‘The Coats’ in Sequim
What: Male a cappella singers host concert, with SHS Vocal Ensemble
When: 7 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 10 (doors open at 6 p.m.)
Where: Sequim High School Performing Arts Center, 533 N. Sequim Ave.
Tickets: $10 for students with ASB cards, $15 for adults
More info: Call 582-3600
On the web: www.thecoats.net
Sequim Gazette staff
A longtime connection has spurred a visit to Sequim by one of the Pacific Northwest’s premier a cappella groups.
The Coats, a nationally touring male quartet based in the Puget Sound region, comes to Sequim for a one-show-only performance on Thursday, Dec. 10.
The group frequently has sold out holiday shows at Seattle’s Benaroya Hall and shared stages with dozens of acts from The Beach Boys, Trisha Yearwood and Eddie Money to comedians Gallagher and Jay Leno.
Doug Wisness, the group’s baritone and business manager, said his connection to Sequim dates back to his junior high and high school when he shared a locker with current Sequim High School principal Shawn Langston; the two attended Rogers High School in Puyallup.
Wisness said the group formed in 1987 and has had the same four members — himself, bass Kerry Dahlen and tenors Jamie Dieveney and Keith Michael Anderson — since 1994.
“We just started singing on the street corners of Seattle,” Wisness says. “After we all graduated, we tried to start singing, to make a career of it.”
Wisness says The Coats brings will bring some serious energy to the Sequim stage.
“We try to bring it all — make you laugh, make you think, bring a tear to your eye, get you clapping, get you up out of your seats,” he says.
Opening the concert will be Sequim High School’s Vocal Ensemble, under the direction of John Lorentzen.
Prior to the show, members of The Coats will work with Sequim High singers in a one-hour workshop.
“We used to do a lot of schools assemblies; we don’t do that a whole lot anymore,” Wisness says.
“It’s inspiring kids,” Wisness says. “It’s amazing. A lot of school programs around the country have choir programs, but they’re filled with (almost all) women, like it’s not cool to sing if you’re a dude. That’s the best part, how they continue to sing. They’ll come up to us: ‘You came to my junior high and now I’m a choir director.’”
A portion of the event’s proceeds will benefit the high school’s choir program.
“We hope to make (this) an annual event,” Wisness says.
The Coats, who also have performed for hundreds of corporate clients in addition to concerts at colleges, fairs and community centers and sold-out shows at Benaroya, have managed to continue to perform for two decades despite managing other professions, opportunities and personalities.
“That’s the toughest part about the whole thing, is being able to get along,” Wisness says. “We’re all friends. We communicate well for each other (and) we respect each other. Everyone has their own different role in the group.”
For more about the group, see www.thecoats.net.
