Philippa Anderson, Deb Gerace, and Mary Slider have been singing together since Christmas of 1989. They are not only best friends but, as they like to put it, “sisters in song.” They have recorded two CDs: \u00a0“For the Guys,”<\/em> featuring music of the World War II era and “Vintage Christmas, Ghosts of Christmas Past,”<\/em> featuring the group performing traditional Christmas carols both vocally and on a variety of instruments.<\/p>\n Philippa is the wife of an Episcopal priest. Her husband, Kemper, is on his “second journey” after retiring from concurrent Law Enforcement and Coast Guard Reserve careers. She is a mother, grandmother, retired art teacher, book illustrator, painter, and creator of one-of-a-kind silver clay and copper enamel jewelry and decorative objects. \u00a0Music has always played an important role in her life. \u00a0She performed with various vocal groups through high school and college and with early music consorts in Raleigh, North Carolina and Dallas, Texas \u00a0before moving to the Atlanta area in 1984. \u00a0When people ask about her experiences with Vintage Vocals, she is often heard to say: “my two best friends and I visit memorable places, meet interesting people, entertain them, and make them happy, and most of the time, they pay us…what’s not to love?”<\/p>\n Deb Gerace, a music educator for many years, cannot seem to completely retire. Since leaving the classroom, she continues to teach music for fun within the State Park system in the Southeastern United States and currently directs a mixed-age handbell choir in Kennesaw, Georgia. Her composing, writing and performing have taken her to wide-ranging venues, as well as a position as \u00a0Artist-in-Residence at Glacier National Park. \u00a0By googling<\/em> ‘Glacier Songs,’ teachers (and others) may access her compositions teaching about the animal and plant life of Glacier’s surrounding area. Deb does most of the arranging for Vintage Vocals and has composed A Farewell Waltz<\/em>, Celtic Blessing,<\/em> and Remember\u00a0<\/em>for the group. Deb is also the solo artist and creator of a therapeutic meditative CD,”The Prayer Whisperer.” In addition to music compositions, Deb has recently published three books for young people and, along with her husband Mike, is an Interfaith Chaplain. \u00a0They often use their tiny therapy dog, Babycakes, in their ministry.<\/p>\n Mary Slider is a wife, mother and grandmother, but also serves as Vice President in an Atlanta-based commercial real estate investment company. \u00a0Although she was born in Japan, to an American GI and his Japanese wife, she grew up in rural Mississippi where, as a ten-year-old, she began playing piano in church. These days she pursues her love of sacred music as the Keyboardist and Choirmaster at Christ Episcopal Church in Kennesaw, where the Vintage Vocals Trio first met.<\/p>\n What Others Have Said About Us…<\/p>\n Vintage Vocals tickled our nostalgia bone with a Memorial week recreation of a WWII USO club radio show, replete with wartime d\u00e9cor, a pompous, stentorian emcee, soundman, foley man, advertising jingle singers, and audience participants, who played their parts with gusto. The first set was comprised of performing trio Philippa Anderson, Deb Gerace, and Mary Slider who channeled the Andrews Sisters, in period wartime dress and singing with a recorded instrument track. The harmonies were spot on and, if you closed your eyes, your mind\u2019s eye convincingly screened a black & white image of the uniformed Andrews Sisters belting out \u201cThe Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy\u201d, except the soundtrack was live!<\/p>\n For the second set, the afore-mentioned USO radio show crackled to life, as well. Emcees, singers, actors, and sound effects men all working from a script, as was customary for the radio medium, and in front of a live audience\u2014us. The \u201cactors\u201d consisted of pre-selected audience members, provided with their lines and some minimal costuming. It was hilarious to watch them grow into their roles, hamming it up or adopting a serious persona. Periodic breaks for the show\u2019s \u201csponsor\u201d had the vocal trio singing a coffee roaster\u2019s jingle in which the audience sang along from our own short script page. The entire night was fun, nostalgic, and better than dinner theater.
\nVintage Vocals is more than just a talented singing trio, they are an entire entertainment troupe!
\n–Gregg Averett (May 18, 2013 – Acoustic at Oaks End)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n