KUT News Now

Chuck Loesch fell in love with barbershop music as a teenager, then, after a twenty-five year break, rediscovered it as an adult.

The full transcript of this episode of KUT News Now is available on the KUT & KUTX Studio website. The transcript is also available as subtitles or captions on some podcast apps.

This Is My. Thing: BarbershopQuartet!

Show open and theme

Michael Lee [00:00:13] I’m Michael Lee and you’re listening to This Is My Thing. You’re probably listening to the show as part of the KUT News Now podcast feed. And it always brings me joy to remind you that despite being in the KUT News Now podcast feed, we are not at all a news program. On This Is My Thing, we talk to people about the things they do just for themselves. It’s not a job and it’s not a responsibility. It’s just a thing that brings them joy or feeds their soul.
This week, Barbershop Quartet!
My guest today is Chuck Loesch, who works for our distinguished competition, hosting a midnight heavy metal radio show. Chuck is one of a handful of people who love heavy metal and barbershop music equally. But being in a barbershop quartet is where he finds his real joy.

Chuck Loesch [00:01:08] My name is Chuck Loesch. I’m a competitive barbershop quartet singer.

Michael Lee [00:01:15] Let’s talk about barbershop quartet. How long has this been a part of your life?

Chuck Loesch [00:01:20] Well, first time or second time? This has been part of my life since I was 16 years old. And I am from 50 ish – somewhere around there. So quite a long time. I started when I was when I was in high school. Mr. Kretzmeier, my choir teacher, brought me into the fold. And once you sing a tag, which is the really loud ending of a barbershop song, you can kind of never go back. And I spent a couple of years with a barbershop quartet in high school and then got away from it for about 25 years and got back into it again in 2016 when I was kind of looking for looking for something I needed something to do that wasn’t expensive and that was mine for me.

Chuck Loesch [00:02:17] Friend of mine sang with Acapella Texas, which is a local barbershop chorus. It’s been around since the 60s. And he said, ‘Come to rehearsal. See what you think, you know, try it out.’ Because he had heard that I had saying back in the day, and that’s what I joined the chorus in 2016 and have a look back.

Michael Lee [00:02:34] In those intervening 25 years, was it something that was on your mind? Were you thinking about it or was it just gone?

Chuck Loesch [00:02:40] No. Every once in a while is one of those things that I just didn’t I don’t know. I just kind of forgot about it. It was crazy. Was it just wasn’t top of mind. And then I knew the work that it took to put into it, and I knew what it was like to sing. And I had done a lot of damage, you know, heavy metal yelling and screaming. And my ears were a little damage from too many, you know, non earplug shows that I’d gone to. So I was worried that a lot of the things I wouldn’t be able to do. So I just kind of put it in the back of my mind and didn’t really think about it and then, you know, stepped in the door and there was.

Michael Lee [00:03:24] You know, you mentioned heavy metal. And generally on this show, I don’t really bring up anyone’s day job unless unless they bring it up. But you mentioned to me when we were emailing early on that you have a job that you get paid for that involves heavy metal. Do you want to talk about that a little bit?

Chuck Loesch [00:03:38] I am an engineer and facility manager at an across town at KLBJ and I do a heavy metal radio show. So that’s like my day job is I love heavy metal and I listen to a lot of heavy metal. So and I’ve done that for 20 something years now.

Michael Lee [00:03:55] And I speculated that there wasn’t a huge crossover in music fandom between the heavy metal guys and the barbershop quartet guys. And you seem to think that you’re one of a few.

Chuck Loesch [00:04:07] I am. However, ever once they’re all you run into somebody. And what’s weird is, is that you’ll run into him in barbershop world. So it was like if you are in the barbershop circles and you’re wearing a death metal T-shirt and somebody goes, You, I know you, I see you, you know, we see each other and we know and that is happens every once in a while. But what’s more rare is when you’re in the metal world and you run into somebody who’s like, I heard you’re a barbershop singer, which happened to me. It was a door guy who worked at like the Dirty Dog Bar on Sixth Street. At one point, like like grabbed me, was like, put me in a headlock. And he’s like, ‘Hey, so I hear you sing barbershop.’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, I do’ He’s like, ‘So I’m a bass.’ I was like, ’Really?’ He’s like, ‘what do you want to sing?’ Am I? Okay. It was crazy. I was like, I never expected due to the goatee down to his belly button. And I was it was nuts.

Michael Lee [00:05:02] Is this an example of just people containing multitudes, or is there some common thread that causes you to love these two different types of music?

