For the members of Catalyst, a barbershop quartet, music has always played a role in their lives. But their appreciation for a cappella singing led them to a century-old style that, though declining in popularity, serves as an outlet for them at the end of a hectic day.

“One of the things that barbershoppers will often say is that singing is a way to release all of the tensions in your life,” said Gene Lutz, a pharmacist and owner of Lutz Pharmacy and Healing Touch Book and Bible in Altoona, who also serves as president of the American Pharmacists Association. “We say that if you’re too busy to sing, you’re just too busy.”

Lutz, a tenor, and the other three members of Catalyst came together approximately three years ago, though each had experience singing in barbershop quartets. They connected through their involvement with Pride of Iowa, the Des Moines chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society, and a barbershop chorus.

The challenge since then has been to get in tune and stay in tune, which is never easy when four people are singing four different parts. Through weekly practices, performances and occasional competitions, Catalyst, one of only a handful of barbershop quartets in Central Iowa, has managed to create its own unique sound, which the men say is robust and rich with harmony.

“We’re not Eminem,” said Rob Larsen, mobile computing systems administrator for Meredith Corp., who sings bass.

Barbershop music is believed to have originated in the early 20th century, when several well-known black gospel quartets were founded in neighborhood barbershops, which were social gathering places.

One hundred years later, Larsen said, fewer people are becoming involved in barbershop music, and fewer young people are stepping in to replace older singers who grew up “barbershopping.”

“It becomes a test of your musical ability in a lot of ways – to hear and sing in tune, and to sing relative to the volume of the other members of the group,” said Jim Thomas, a professor of biochemistry at Iowa State University who sings lead for Catalyst. “They’ve committed to using their talents in a way that enhances the total sound of the group. We don’t have prima donnas who think they have to be individuals.”

Thomas began to sing in quartets in high school, and chose to attend St. Olaf College in Minnesota based on its strengths in both chemistry and music. He sang in the choir at St. Olaf, and even spent one summer with a college quartet at Glacier National Park working as a singing bellhop. He continued with various choirs and quartets while completing his graduate work, and became more heavily involved in barbershop quartets in the late 1980s.

“The present conformation is probably one of the finest groups I’ve ever sung with,” said Thomas. The quartet is rounded out by baritone Jim Bolluyt, an assistant professor of structural engineering at Iowa State.

With busy work schedules and family obligations, it becomes difficult for the four to find time for a two-hour practice, particularly in advance of competitions and major performances. Though family always comes first, they put forth the effort to make it work.

“The only way we make it happen is through commitment,” Larsen said. “It’s become my only hobby, the only one I have time for.”

In addition to performances at parties and other events, Catalyst sings several times each year in district competitions, and routinely finishes among the top six or seven of 30 or more quartets from the Central States District, which includes Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri and South Dakota.

“We’ve often been described as a quartet that does balance particularly well,” Lutz said. “Our voices are tuned very well with each other and they stay in tune.”

Those competitions allow the members of Catalyst to gauge their abilities in comparison with other barbershop quartets, and also expose them to quartets from other states, who occasionally invite Catalyst to perform at their local events. In addition, it contributes to the camaraderie of the art form.

“It’s a great group of people to be involved with, because you take people from every walk of life imaginable – physicians, pharmacists, policemen, even once in a while a barber – and for the most part, their business or everyday life has no bearing,” Lutz said. “It’s just a matter of getting together and singing.”