Gas House Gang was a barbershop quartet that won the 1993 SPEBSQSA International Quartet Competition. They started singing as a group in 1987 in St. Louis Missouri. After winning the 1988 Central States District Competition in their first attempt, they began a steady climb up the International Competition ladder which culminated in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, where they were awarded the 1993 International Quartet Championship.
Performances
The Gas House Gang toured the United States and they performed in all fifty states in the U.S. They also sang extensively in Canada and performed around the world, singing in 15 countries.
They were awarded nominations and awards by the Contemporary A Cappella Society of America (CASA), including Best Barbershop Song, Studio Album of the Year, Artist of the Year, Best Christmas Album, and Best Christmas Song.
On June 3, 2004, the quartet announced their retirement at the end of 2005. The quartet still occasionally does reunion shows.
As a part of their 25th-anniversary performance on the 2018 Association of International Champions Show, the Gas House Gang shared a tribute to their original baritone Rob Henry, with some help from his son, Ryan.
Contest placement
International
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
13th
6th
3rd
2nd
1st
Central States District (CSD)
1988 – 1st
Members
Original tenor: Joe Fink (1988–1990)
Winning members:
Tenor: Kipp Buckner
Lead: Rich Knight
Bari: Rob Henry
Bass: Jim Henry
Kipp Buckner began singing barbershop when he was 14 with the Louisville Thoroughbreds chorus and international championship victories in 1981 and 1984. He is one of two men to have won the International Champion Quartet Medal three times. (Jeff Oxley also won three, with Acoustix, The Rapscallions, and Max Q.) Buckner won his three gold medals with the GHG in 1993, the Interstate Rivals in 1987, and Old School in 2011. Buckner sang with the Ambassadors of Harmony for their first international championship victory in 2004 in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky.
Jim Henry, PhD joined the society at the age of 11 as a member of the Daniel Boone Chorus, which became the Ambassadors of Harmony. He became the director of the Ambassadors in 1991 and went on to lead the chorus to 16 medals including 4 gold medals (2004, 2009, 2012 and 2016). In 2009 when Crossdroads won, Jim became the only man in BHS history to direct the winning chorus and win with his quartet in the same year. In 2019, he was inducted to the Barbershop Harmony Society's Hall of Fame. Henry's 2000 doctoral dissertation on the African American origins of barbershop harmony[1] and his 2007 Harmony University keynote address, "Gold Medal Moments"[2] have influenced the study, philosophy, and discourse of barbershop harmony.
Rich Knight has sung with the Ambassadors of Harmony since the 1970s and has been part of each championship. His lead voice creates the defining sound of the GHG. He is an active member in the Central States District. He is an active coach and clinician, teaching at district events, Harmony University and International Barbershop events.
Rob Henry, the quartet's baritone, was diagnosed with esophageal cancer on May 30, 2003, and died shortly thereafter on September 4, 2003.
Several prominent barbershop singers helped fill in after Rob's death, to fulfill show obligations.
