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.

Tagged , , , , , ,
Featured Business
    Featured Founder
      [adinserter block="4"]

      2018 Startups to Watch

        stats here

        Related Posts on Startland News

        ‘Night Without Borders’ opens coffee house doors to honor heritage through harmony

        By Tommy Felts | October 7, 2025

        Culture transcends borders, said Danny Soriano, surrounded Friday night in a popular Crossroads coffee shop by music, dance, art, food, and drinks that all shared a common link: Latino flavor. “Whether it’s Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Argentina, we all come together as Latinos, as Hispanics, and celebrate our heritage,” said Soriano, who organized a…

        KC GIFT orders a full meal with $100K Wah Gwan grant: Job creation (with a side of inspiration)

        By Tommy Felts | October 7, 2025

        Young people on Kansas City’s east side need to see examples of what can be achieved when someone who looks like them works hard — and wins, said Tanyech Yarbrough, pledging to use her recent grant funding from KC G.I.F.T. to mirror entrepreneurship to her community, as well as expand her Troost eatery. Yarbrough’s Wah…

        GEWKC returning to familiar venue (but its new destinations might surprise ticket holders)

        By Tommy Felts | October 7, 2025

        When Global Entrepreneurship Week pulls into the station later this fall, Kansas City participants can expect a fresh experience inside one of the region’s most iconic landmarks, said Callie England, noting an intentional effort behind the scenes should help reroute the “best of the best” events onto custom agendas. “While you’ll see a few familiar…

        Wichita program drives highway of resources to more KC startups; founders tout who they met along the way

        By Tommy Felts | October 6, 2025

        Opening its doors to Midwest companies outside Kansas for the first time, a Wichita-based program that connects startups with the tools to better engage enterprise partners offered an added benefit to Kansas City entrepreneurs: a new ecosystem of support just a few hours from home. “The program’s Wichita location inspired us to broaden our outreach…