If you like beer and you like to sing, you’ve got what it takes to be in the Palouse Two Rivers Beer Choir.
“It’s pretty informal. It’s just easy, no pressure, have fun,” said Gary Peterson of Genesee, vice president of the Palouse Choral Society that is creating the group. The inaugural event for the Palouse Two Rivers Beer Choir is 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 19 at Rants & Raves Brewery in Moscow. All are welcome.
What do beer choirs sing? A 10-song “hymnal” is used by choirs around the country. It includes original music and traditional English, German and Irish drinking songs and can be downloaded at beerchoir.com. Paper copies will also be provided at the event.
“Lots of people download that hymnal to their phone,” Peterson said.
The hymnal provides helpful notes on how the songs should be sung in beer choir. The traditional Irish song “The Wild Rover” should be sung in “Oom-pa-pa, mug-swinging tempo” while a version of “Do Re Mi” called “Dough-Ray-Me” should be sung “like Julie Andrews, but more surly — and slurry.”
Starting off every event is the “Beer Choir Theme Song:”
“The Beer Choir is the choir
that sings while drinking beer.
The Beer Choir is the choir
that sings while drinking beer.
So BOTTOMS UP! CHEERS!
Let’s sing while drinking beer! ….. BEER CHOIR!”
The society thinks the beer choir will be “a fun way to expand the local arts scene,” said Palouse Choral Society member Karen Weathermon. The group hopes the choir will create interest among people who like to sing, especially men, so that they might consider auditioning with the Palouse Choral Society, she said.
The society’s season begins next weekend when it will present “The Best of Rodgers and Hammerstein” at concerts at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 21 at the University of Idaho Administration Auditorium and 4 p.m. Oct. 23 at the Silverthorne Theater at Lewis-Clark State College.
If You Go
What: Palouse Two Rivers Beer Choir
When: 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 19
Where: Rants & Raves Brewery, 308 N. Jackson St., Moscow
Cost: Free
