The relationship between singer and accompanist is an important one. Singers need to be able to trust their accompanist—usually pianists—completely, and only sometimes does the relationship become elevated to that of true collaborators.
Two locals have enjoyed just such a rare relationship for more than a decade now. Gale McNeeley is an actor and singer who performed on Broadway, and he met local pianist Betty Faas when the two were both at the Farmers’ Market in SLO, voicing support for their favorite candidates in the Democratic Party.
“Betty was campaigning for Howard Dean and I was a (Dennis) Kucinich fan,” McNeeley said. “And, you remember Betty, was I singing?”
“No, you were funny, you’re always funny,” Faas answered. “And so I asked you a question and you sang the answer, and I said, ‘Wow, that’s really a nice voice,’ and your friend said you were a singer.”
The pair began collaborating not long after that, they explained, first performing together for the local Democrats’ Christmas party.
It wasn’t long after that that they were planning concert programs together. McNeeley and Faas have done themed shows, musicals, and even tributes to specific songwriters like Yip Harburg or Pete Seeger.
Their upcoming concert features more collaboration then ever, including several duets, they explained. The concert is titled Songs Our Mothers Sang, and features standards from the 1940s and 1950s on Aug. 13 at the First United Methodist Church in Santa Maria.
Both of them have plenty of memories of their parents and music. Faas remembers her mother singing hymns while doing laundry in their basement, and McNeeley has memories that go right down to specific songs.
“‘Stardust’ was my parents’ favorite song, and my father died in his 50s and my mother always thought ‘Stardust’ was their song,” he said. “And if you listen to the lyrics, it’s so beautiful, it’s all the memories. They were dancers and they loved to social dance at the dances.”
The program is filled with songs like that, beloved by their parents’ generation and even the children of that generation. Most of their audience are seniors, McNeely and Faas said, and so the songs will be familiar. They totally welcome singing along.
The concert is in two parts, they explained, with an intermission in between. The duets and other songs will include works by George Gershwin, Hoagy Carmichael, and even some old Irish tunes. It’s all music they grew up with, they said, and music they still love sharing.
“It’ll be fun,” Faas said. “It’s always fun.”
“And in Santa Maria, the people come expecting a good time and for it to be entertaining,” McNeeley said. “And in this case they will be able to sing a lot. People always like singing together and it’s something we don’t do enough of. It used to be something everybody did.”
Full disclosure: Betty Faas gifted Arts Editor Joe Payne with a stack of sheet music after the interview. Contact him at jpayne@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Aug 11-18, 2016.
