Four Riverview students strike a chord in barbershop quartet

Teenage boys are stereotypically good at making noise, just maybe not a four-part harmony.

But a group of Riverview High School students is breaking from the ranks of typical teenage pastimes with their barbershop quartet — Maroon 4.

Although their medium might be dated, their introduction to the world of barber shopping follows a modern narrative.

It started with a link to a recording from an international barbershop quartet competition. (Yes, those exist.)

“Hey, this sounds pretty good,” Max Curran remembered thinking before sending it to his friends Jake Harvey and Cuyler King.

They were hooked. The harmonies, the arrangements, the music resonated with the trio, but there was a slight problem. They were lacking a fourth. Enter Will Cox.

“I knew he was very musically inclined, so I was like, ‘Can Will try out?’” King said.

A year later, the three laugh at the concept of trying out. It seems oddly official for what the group actually is — four boys singing turn of the (20th) century hits in each other’s houses.

The songs usually start the same way.

A link appears in a group message, followed by a flurry of creative speculation.

“There are like thousands of links,” King said.

Curran prints out the sheet music and walks each member through his part. Depending on the vocal range the song requires, either King or Cox take lead. Whoever doesn’t take lead sings the tenor portion, leaving Harvey on baritone and Curran on bass.

So far they have a limited repertoire — two songs — but if you are looking for someone to sing either “Danny Boy” or “Wild Irish Rose” in a perfect four-part harmony, Maroon 4 is your group.

“We’re slow learners,” Curran joked.

For now, they perform at Riverview High choir concerts and with the Chorus of the Keys, the local branch of the national Barbershop Harmony Society.

Maroon 4’s age makes them a novelty, but they are also indicative of what Chorus of the Keys Musical Director Drew Kirkman hopes is the changing face of barbershop.

“In the past they used to be the exception,” Kirkman said. “We started in 1938 with the Barbershop Harmony Society. It used to be only older white men, unfortunately.”

But Kirkman said the medium has begun to engage with women, people of color and young people in the decades since its inception.

“We’re branching out to be more culturally inclusive,” Kirkman said. “The youth is our biggest increase in membership over the past five to 10 years.”

It’s an emerging reality to which Maroon 4 can now personally attest thanks to Chorus of the Keys. The chorus sponsored the four students to attend Harmony Explosion, a barbershop bootcamp at Walt Disney World.

“I was surprised,” Harvey said. “I thought it was just a bunch of old guys.”

Hobby aside, no one would mistake the members of Maroon 4 for the “old guys.” Even when they aren’t singing, the quartet knows how to make an entrance.

“They don’t go anywhere quietly,” Carol Harvey, Jake’s mom, said.

They play music and talk about cars and lead busy social lives. Even when the four do make time to see each other, there is no guarantee the time will be spent rehearsing.

With two years of high school left, the quartet’s goals are close to home.

“Just share the music, you know. Hopefully get some kids interested in barbershop,” King said. “That would be awesome.”

They hope to be a resource for community events, to sing the national anthem at high school sporting events or just go perform at St. Armands Circle. There is just one thing they have to do first.

“As soon as we learn ‘The Star-Spangled Banner,’” King said.