A Work In Progress

(retired November 2007)

The Guys (clockwise from top in the above photo):

Tarry Koutz (Bass) is the Director of the Boonslick Chordbusters.  He sings Bass in the chorus when Tom is directing.  (see bio below)

Derek Gilbert (Tenor) sings Tenor with the chorus.  We've been fortunate enough to have four great tenors sing with us over the years (though we're not quite sure why we wear them out so often) and Derek is continuing that tradition ... before him were Brian Sevits from Kirksville, Earl Friedmeyer from California (MO), and Ned Horner from Columbia. (see bio below)

Tom Palis (Lead) is the Assistant Director of the chorus.  He sings Lead or Tenor in the chorus (as needed) and was the Tenor with the Dogs Without Leashes quartet.  (see bio below)

Greg Grote (Baritone) sings Baritone in the chorus and Tenor in the Overtones quartet.  (see bio below)

In our new tuxes - 2007

Singing at the opening ceremonies of Jefferson City's 2007 Salute To America celebration

(inexplicably, neither Beverly nor Greg remembered to bring a camera, so this

photo was taken with Beverly's cell phone from about 40 yards away)

2006 Singing Valentines (with Brian on Tenor)

2005 Home Show (Earl on Tenor)

Afterglow following 2003 Fall Show (Ned on Tenor)

Repertoire and Booking Info

We really enjoy singing, and we would love to come sing for your group!  Our repertoire includes barbershop classics, spirituals, ballads, and toe-tapping "up-tunes".  Click here to drop us a note to request more information.

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Our History

Okay, so we've gone through four tenors in our history ... we're tired of hearing about it ... get over it already ... but maybe we should start at the beginning:

We began singing together in August 2003.  Tarry, Tom and Greg had long been considering forming a new quartet, but they could not find a tenor to fill out the foursome.  Some will find this rather ironic, since Greg and Tom were the only full-time tenors in the chorus at that time (and they both still sing tenor in other quartets), and Tarry sang tenor when Tom was directing, but the guys were going for a particular sound with the new group, and were certain that they could achieve it better with Tom on Lead, Tarry on Bass, and Greg on Baritone.

As it would happen, Tarry and Tom were not at rehearsal for a couple weeks during that summer (Harmony College and other commitments, if memory serves), and Greg had just returned from taking a number of weeks off from chorus rehearsals to attend to some personal business -- on his first evening back the chorus was visited by Ned, who had just moved to town to pursue a Masters in Conducting at Mizzou.  Ned had previously sung with the Springfield, MO chapter, but had taken a few years off while attending school in Chicago.  It only took a few notes for Greg to realize that the guys may have found their tenor, so he discussed it with Tarry and Tom, and the next week they invited Ned to join their quartet.

The group debuted at the chorus' 2003 Fall Show on October 18, and has never looked back.  In 2004, other commitments made it difficult for Ned to sing full-time with the quartet, so Earl (who had previously sung Tenor with Top Flight) stepped up and filled the void beginning with our appearance on the 2004 Fall Chordbusters show.  In 2005, Earl left to start a new chapter in Jefferson City, and Brian stepped in to save us from that most feared of questions: "how many guys are in your quartet, anyway?"  And then in 2007, Derek came along just as Brian's schedule was preventing him from making the regular trips to Columbia.  Were we lucky or what?  But it turned out that we spoke too soon ... shortly after competing in the fall of 2007, Derek announced that he was moving to Indiana, which once again left us without a tenor ... and this time we took the hint and decided to retire the quartet ...

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Detailed Bios

Tarry is an ordained minister teaching in the field of Church Music. He leads worship at a church in Columbia and teaches music at a four-year Christian College in Moberly where he and his wife, Poppy, reside. They became "Grandpa" and "Grandma" a few years ago when their daughter, Julie, and their son-in-law, Tim, presented them with a new granddaughter, Emery. They now find they are coming to Columbia more often and staying longer. Their son, Cris, and daughter-in-law, Michelle, live in Ballwin, MO where he teaches music in Middle School and leads worship every Sunday. Tarry and Poppy visit them as often as they can get away because it gives them a chance to take in the culture and shopping of St. Louis while their kids think they are coming to see them. Tarry says he gets his "high" from Poppy (but not the flower!). She is a piano teacher and loving wife and mother. Music brought them together and is keeping them more active than they'd sometimes like. Tarry is frontline director of The Boonslick Chordbusters and has enjoyed every minute of his barbershopping career.

Greg works for Wren Solutions in Jefferson City, and was the only member of the original quartet who did not have formal musical training (unless one counts piano and organ lessons as a youth) -- but as the Baritone he obviously has the best ear of the group, which more than makes up for his lack of training (I can't believe that they let me leave that statement in!).  He moved to Missouri in 1999 from South Carolina, where he was singing with a small chapter in Florence.  Greg considers himself very lucky to be married to the "ever young and ever lovely Miss Beverly", as a friend from South Carolina likes to refer to her.  Their son Geremy lives in KC and has a Jazz degree from UMKC ... his wife Margaret is finishing her degree in Music Therapy.  Greg is the Webmaster for the Chordbusters (which makes it easy to ensure that he always looks good on the web site).

Tom works in Columbia and lives in nearby Wisconsin . . . okay, I'm kidding about that last part . . . he really just lives a few miles NE of Columbia, but sometimes it seems like we're driving all the way to Wisconsin when we travel to his place!  Tom's ability to hold a note for a very long time gives the rest of us plenty of chances to breathe, and we really appreciate it!

Derek was born in Chicago, just a long Ernie Banks homer from Wrigley Field, and his radio career took him from Peoria in the Midwest, to Philadelphia out east, and down to Little Rock in the South, before finally bringing him back to the Midwest -- Columbia, by way of Saint Louis. In addition to his work in radio, Derek has been a real estate salesman, the manager of a tuxedo shop, PA announcer at high school hockey games, a steel pipe salesman, and a published author (the sci-fi/fantasy novel Iron Dragons).  For over twenty years, Derek sang tenor in a series of barbershop quartets. Route 66 and Tune Squad performed regularly in the Saint Louis area during the '90s, including several appearances on Saint Louis radio and TV -- including one memorable radio show with Max Baer, Jr. (Jethro Bodine on The Beverly Hillbillies) and Bill Roberson (the fat guy on the bench in Forrest Gump).  Derek enjoys life more than ever as husband and father to the two most beautiful, intelligent, and talented women on Earth, daughter Nicole and wife Sharon (herself a published author), and as tenor for A Work In Progress.

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Photo Credits

Most of the photos on this page were taken by Beverly or Greg Grote, but Derek's wife Sharon gets credit for "touching up" the top two photos on this page.

AWIP Photo Links

2007 Spring Show photos

2006 Singing Valentines

AWIP singing at the 2005 Home Show

2004 Joint Show with Sweet Adelines in Moberly

Afterglow following the 2004 Fall Show

Afterglow following the 2003 Fall Show

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