Right on Q for Horvath, Brunsvold
Singing Qs to entertain Sounds of Summer audience
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MARSHALL -- In Marshall, Quentin Brunsvold is well known as the fire chief. Quinn Horvath is a local funeral home director.
Together, however, many people in southwest Minnesota have seen them in an entirely different way -- as the Singing Qs. And on Aug. 21, the singing duo will return to one of the community events where it all began. The Singing Qs are scheduled to entertain the Sounds of Summer crowd at 5:30 p.m..
Last week, Brunsvold and Horvath shared with the Independent how the two of them got together and eventually formed a bond on stage in 2021.
"Quentin was the pastoral administrator at Holy Redeemer Church. So we (Horvath Funeral Home) served that church through funerals probably 30 times a year. So we got to know each other, and you know he sings at many of those funerals. And I suggested, 'hey, if we get together and play guitar, let's do some music.' And we had that exchange a few times, and finally we did," Horvath said.
They blocked out a Thursday evening to get together and sang some songs.
"Probably a week after that, five years ago now, Quentin's talking to Mark Klaith, who was instrumental in Sounds of Summer. 'Well, you guys are singing. Why don't you sing on Thursday?' It was like the next week. It was like coming up. A couple weeks maybe. OK, so we did. So, anyway, that's where we started, and then after that, I think we played at the Gambler at Thanksgiving. That when somebody said, 'Hey, come and play at Pelican Cove,' or whatever. So you know, it kind of snowballed."
While Horvath played in multiple bands in his past, Brunsvold had a history of singing for his church.
"So I got more confidence singing in front of people. More people would ask (to sing) for funerals and weddings, and then it just kind of snowballed," he said. "I never sang in any bands or anything, but just mostly the National Anthem for sporting events and weddings and funerals."
Brunsvold gave his version on how he got together with Horvath.
"Quinn and I got connected just for his profession and working together. And 'hey, I (Horvath) play guitar. It'd be fun to get together sometime.' But it was like three or four years of that, trying to get connected. And 'yeah, we'll someday get connected, and never did. But until one day, him (Horvath) and his wife were walking by my house, and I was actually teaching my daughter to ride her bicycle, and so they stopped and visited for a few minutes. And 'hey, we got to get together.' 'Yep, we've been saying this for years,' Quinn (said). That's when I said, 'What are you doing Thursday?' 'Oh, this Thursday?' 'Nothing.' 'Well, come on over.' So that's how it started."
Brunsvold started practicing on most Thursdays and eventually line up gigs at church gatherings, barbecues, weddings, bars and festivals. Both say there is a camaraderie between the two of them that makes performing in front of an audience somewhat seamless.
"Well, it's a lot easier with two people. I can tell you. And I've done it with four and five. And then you've got try to get four or five people together that all wish to sing the same stuff, the same frequency, and how about the money and buying equipment, all that. That's tough. That's why bands don't make it. But with us two, it's been pretty easy because I feel like we're both pretty low maintenance about it," Horvath said.
The two of them get together with their wives throughout the year and they help set up their schedule. Coming up with the songs, however, is up to Brunsvold and Horvath.
"And so to play for an hour, you probably need 18 songs," he said. "We do three or four hour sets, and we have enough in the back pocket, so to speak, that we kind of tailor to what who's in front of us. So if you know elderly folks, we'll play one style of music. Younger crowd of maybe the different styles. So we have enough of a repertoire that we can kind of tailor it a little bit to where we're at."
And apparently coming up with a name for singing duo came a lot easier than finally getting together.
"There's not a lot of people that the name starts with a Q in Marshall, Minnesota, anyway. And so for two of them to be singing, performing together. I think we had the name before we even ... probably two years before we ever practiced on one of these brief interchanges. It's like, hey, we should get together, make music. We'll be the singing Qs," Horvath said.
Their favorite type of gig setting is with small crowds. They play every Friday after the Thanksgiving holiday at the Gambler in Marshall. They remember the first year playing at Pelican Cove on Lake Shetek after the Gambler gig and enjoying interacting with the smaller audience. It was at that gig that a couple getting married asked them to play at their wedding rehearsal.
"It was awesome," Horvath said. "I mean, it's kind of been a domino thing, just a good luck, right place, right time. ... So as a result, we've traveled -- we've played in Tea, South Dakota. We've played in Ivanhoe at the liquor store several times. We've done Minneota."
Brunsvold shared that they like to keep things low-key and not too loud.
"It's fun to get the crowd involved and they all sing along. I mean, sometimes they don't expect the next song, whatever it is. We play a certain genre, and then all of a sudden we pop out with this, or you know, Quinn will start singing a song instead of me, and it just changes it up a little bit. And so, I mean, there's different surprises that people might not be expecting to get the toes tapping a little better."
Horvath believes no matter where they sing, music is a great uniter.
"You can be completely divided on politics or sports or local issues, you name it. But you play a song everybody knows and likes, they're all singing together, and you can almost watch this happen in a room," he said. "Like Quentin said, a place we've never been, they're kind of sitting there wondering what to expect or how's this going to go and play a few songs. Pretty soon the heads bobbing, the toes are tapping and pretty soon by the end of it, it's like a group energy and that's the best part to me, watching."
"If I had $1000000" by the Barenaked Ladies is one of their favorite songs to perform. They shared the experience of not playing the song at Aebleskiver Days in Tyler.
"Almost felt weird not doing it because I mean we played it hundreds of times at different gigs and that was the very first time. Why did we not do it?" Brunsvold asked.
"Well, we didn't do it because my mic was feeding back, so I turned my head down. So that's why we didn't do it," Horvath said. "But anyway, of course, there was somebody there, was a friend of mine, who said, 'Oh God, I was hoping to hear if "I had a $1000000." It was the first time we didn't play it."
So what can the Sounds of Summer crowd expect from the Singing Qs on Aug. 21?
"It's music that would be familiar to residents of southwest Minnesota. Some sort of classic country, classic rock. That's kind of the bread and butter with a few surprises," Horvath said.
"Anything from Glenn Campbell and Alabama to Luke Combs and Prince. It's just an eclectic mix of Tom Petty and whatever it is," Brunsvold said.
"We try to keep it medium to up tempo. Also, I think when people come to the venues we play at, you know, you don't want to just fill the night with ballads. It's more of a walking pace or better things to keep that energy up," Horvath said. "We haven't talked about the list, but so I would say Sounds of Summer could be my favorite thing to do, just because I love Marshall. I love this community. I feel like we're community guys, so I feel very fortunate to be able to do that. That's probably the highlight for me in the year is playing at Sounds of Summer."