Bluegrass Student Union

The Bluegrass Student Union is the Barbershop Harmony Society’s 1978 International Champions. First organized in December of 1973 with Allen Hatton on tenor, Kenny Hatton on lead, Dan Burgess on baritone, and Rick Staab on bass. All four members were in or just out of high school and were all members of the Louisville Thoroughbreds. Allen and Kenny’s mother, Mary Jo Hatton, was the director of the Falls Of The Ohio Chapter of Sweet Adelines and their father, Dwight Hatton was a member of the Thoroughbreds. Mary Jo Hatton was the quartets first coach and helped them get started. In the fall of 1974, the quartet won the Cardinal District Championship on their first try. Six months later, they met their coach, Don Clause, and he helped the quartet form their style in quartet singing as he had done with quartets prior. He introduced them to arranger, Ed Waesche, who would arrange many of their songs. They soon began building their own repertoire. They borrowed many songs from the Suntones and the Club House 4 as well as their chours and emulated those groups. They qualified for the 1976 international contest in San Francisco and placed 4th. They were 6th in 1977. They finally won it all in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1978. After winning the gold, they wanted to rediscover how to truly perform as a quartet and took advice from quartet men such as Harlan Wilson. They also got help from top notch arrangers such as Walter Latzko. They released their first album in 1979 entitled “After Class.” This included many of their contest songs and many of their popular show songs. They released “The Older The Better” in 1981 which included many old style barbershop songs and their very popular, “Java Jive.” They released their special “Music Man” album in 1984. All of the songs in this album were arranged by Walter Latzko and this become one of their most popular show packages. “Jukebox Saturday Night” was released in 1987. This album included their popular “Mills Brothers Medley” and “Minnie Moocher.” It was also the first to be released in CD format. Their final album entitled “Here To Stay” was released in 1989 and was no longer available in vinyl format. Their recording engineer, Bob Ernspiker helped make these albums the best that they could possibly be. The Bluegrass Student Union focused on their show packages to make them as great as possible which made them one of the most popular and requested quartets in the Society. According to most quartets and barbershoppers, they outperformed almost everyone. In 1992, the quartet decided to stop traveling to focus on jobs and their families but in 1998, under the pressure of many fans, they released a 3-CD Legacy album set and came back into the show circuit. The Bluegrass Student Union preformed their final show on December 6, 2006. They released a special DVD of their history entitled “Commencement” in 2008. They were inducted to the Barbershop Harmony Society’s Hall Of Fame in 2012. Today, all four members are still around. Kenny Hatton currently sings lead with “Meanwhile.” The Bluegrass Student Union still remains one of the few quartets to have the same four members throughout its entire existence.