Spending my middle and high school years training as a singer meant that sometimes I performed in some odd circumstances. It turns out that not every situation calls for classically-trained performers.
As a sixth-grader, I was a part of a choir that went to Colorado Springs to sing at the Flying W Ranch. The Flying W Ranch is both a working cattle ranch and a tourist attraction giving visitors an up-close view of the culture of the west.
The Chuck Wagon Dinner and Western Musical Show performed by the Flying W Wranglers is the highlight. When my choir filed out of the bus on a random Thursday night, the parking lot was full. Cowboys in boots mixed with tourists in flip flops as they walked up to the dining hall. Right there among them were 30 middle schoolers in red polos.
Dinner began with some smoked meats, and as we all dug in at our long table, the Flying W Wranglers started performing old country favorites. No one at the ranch gave much notice to our group.
Finally, the head wrangler made an announcement. “We are honored to have guests from the Denver School of the Arts here to sing a song with us. It’s a favorite.”
At that moment, we all had to stand up and look at each other across the table. Our director let out a note on his pitch pipe, and the band began to play Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless the USA.”
The crowd was thrilled! Everyone loved that song.
Then the singing began.
“If tomorrow all the things are gone…” our choir sang in four-part harmony with the band joining us. There’s never been a clash of styles like the Flying W Wranglers singing country and a middle school choir (made up of only treble parts because many of our voices hadn’t changed) trying to get through “God Bless the USA.”
After three very long minutes of us clearly straining to find the tune, the song mercifully ended. The other guests and ranch employees all pretended like it didn’t happen. Shortly after, we got back on the bus, heading home until our next opportunity to bring choral music to some other unsuspecting group of diners.