Chuck Loesch [00:05:10] I think it’s just I don’t I honestly I’ve tried to figure that out. Like if there is something in common with it, like the, the, the energy sort of feel or whatever it’s like. But one is so like homey and Americana and the other one is so like anti-establishment and like it’s just there’s a lot I don’t know, there’s just not many vibes that go together with the two, but maybe it’s the particular sound of the music or the chord structures or something of that nature or things that that just build up in your brain or something. But I haven’t able to put my finger on what it is.

Michael Lee [00:05:58] What you do specifically is competitive barbershop.

Chuck Loesch [00:06:01] Correct.

Michael Lee [00:06:02] Tell me a little bit about what a barbershop competition is like.

Chuck Loesch [00:06:06] The most glorious and nerve-wracking thing you’ll ever do in your entire life. So I’m a person who has, like, terrible stage fright. So part of this originally when I first got back into it was like, you know, I want to see if this is a fear that I can conquer. And then I found this other fear of like being judged, which is amazing when you’re signing up to be judged like literally signing up, to be judged. But the glorious thing of the barbershop competition is, is that you get to go and you get to sing more difficult songs. You work really diligently at particular songs that you’re doing and then have people give you a score for it. But what’s great is, is that you also get feedback. So like over the last six years of competitive barbershop quartet, I feel like I’ve gotten better and better.

Michael Lee [00:07:00] Barber shop is not hugely in the zeitgeist right now, but it does it does pop up in pop culture from time to time. When that happens, do they get it right?

Chuck Loesch [00:07:09] My God.

Michael Lee [00:07:10] Or, what do they get wrong?

Chuck Loesch [00:07:14] Well, they don’t. What’s crazy is, is a lot of that is because you’re Jimmy Fallon, you know, good example or Weezer. Another good example like we we went to Weezer and they open up their show with O where they all come out and they sing a little barbershop quartet song with the with the striped striped vests and the and the boater hats. So, I mean, like there is a very kitsch sort of thing about barbershop. So these tropes that are things that you see are not false, they are do exist. And it’s what people expect because they’ve seen it in the music man or they’ve seen it before. So they’re still real. Like I said, I was talking about barbershop with my wife and she’s like, What are we going to have ice cream? I was like, Why do you associate ice cream with barbershop? And she’s like, Because it’s there. They go together. And I, I had never associated that. But then when I thought about my weight, it’s always there is always like an ice cream social or something going on. So there’s a lot of things that are are tied together but they’re not real differences is that it’s so much more so like I feel like the pop culture references are right, but they leave so much out. You know, it’s campy sometimes, but not always campy. Like there are some there are some real feels and real music being made and real stuff. That’s that’s that’s that’s going on with people that are singing together and communicating musically and emotionally in ways that, like a lot of people get connected with other people. And that is the thing that I think pop culture sort of glosses over sometimes and just looks at the uniform. You know, it’s a it’s a costume, you know?

Michael Lee [00:08:58] You know, I have to say, I agree with your wife. I don’t really understand what the connection is, but I definitely associate barbershop and ice cream. I don’t know why. I can picture a barbershop quartet in an ice cream parlor before I’d ever picture them in a barbershop.

Chuck Loesch [00:09:15] Right!

Michael Lee I can’t explain it, but it makes sense.

Chuck Loesch [00:09:16] I think it’s a soda shop thing, right? Maybe something. Maybe.

Michael Lee [00:09:19] I don’t know. I mean, the outfit kind of feels like it works both places.

Chuck Loesch [00:09:23] Yeah. Like, you’re. You could be working behind the counter at a soda shop. Yeah.

Michael Lee [00:09:26] Sure. Have you ever performed in that traditional costume?

Chuck Loesch [00:09:30] 100%. Yeah.

Michael Lee [00:09:31] So, yeah. I mean, the costume you wore today is basically just a T-shirt with your band name.

Chuck Loesch Right, Right.

Michael Lee When you compete, what are you wearing?

Chuck Loesch [00:09:38] We’re wearing suits and ties. Most not so suits and ties or a variation of that or matching colors or something. So just. Just something like that. A little more formal sort of looking. Not the stripe vest and boater hats these days. But, you know, I have done as recently as like a couple of years ago a gig wearing just that. So, you know, singing the old songs. And there’s nothing wrong with that. There is There’s part of that is is real and it’s part of the the history of that. And that’s one of the more interesting parts because it’s just sort of this feels like this bygone time that these things were even though they probably never were. You know, like we have this vision of what I referenced the Music Man again, because that’s what everybody thinks of. It’s exactly that.

Chuck Loesch (performing in Studio A) [00:10:54] Yeah, that’s barbershop. Yeah, that’s. That’s barbershop Every single barbershop… they always have to stay that’s barbershop, guys. That is…

Michael Lee [00:11:02] Is there anything that you would want people to know about Barbershop that they don’t know?

