Watch: Choir Bar debuts ‘One Day’ video from its first reverse karaoke singalong event
June 20, 2018 | Tommy Felts
The excitement was palpable Saturday as Choir Bar launched into song for the first time in River Market, said Matt Baysinger. Now organizers are ready to share the singalong experience with the world.
“People are so dang impressive,” said Baysinger, co-founder of Swell Spark, which debuted the Choir Bar concept in hopes of it becoming a semi-regular event series. “We thought it would be fun to get a bunch of people together and learn how to sing a song as a three-part harmony. … [It was] absolutely one of the coolest things I have ever been involved with.”
About 90 people — family, friends and strangers — gathered Saturday at the River Market Event Place for a professionally choreographed, “reverse-karaoke”-style singalong. The crowd learned and then sang “One Day” by Matisyahu, an alternative artist who fuses reggae, rap and rock.
The result?
With the crowd of singers led by vocalist Jazz Rucker and musician Jared Scholz, Saturday’s event spurred enough interest to warrant another Choir Bar singalong — likely coming in July, though organizers still are working out venue details, Baysinger said.
Watch for news about coming event dates here.
Choir Bar is the latest concept from Swell Spark, a Kansas City-based innovator of interactive, experience-based entertainment. It’s suite of offerings includes popular brands Blade & Timber and Breakout KC.
Swell Spark was named one of Startland’s Top Kansas City Startups to Watch in 2018, in part because of the rapid growth of its Blade & Timber axe-throwing concept, as well as the ongoing development of new business verticals.
The company opened a second Kansas City-area Blade & Timber location in May with 12 lanes at Leawood’s Town Center Plaza. Another location in Wichita is expected to open in July, with Blade & Timber soon expanding to the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, as well as to sites in Portland, Seattle, Springfield and St. Louis, Missouri, Oakland, Honolulu, and Miami.
Featured Business

2018 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Missouri cannabis company grows into flower, buying massive Kansas City grow facility
A Springfield-based cannabis company is acquiring a massive growing and manufacturing facility in Kansas City, positioning Show-Me Organics as a vertical player in the budding Missouri marijuana market. The deal to purchase the local 80,000-square-foot cannabis operation from Holistic Industries — one of the nation’s largest, private multi-state operators in the cannabis industry — is…
THC-infused lemonade squeezes into market as ballot push unbottles potential for 2M Missouri cannabis customers
Blending the classic and comforting flavor of lemonade with the benefits of marijuana is like mixing oil and water, said Michael Wilson. But Franklin’s Stash House persisted, spending the time and money to perfect the process behind its THC-infused lemonade, he said. “Our water soluble formula has been our biggest investment — and really the…
‘This is our era’: How one local streetwear brand got the ball rolling for an exclusive KC Comets collab
Soccer fans can kick off their weekend with a one-day-only sale of a limited-edition apparel collaboration between Kansas City’s premier indoor soccer team and its top streetwear brand, said Vu Radley. “We found this really cool, creative space with the KC Comets where we could pay homage to their vintage jerseys and mix it with…
Not all shops will be riding high if Missouri legalizes recreational cannabis, but even imperfect expansion ‘far worth the effort,’ advocates say
Legalizing recreational marijuana would have potent outcomes across the state if Missouri voters approve a constitutional amendment Nov. 8, but some cannabis advocates and small business owners say not all strains of success will be equal. On one hand, Missouri’s Amendment 3 would expunge the criminal records of people with past non-violent marijuana charges and…
