Happiness Emporium - International Champion Barbershop Quartet - Good News! Gospel Quartet

 
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Happiness Emporium - International Champion Barbershop Quartet - Good News! Gospel Quartet

 

Bios

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Bob Dowma, Tenor
Arranges most of the quartet's music, and he served 12 years as a Certified Arrangement Judge for the Barbershop Harmony Society. Bob has retired from the debits and credits world as a Controller for the past 35 years with 3 different Twin Cities companies. To keep his fingers and mind nimble, Bob performs treasurer duties for most all of the organizations in which he participates. We've been threatening to call for a major audit... sometime! He sings with the Great Northern Union Chorus, plays golf, sings bass in his church choir, and sings in 7th Heaven, a mixed gospel/barbershop quartet, in which Jim also sings. He also plays banjo in a local dixieland group, comprised mainly of Twin Cities area barbershoppers. Bob is married and has a daughter, a son and a grandson. His son, Dan, is Co-webmaster for the quartet web site. Bob is in charge of wearing uniforms the other three tell him to wear. His 5' 18" stature often has people confusing him as the "big bass" of the quartet. Not so!
(email: hetenor@dowma.com)




Rod Johnson, Lead
When not singing the lead part, Rod also fills in on bass or baritone when the other voices are being featured. He is retired, but works part-time at the Target Stores in Northfield, Minnesota and Estero, Florida. He is the contact man for the quartet, and his wife, Arlene, handles the order fulfillment work for Happiness Emporium and Good News! recordings. Rod is a member of the Barbershop Harmony Society, Land O'Lakes District, and also spends much of his time in the Sunshine District. He sings with Inspiration Singers (gospel choir) in Northfield, Minnesota, and in Estero, Florida, he sings with the Breckenridge Chorus and Inspiration, his church's gospel choir. He enjoys travel and golf, and is married with two daughters, two grandsons and a granddaughter. Rod and Arlene have homes in both Minnesota and Florida. This, of course, means he is assigned to getting more H.E. singing engagements in the sunshine state!
(email: rodlead@hotmail.com)



Jim Foy, Bass
Handles the quartet's travel logistics and much of the sound equipment duties. Jim's other hobby is tinkering with cars. He recently sold one of his favorites, a 1950 Oldsmobile. We can only guess what four-wheel gem may be gracing his driveway next. Jim is a retiree from an agricultural equipment manufacturer, but manages to work enough part-time to pay for his robust golfing habit. As an enthusiastic golfer, he pledges to not give up until he gets it right. This could take awhile! He is a member of the Minneapolis Commodores Chapter, and sings in two other groups... his church choir and 7th Heaven, a mixed gospel/barbershop quartet. Jim is married with four grown children. A small bunch of kids (seven) know him as "Grampa." Jim has recorded extensively with the Good News! gospel quartet, and was instrumental in the Happiness Emporium taking over that music ministry in 2000.
(email: HEQbass@USFamily.net)



Rick Anderson, Baritone
Joined the Emporium in 1987, after singing in two District Champion quartets. Rick works as a Programmer/Analyst for HealthPartners, a health maintenance organization (HMO), and sings with the Great Northern Union Chorus. He is the proud father of two teen-agers, a son and a daughter, and he likes to play golf. Rick is the quartet's "designated driver" on the golf course. The other three are his "designated finders" of occasional shots too good to stay in the confines of the short grass. As a bari, he loves caulking and filling chords, but the H.E. also features him on solos and hero notes. He has now held down the quartet's bari part the longest (21 years) of the H.E.'s three baritones. Rick also has one of the quartet's most important jobs... holding down the average age of the quartet members. That job keeps getting tougher!
(email: heqb3@hotmail.com)
 

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