Cedar Mountain Singers review

Wahoo, what a fun ride, the Cedar Mountain Singers had more of everything this year and was a constantly surprising concert event.
The Jessieville High School Choir joined the Cedar Mountain Singers in three of the evening’s selections, It’s a Grand Night for Singing, One Voice and God Bless the U.S.A. The youthful group added new meaning to pink and blue hair. Everyone was in good voice and having lots of fun.
On One Voice, the number was started by a trio of vocalists from the Cedar Mountain Singers, Maureen Morgan, Jack Larsen and Naomi Creasey. All three did admirable jobs with the material. The piece grew to encompass the two choirs as one. Very effective.
New this year to the concert was the addition of several instrumental groups playing with the Cedar Mountain Singers. The Soggy Bottom Mountain Boys joined the chorus in Mountain Music and O Brother, Where Art Thou? This was great fun. Ed Pittman’s bluegrass group was charming and alarming. They were decked out in their overalls and ready for a front porch anywhere. The only thing missing was someone blowing into a moonshine jug. There was a lot of expert picking going on.
Not to be outdone, the Hot Springs Quintet took the stage under the direction of Dr. Hal Thompson to join the chorus in My Hope is Built on Nothing Less and Song of the Saints. The pieces were well done and added depth to the works.
The Village Dixielanders chimed in admirably on When the Saints Go Marching In and Mississippi Mud. Again, great fun and the unexpected.
Although the instrumentation added a whole new level to the presentation, it was the chorus that shown brightly on the numbers with the regular accompaniment supplied by Ray Liebau, Jay Payette, Steve Fetcko and Nikki Saltmarsh Utter. Their best work were the familiar show tunes of Oklahoma and A Cohan Salute.
As lagniappe, the dramatic reading by Jack Larsen of Red Skelton’s The Pledge of Allegiance was very moving. It was hard to find a dry eye in the house.
Cedar Mountain Singers conductor Randy Lusk, as always did an excellent job. New to this program Lusk lent his voice to two of the numbers. He began the Oklahoma medley by singing Oh What a Beautiful Morning. His sweet tenor was back for God Bless the U.S.A. He also surprised the audience with a soft shoe during A Cohan Salute. As always he wore outrageously loud costumes to add to the humor of the evening.
Also, as expected Dr. Bill Lefler (Ret. Gen. USA), just Bill, provided ridiculously light-hearted jokes to tie the musical pieces together. I hope he brings back the math instructor one, that was my favorite.
Pre-show entertainment was provided by Ray and Ruth Liebau.
Over all, a new, innovative and rewarding concert for the Cedar Mountain Singers. I look forward to their Christmas offerings scheduled for Dec. 6 and 7.