Grandma's Boys is the

barbershop quartet A barbershop quartet is a group of four singers who sing music in the barbershop style, characterized by four-part harmony without instrumental accompaniment (a cappella). The four voices are: the lead, the vocal part which typically carries t ...

that won the 1979

SPEBSQSA The Barbershop Harmony Society, legally and historically named the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barber Shop Quartet Singing in America, Inc. (SPEBSQSA), is the first of several organizations to promote and preserve barbersho ...

International Contest. In the summer of 1968, a quartet of

New Trier High School New Trier High School (, also known as New Trier Township High School or NTHS) is a public four-year high school whose main campus for sophomores through seniors is in Winnetka, Illinois, United States, with a campus in Northfield, Illinois, for ...

students from the North Shore of

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

rode a Greyhound bus to

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, checked into the "Y", sat in the back row at the international contest and listened in awe as quartets like the Western Continentals, Mark IV, and Golden Staters won the top medals. They had recently named the quartet, and 11 years later, when three of the original four ran onstage in

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to claim their own gold medals, it still bore the name Grandma's Boys. Jay Giallombardo (baritone), Hank Brandt (lead), John Miller (bass), and Jeff Calhoun (tenor) were singing in three different high school quartets when they first got together on Memorial Day in 1968. Their determination to stick together was rigorously tested over the next few years. Miller and Giallombardo went off to college (at

Bradley University Bradley University is a private university in Peoria, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1897, Bradley University enrolls 5,200 students who are pursuing degrees in more than 100 undergraduate programs and more than 30 graduate programs in fiv ...

in Peoria and the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...

, respectively); a year later Brandt and Calhoun enrolled at

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

, spreading the quartet over . The next year, Giallombardo transferred to

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

, and Miller moved to

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...

, which brought them somewhat closer together, allowing them more opportunity to rehearse and perform at Barbershop chapter shows. Upon graduation, the Boys all settled back home in the Chicago area, until Calhoun moved to

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. Jim Sikorski was recruited from

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, and the quartet jumped from 10th place in international competition in 1974 to 3rd place in 1975. Sikorski had to drop out, and the Boys' coach, Mac Huff recommended Don Barnick of Cleveland. After only a few weeks of rehearsals with a new tenor, Grandma's Boys placed sixth in the 1976 contest. The combination proved the right one, however; in 1978 the quartet won silver medals, and at the Minneapolis convention in 1979 they walked offstage with the Landino Trophy and the gold medals of International Champions. Miller stayed with the group exactly one more year, before moving to

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and a career in TV that now has him presiding over marketing the NBC Sports Network.John Miller: NBC biography
/ref> Randy Loos moved from Atlanta and sang bass with the group for their remaining six years. John went on to win another championship in 1985 with

The New Tradition The New Tradition is the California Barbershop quartet that won the 1985 SPEBSQSA international competition. The name refers to an earlier quartet, the Grand Tradition, with the same lead and baritone. It is not to be confused with the New Tra ...

quartet; Barnick sang bass with Keepsake; Giallombardo became the founding director of the

New Tradition Chorus The New Tradition Chorus is a mixed voice barbershop chorus based in Northbrook, Illinois, in the Chicago area. Founded in 1982, they have competed at the International Chorus Contest of the Barbershop Harmony Society The Barbershop Harmony ...

Northbrook, Illinois Northbrook is a suburb of Chicago, located at the northern edge of Cook County, Illinois, United States, on the border of Lake County, Illinois, Lake County. It is part of a collection of upscale residential communities north of Chicago and belon ...

; and Brandt worked for the Association of International Champions for a while.

Discography

* ''Tonight'' LP * ''I Had a Dream, Dear'' LP * ''Grandma's Boys III'' LP * ''When The Toy Soldier Marched On Parade'' CD

References

External links

Discography and biography
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Primarily A Cappella

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AIC entry

AIC entry
(archived, includes more information) {{Authority control Barbershop quartets Barbershop Harmony Society