Chuck Loesch [00:11:10] So many things. Well, I think the probably the main thing is that it is so much more than what you see. And I think to kind of touch on that, when where pop culture gets wrong a little bit because there is so much more to it than there there has been in the last 80 years of their of the society’s existence, or it’s just so much deeper than just those old songs and so much more in in now like the diversity of voices and and it’s just there’s so much more experience, life experience that’s coming to it now than there ever has been, which is just very interesting.

Michael Lee [00:12:06] So this is doing something for you that you would not get elsewhere?

Chuck Loesch [00:12:11] So I don’t think I can get it elsewhere. I I’ve tried different things, you know, whether I’ve tried to learn carpentry or I’ve tried to do this or have, you know, tried different hobbies or different things, I mean, outside of Legos, which, you know, if it wasn’t as expensive as it is, would be great. I mean, I could do it all day long. This is the only thing that I found that really I like that really meets the need that I need to I don’t know. I don’t even know what it fills. I don’t even know. I don’t even know which space it fills. I, you know, I just knew that there was like a space that I needed filled for something. But it’s done so many other things, and it really completes so many different things in my life. And I can’t describe how good that feels when everything is clicking and everything is working together and we’re all working toward the same goal. It’s just like, it’s so good, so good, It’s so much fun. Or getting a new piece of music and learning it for the first time and then getting to perform it for the first time and seeing how it goes. And it’s like just that sort of just excitement, electricity. It’s it’s got this sort of crackle to it. It’s like so many good things when you’re, when you’re kind of in the zone and you just sort of are doing it. All the other things sort of melt away. Right. The music that you the notes on the page, the words that you’re seeing, the the all the stuff that you’ve learned gets folded into the background and you just feel it and you feel it in your bones and it resonates. And when I say mean that literally, it resonates not just in the room, but in your body. Like it’s it’s crazy when you really, really, really hit something, right? And just the hairs on the back of your neck stand up and everybody just you’ll see each other, just make eye contact. And you’re like, Yeah, there it is right there. And it’s just it’s so, so great. And I’ve never had anything else where I felt that like, full body experience was something that, that really meets it. It’s, it’s, it’s a unique.

Chuck Loesch [00:14:38] I’m able to go to a place that I’m not able to go to in my regular life with my family, work, everything else like you. Just you can’t go to the space. So when you go to a rehearsal space and you start singing together and you just kind of are able to go to a place where you you don’t get to be except for that couple of hours every week and sing those songs, whatever those songs may be. And it does give you a little bit of respite from all the things I know. Turn your phone off and just roll with the harmony.

Michael Lee [00:15:11] Oftentimes, I ask people if if this thing that they do is a thing that they think they’re going to keep doing for the rest of your life. You started nodding before I could finish the question. Is this is this going to be with you forever now?

Chuck Loesch [00:15:22] Well, I think that the funny thing is that I think it’s always been with me. That’s the it’s not a it’s not a matter of like, will it be there until I can’t sing anymore or, you know, it’s been there since I was 16, since I founded the ring, my first chord with those old guys back in the church in New Braunfels, that was the first time that, like, I felt it and it was kind of part of me. Even though I lost it for a while, it kind of came back around to it, you know? So that’s what my midlife crisis, you know, you come back to those things that renew you, and this is one of those things that really, no matter how old you are, it really does make you feel young. And no matter how old you are, as long as you are working towards something, you’ve got a growth mindset about it. You’re willing to like, engage with other people and learn more about what you’re doing. It’s always going to keep your mind active and all the things. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens, you know, until until I’m in the ground.

Michael Lee [00:16:32] Thanks for listening to This Is My Thing. I’m Michael Le and I produced the show. Special thanks, of course, to Chuck Loesch for sharing his love of barbershop music with us. And thanks also to the other members of Chuck’s quartet, Camila Deluxe: Eric Horn, David Kauffman, and Chris Kirkland. And thanks to Jake Perlman for engineering and recording the band in studio A. Small bit of trivia here that did not make it into the show: as we were talking, Chuck and I realized that we went to high school together but never knew each other back then. When he mentioned Mr. Kretzmeier’s name, it was familiar, but I couldn’t place it immediately because I wasn’t in choir in high school. If you haven’t seen it already, you can watch a video of Chuck and his quartet performing in Studio A on the This Is My Thing show page on KUT.org. We’ve got more This Is My Thing coming soon, including an episode about pole dancing and lots more stuff that we’ll start working on in the new year. Keep listening!
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This transcript was transcribed by AI, and lightly edited by a human. Accuracy may vary. This text may be revised in the future.