Prospective Carolers FAQs

So happy you are interested in joining us in The Greenville Caroling Company! Before you auditioned we wanted to go ahead and answer some of the frequently asked questions about how things are run and what is expected! If you decide to join us click here for audition details and material!

The Greenville Caroling Company will primarily be dressed in our Victoria/Dickensian costumes and as mentioned before we will be jointly responsible for putting your costumes together. I have made clients aware of a second, more casual option - Christmas sweaters and casual dress bottoms. I'm a big fan of even a tasteful "ugly Christmas" sweater if you have it! But don't put too much time or thought into that. Just use what you have because chances are we won't need it. Here is more detailed information about your Dicken's costume.

Costume Guidelines for Men:
GCC provides Top Hat and ascot/cravat.

Singers provide

Long suit coat or overcoat, think mid-calf or even mid-thigh length (usually black)
Holiday colored or patterned vest or waistcoat (sometimes spelled weskit)

-If your coat closes high enough and you will wear closed, vest isn't necessary.

Suit pants (usually black)
Black dress shoes (comfortable ones for long gigs)
White, collared dress shirt

Costume Guidelines for Women

GCC provides Bonnet and Cape or Capelet

Singers provide

Very full floor-length skirt with a petticoat for volume (hoops are fine too, just hard to navigate sometimes)
Peplum or Period Appropriate Jacket can be worn instead of Cape.
High-necked blouse (usually white or cream-colored)
Black boots, booties, or “Mary-Jane” style flats (heels are not recommended)
Optional: Small Period-looking purse or muff so you don’t have to entrust your keys to a tenor or bass on gigs. :)

With all of the above think typical Christmas colors and patterns:

Plaid, paisley, houndstooth, etc. Colors to aim for: Red, Burgundy, Maroon, Forest Green, Royal Blue, Gold, Silver. Please try to avoid orange, yellow, brown, and khaki and any pastels; these colors do not evoke December holidays.

Other options:

Please feel free to add to your costume and remember that guests will SEE us before they HEAR us. Some ideas if you'd like are fingerless gloves, pocket watches, broaches, cufflinks, additional scarfs or other wraps and outerwear for the outside gigs. Just have fun with it! We want to look amazing as well as sound amazing!

On that note, have some thermals on hand in case we have colder weather and have to do any singing outside. (If we are outdoors, we will make sure with the client that it is an acceptable situation.)

If you've looked through your closet and still need to find some of these pieces, we have found a lot of great pieces through the years at thrift stores. Amazon works too, but just beware the quality can sometimes match the price. Please don't hesitate to reach out if you need help or ideas.

Please send Karen a pic of your costume or bring it to a rehearsal for final approval.

Q: What's it all about:?

We are professional holiday carolers dressed in beautiful Dickensian costumes who not only sing but occasionally interact with audience of all ages in a variety of situations. We perform SATB a cappella holiday charts and Christmas carols.

Traits we look for in the Greenville Caroling Company:

Cheerful, entertaining performers
People who are QUICK to respond to their emails or texts
Voices that can project sufficiently, while at the same time blend (ie: able to control their vibrato)
Excellent center of pitch
Experienced at group singing
Experience with different styles of ensemble music (jazz harmonies as well as traditional)
Willingness to rehearse
Ability to sight read music
Has reliable transportation
Has plenty of availability and/or flexibility for many of the weekends and evenings from Thanksgiving to Christmas

Q: Where are the gigs?

Our venues will be varied. Anything from a shopping center or hotel lobby to a tree lightning or private party for country clubs and homes. All of our gigs will be mostly in the greater Greenville area: Think Greenville, Taylors, Easley, Simpsonville, Greer, Spartanburg, etc. Occasionally we are asked to do a gig that is further out and if you are available to do these gigs it is MUCH appreciated and you will be compensated extra for your extra time and mileage.

We typically expect singers to be willing to drive 30 miles or less to a gig but we will do our best to book singers as close to their home or work if at all possible.

Q: How many gigs will I get?

Gigs are given to the singers depending on preparation and availability. Usually many of the gigs will be on the weekends. So if you have zero availability on the weekends, this may not be a good fit right now. But we are already starting to book and are hopeful that our carolers will get a decent amount of extra work (and $!) this season.

(We typically take off Christmas day but if we have a request and willing singers you'll get a much higher rate. )

Q: How much do you pay?

Hour gig $75

90 min gig $100

2 Hour gig $125

each half hour more is an additional $25
gigs that are over 30 miles will usually pay an additional $20-25 but is ultimately dependent on negotiations with client

Q: What are the gigs like?

Our carolers will be mostly seen strolling, as part of a tableau, in the background, or even table to table. Most all of the gigs will be more intimate and acoustic as we sing to passersby or smaller captive audiences, but we will sometimes be asked to sing more center stage and/or in a concert style. You will always get a sufficient amount of break time and a space to break or change in. If this is not possible I will discuss with the singers to make sure you have what you need.

Q: What is expected musically?

We sing a variety of rep, stylistically, so we look for singers who can change their sound depending. Controlling vibrato/straight tone is essential as well as ability to sing tight harmony with a good key center as well as sing with a more traditional sound.

Q: What do I do for a Costume?

Greenville Caroling Company will be providing some of the harder to find costume pieces and ask that you provide the rest. Most of which you may already have in your closet. More will be discussed about this at rehearsals.

Click the Costmes Tab for more info.

Ray is our music director and has picked out an amazing and diverse Song List!

Overall, we lean more towards a contemporary a cappella sound that's not too heavy. Think more 'Singers Unlimited' and 'Voces8' than 'Mormon Tab' We are looking for singers who have experience blending and controlling their vibrato. The most important thing is our group sound but we do ask that you be comfortable with solos because there are a few charts with step-outs.

We will have the sheet music available as PDFs for use with an ipad. However if you don't have access to an iPad please let us know and we will get you a folder with hard copies.

We DON'T ask you to memorize. But we ask that you are very familiar with the charts and well rehearsed so you can perform well.

Below you will find our song list to give you an idea of the variety we use. Don't let it overwhelm you. Many of these songs are standard arrangements that you are familiar with and we will have ample time/rehearsal with the charts that you aren't as familiar with. When you are on a longer gig, you will be so grateful to have a nice list to choose from!

If you have any questions that deal with music, you can email him at ray@greenvillecarolingco.com

We are planning on having 3 required rehearsals across September and October.

Please come ready to sing! And having done a bit of wood-shedding on your own with some of the more tricky arrangements. We will be rehearsing as a large group primarily but for practice we will also be getting up and doing some quartet work.

Please feel free to start rehearsing early! We have a lot to get through.

Location will be TBD depending on the most central location.

More info will be available as we get closer to September.

If you have any questions regarding rehearsals please email Ray at ray@greenvillecarolingco.com

Prospective Carolers FAQs

The Greenville Caroling Co

Auditions