A look into the audience tells Bob Flick many things, one observation being that the sound of folk music resonates through generations.
“You see a lot of people who grew up with folk, and now they are bringing their families,” said Flick, a founding member of the legendary folk group, The Brothers Four. “I look out and see people who might have turned off the radio and put away the newspaper for a while so they could drift way back to the past and just listen to a harmonic evening.”
Led by Flick, one of the country’s legendary folk quartets is keeping the classic sound alive. The Brothers Four, celebrating 52 years of music, comes to the Auburn Performing Arts Center to perform for one night on Sept. 9.
The Brothers Four, founded in 1957 in Seattle, is known for its 1960 hit song “Greenfields”, but also for a stream of steady harmonies that filled the airwaves throughout the early part of the decade when folk was popular in American music culture. The Brothers Four followed the likes of the Kingston Trio, a pop group that helped launch the folk revival of the late 1950s to late 1960s.
“We were lucky to be in the right place, right time,” Flick said. “Folk music gave a voice, kind of a new way to express thoughts and feelings.”
The Brothers Four’s run of commercial success ended, however, with the arrival of the British invasion and the surge of edgier folk rock musicians such as Bob Dylan.
But the band, despite a series of changes in musicians, kept performing and making records. Today, the group makes about 50 appearances each year and continues to attract a strong following in Japan, China, and on the North American hotel and casino circuit.
For Flick, the magic of folk music comes through today, and so does the urge to perform.
“It’s really neat to still be invited, frankly, and wonderful to still bring this music,” he said. “The generations are still connected to this music. Even today, everyone knows a folk song.”
As far as Flick is concerned, folk music never left. It takes on many forms. Mumford & Sons, for instance, ascends today as an English folk rock band.
Part of folk music’s appeal is it continues to transcend fun and serious subjects and pervades as wholesome, family entertainment, Flick said.
The Brothers Four has Northwest roots.
Flick, John Payne, Mike Kirkland and Dick Foley met at the University of Washington, where they were members of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity in 1956. Their first professional performances were the result of a prank played on them in 1958 by a rival fraternity.
Soon the group left for bigger places and better opportunities.
In 1960, The Brothers Four’s hit single, “Greenfields,” hit No. 2 on the pop charts, and their first album, Brothers Four, released toward the end of the year, made the top 20.
The group also hit the charts with “My Tani”, “Frogg”, “Blue Water Line”, “The Green Leaves of Summer” and “Hootenanny Saturday Night” among others.
Throughout the years, the group overcame many changes to stay in the business.
Original members included Flick, Payne, Kirkland and Foley. Today’s lineup includes: Flick; Mike Pearson who joined the group in 1969, left in 1971 and rejoined in 1989; Mike McCoy who has performed with the group off and on since the late 1960s; and Karl Olsen.
For Flick, it has been a wonderful ride.
“Nobody thought it would be this long and encompassing of a career,” Flick said. “But it’s been a great career, a great adventure.
“It’s still a remarkable and refreshing experience for us.”
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Show time
• Program: An Evening with The Brothers Four, part of the Great Western Community Concert Association season series
• Performance: 7 p.m., Friday, Sept. 9
• Stage: Auburn Performing Arts Center, 700 E. Main St.
• Also: Convergence Zone brings a mix of country, bluegrass and familiar pop songs.
• Tickets: $22-$25, available through www.brownpapertickets.com or 1-800-838-3006
• Information: 253-630-5296 or gwconcerts.org
