The Diamonds perform Friday, March 8, at 8 p.m. at the Tarpon Springs Performing Arts Center, 324 Pine St., Tarpon Springs.
TARPON SPRINGS - The 1950s and 60s quartet The Diamonds perform Friday, March 8, at 8 p.m. at the Tarpon Springs Performing Arts Center, 324 Pine St., Tarpon Springs.
Tickets are $30, $26 for members and students with ID. Call the box office 727-942-5605 or order online at TarponArts.org.
The Diamonds perform their hits from the 50s and 60s and pay tribute to the classic four-part vocal groups of the era of The Four Lads, The Four Aces, The Four Freshmen, The Four Preps and The Four Seasons.
They honor some of the greatest solo artists in rock and roll history, including Bobby Darin, Buddy Holly and Elvis Presley. Classic doo-wop songs at their best, featuring fabulous vocal harmonies accented by their talents as instrumentalists on saxophone, trumpet and trombone.
In 1957, The Diamonds released an instant million-selling hit called “Little Darlin’.” The song continues to sell worldwide and has been dubbed “the National Anthem of Rock and Roll.” To date it has sold approximately 20 million copies. The many honors and accolades include three Gold Records, 33 appearances on American Bandstand, Soundtrack of American Graffiti, Soundtrack for Happy Days, Vocal Group Hall of Fame and the Doo-Wop Hall of Fame.
It's been thirty years since The Diamonds released an instant million selling hit called “Little Darlin”. The song continues to sell and to date has sold approximately 20 million copies. The Diamonds, like other creative, forward looking artists, see the durability of the 50s music as a lesson as much about the future as about the past.
Although top tenor, John Sherburn, is the latest addition to The Diamonds, he is no stranger to the music business as his musical experience dates back to his early childhood. Shortly after college Sherburn joined the well established and critically acclaimed Disneyland vocal quartet, The Dapper Dans. This led to a long association with fellow Diamond, Jerry Siggins, who was also with The Dapper Dans. Sherburn's many personal appearances include spots on The Tony Orlando Show, The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, Cheers, Ferris Beuhller's Day Off, Neil Diamond's HBO Christmas Special, an Evening with Mitch Miller & The Rochester Symphony, and voice over work for Hanna Barbara cartoons. In addition, Sherburn has toured with several other quartets, most notably, The New Tradition and The 139th Street Quartet. From London's Barbican Centre to New York's Carnegie Hall, Sherburn's talent's continue to entertain all who hear and see him.
Bass singer Jerry Siggins has accumulated some impressive musical credits of his own. Siggins worked throughout the United States, Japan, and Australia as a singer and actor. He spent five summers at Jackson Hole's Pink Garter Theater and has guest starred on The Tonight Show, Tony Orlando and Dawn, and The Love Boat. Before setting down the roots as a permanent member of The Diamonds, Siggins enjoyed a successful commercial career and was actively involved in Southern California theater. He sang in a doowop group called Danny And The Dappers and was a mainstay at Disneyland and Disney World as a vocalist with he Dapper Dans vocal quartet.
Steve Smith has been the lead singer with The Diamonds since 1982. Smith, the solo male voice on The Lawrence Welk Show for five years in the mid-1960s, also sang lead with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra. He was very active as a Los Angeles studio singer, working on The Carol Burnett Show, and has sung the theme song for several movies.
Baritone singer Gary Owens has spent the longest time as a Diamond, joining forces with John Felton in 1975. A well rounded musician, Owens learned his craft as a journeyman bass player around Los Angeles while earning his undergraduate degree in music at California State University, Long Beach. In the early 1980s, Owens took a brief hiatus from The Diamonds to complete his Master's Degree in Business Administration at the University of Southern California. Besides singing, and playing saxophone and flute, Owens does most of the vocal arranging for The Diamonds. In that capacity, he is well aware of the group's particular effectiveness.
"The Diamonds are four distinctive individuals," he notes, "with one strong group personality. The four of us as a unit have a special chemistry, and it is that chemistry that gives us our unique identity.
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