For these women, snowbird season in Zephyrhills means more than soaking up the warm Florida sun — it’s also a time to harmonize in a group called the Zephyr Sound.
The all-women’s barbershop chorus entertains at senior communities and nursing homes with their collection of four-part acapella harmonies.
Zephyr Sound members come from all over. They hail from Michigan and Maine, New York and Canada. Some live in East Pasco year-round.
They bring a cohesive, professional sound, but the female barbershop group considers itself to be informal, and welcomes new ladies of all ages to be part of their fellowship and fun.
The only requirement to join is the ability to simply “keep a tune,” said Peggy Shear, who serves as the group’s vice president.
Shear, who sings bass, said the group really needs lead singers who have melody and can hit a Middle C note, and an octave above.
Currently, the group has nine regulars, many of whom are retired, or on the verge of retirement.
Shear, who is a New York native and Wesley Chapel resident, joined Zephyr Sound about three years ago after seeing an ad in a newspaper.
She was hooked after her first rehearsal.
Shear appreciates the challenge of the use of the human voice to make music.
She explained, “I enjoy the people and I enjoy the harmony that I’m hearing, and learning how to stay more in tune when you don’t have an accompaniment.”
Zephyr Sound formed in 1998.
Rhoda Frederick, a ‘snowbird’ from Maine, has been with the group the longest. She joined in 1999.
For Frederick, the group provides an outlet to express her passion for music and for studying harmonies.
“It’s just a part of me,” Frederick said.
Other Zephyr Sound members describe the barbershop quartet as “addicting,” — that is, they say, once you get the hang of it.
That was Carolyn Kampf’s experience.
“Once I started singing barbershop, I just couldn’t give it up,” the Michigan snowbird said. “I just couldn’t. I’ve just gotta sing that four-part harmony,” Kampf said, signaling her joy, through the glee in her voice.
New Yorker Robyne Eastman echoed similar feelings about singing barbershop-style.
“It just becomes part of you,” Eastman said. “It’s something that you go out and search, if you have been in an organization or a full chorus, and then you move, you’re going to start searching, ‘Where is one close by? Where can I sing my heart?’”
Zephyr Sound practices Monday afternoons at Zephyrhills Wesleyan Church, from mid-November through mid-April.
They have a running list of about 25 songs — a mix of blues, old-time and patriotic tunes, as well as hymns and songs from musicals.
Some of the more well-known tracks they perform include “Ain’t She Sweet,” “Baby Face,” “Rockin’ Robin,” “Carolina in the Morning,” “This Country is My Country,” “God Bless America” and “Two Nations.”
The group tries to add a new tune or two to its repertoire each year, said Zephyr Sound music director Sue Shaffer, a Dade City resident.
Right now they’re learning “Mississippi Mud,” a barbershop track once recorded by Ray Charles and others.
Learning a new song takes time and practice. It requires getting the lead, tenor, baritone and bass on the same page, members say.
Shaffer observed: “It takes a little while to work out all the parts because some people aren’t sure of their parts, and so we have to learn it.”
Zephyr Sound typically sings a 30-minute program, when they perform about town. They show up in matching uniforms: Black pants, a white blouse, a vest and a scarf.
They encourage audience participation, to liven things up.
Each Zephyr Sound set list has a narrator, Shaffer said. And, it’s organized in such a way “that makes sense in the order we do it.”
The idea, she said, is “to make it a very interesting program that people don’t fall asleep on.”
Shaffer is another longtime member of the group, having signed up in the early 2000s. She came aboard with a lengthy musical background, having directed a number of choruses and as a former member of Sweet Adelines International, a worldwide organization dedicated to advancing the education and performance of women’s barbershop singers.
Besides her love of singing, Zephyr Sound provides Shaffer a welcoming space for friendship and camaraderie. “I’m telling you, this has been the most supportive (group) that I have ever been a part of. Ever,” she said.
For more information or to book Zephyr Sound, call Peggy Shear at (813) 991-9326.
Members of the Zephyr Sound
Sue Campbell
Robyne Eastman
Rhoda Frederick
Carolyn Kampf
Pat Nugent
Joann Pasquale
Sue Shaffer
Peggy Shear
Nancy Switzer
Published January 29, 2020
