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JIM JAMES - Lead

 

Jim listened to and sang harmony with his father and mother almost and maybe from the cradle. He remembers singing a short solo in church at four years of age. (Someone must have applauded!) Later on his father formed a quartet with himself and his three sons when Jim, the oldest, was 12 years old. They entertained locally in and around Norfolk, Nebraska, singing mostly western songs and playing guitars, fiddles, and harmonicas. Jim sang in the school choirs, once being told by his music teacher that he would never be able to sing successfully with a small group because his voice was so different from others. (He was hard of hearing even at a young age.)In the navy he stood watch in a boiler room, singing with shipmates to pass the time. After returning to civilian life, there wasn't much time for organized singing as he and wife Frances raised three boys. However, he plunked his guitar and sang occasionally. In 1971 Frances informed him of an ad in a local paper stressing the need for barbershop singers in the El Cajon Music Masters chapter of S.P.E.B.S.Q.S.A. They were holding tryouts at a local barbershop and Frances convinced Jim to go (She hasn't seen much of him since!) He joined the chapter and was singing lead in the Model Key Four within a few months, having more fun than he thought possible. Bob Gray sang bass, Bobby Gray (Yes, that Bobby Gray!) sang baritone (at age 14!) and Jim Gatis sang tenor. Jim sang with this quartet for two years until they disbanded, but sang regularly with the chorus. He formed the Rollin' Tones in 1976 and is the only original member.

 

 

CHET FARMER - Bass

 

Chet's music career began at the ripe old age of five, when he stood on a chair and played the violin with his Dad for the Corona Chamber of Commerce. For the next nine years it was practice, practice, practice. Then during his "cool" teen years he traded his violin for a guitar and started his very own Peter, Paul and Mary wanna-be trio. He was first introduced to barbershopping when he taught high school music and was invited to bring his young men to sing in a combined high school barbershop chorus at Disneyland. From then on he invited barbershop quartets to sing on his annual spring concert programs. When Chet moved to San Diego and retired from teaching music, he looked in the Yellow Pages to find a barbershop group, beginning his eight-year stint with the El Cajon Music Masters chorus. It was there he met the Rollin' Tones, soon becoming their fiddling bass. Chet is currently a member of the award-winning San Diego Sun Harbor Chorus where he often occupies a spot in the prestigious "front row." In the quartet, Chet is recognized by barbershoppers and lay audiences alike for his animation and total dedication to perfection.

 

 

 

DICK ROBINETTE - Baritone

 

A classically trained clarinetist and conductor, Dick discovered the joy of barbershopping almost twenty years after finishing his post graduate degrees in music education. He still remembers his first few rehearsals and the trouble he had getting used to the style saying, "What the %$#@* is wrong with these guys? That's not what's on the printed page! That's not what I was taught in school!" Little did he know his real music education was about to begin. He joined the El Cajon Music Masters chorus in the early 1980s and was soon coerced into joining a pick-up quartet for a casual show. A series of short-term groups followed, each yielding new friends and great barbershop learning experiences. Then fate stepped in and brought him into the Rollin' Tones. Their sense of humor was just weird enough to be appealing. Dick has sung baritone with the quartet for about twelve years, playing the gut bucket bass in the jug band sets and ringing in a joke or two when he can steal the mike.

 

 

GARY MATHEWS - Tenor

Gary sang in his first quartet while a junior in high school at Pasadena Academy in 1952. It was 13 years before he sang in another organized quartet in Hemet, California called the Ramona Chords. He had so much fun singing lead in that group he joined the Riverside chapter of S.P.E.B.S.Q.S.A., Inc. Six months later he was transferred to Oceanside, California, where he became a member of the Palomar-Pacific (Pal-Pac) chapter. While there he sang with the Odds and Ends and The Avochords. He remained musically dormant while he attended Palomar College through 1976. When the Rancho Bernardo Grape Stompers formed in 1976, Gary became a charter member, switching to tenor. He sang with several quartets (names of which he can't recall!). In 1980 he moved to San Diego and transferred to the Sun Harbor Chorus. Since 1980 he was a member of The Great Chord Conspiracy (1980-1985), Especially For You (1983 to the present), A Cappella Gold (1986-1988), One of Us Is Rich (1986-1991), Who Invited Them? (1993 to the present), Banker's Hours (1993 to the present) and joined the Rollin' Tones in 1996! You counted right: Gary's currently active in four quartets! In 1994 Gary was forced to move to Tucson, Arizona, where he joined the Tucson Chapter as a dual member, working there but quartetting in San Diego!