what seemed like an eternity to him--an internal (infernal?) auditor at one of Iowa's state agencies. G.W. Lewallen (Baritone), is semi-retired as an artistic graphic designer. He paints signs. He owns the smallest four-wheel paint shop in the valley. With automatic transmission. As a premier storyteller, G.W. will never retire. These four entertainers have all been members of the Des Moines, Iowa Barbershop Chorus for more than 25 years, but they had never sung together as a quartet until the Larks were hatched in 1997. They've been singing "Together" together ever since. 
The Jurassic Larks hope you enjoy their unique rendition of barbershop harmony and other prehisterical nonsense half as much as they enjoy performing it for you. That is the way it usually works out. Now, lean forward to the edge of your seat--you won't want to miss a single word, note, or graceful movement of these winged dinosaurs in flight! (On the Internet, check them out at www.JurassicLarks.com.)