Briarwood Singers

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Briarwood Singers are a 1960s folk band from Miami, Florida who performed as opening act for the Beatles February 12, 1964 Concert at Carnegie Hall. Members of the group were: Barry Monroe, Stan Beach, Harry Scholes, Bob Hoffman and Dorinda Duncan. The Briarwood Singers had an album out at the time with United Artists called "Well, Well, Well The Briarwood Singers." The producer for the album was Leroy Holmes. They were playing music six nights a week at the Crossway Inn in Miami, Florida. The manager of the Crossway Inn was Ray Barbarino who had networking connections and expertise as a hotel manager. He brought Leroy Holmes down to listen to the Briarwood Singers and got them a recording contract with United Artists. The group started playing at the Crossway Inn in July 1963, and recorded the album later that year.

Barry Monroe is currently playing music professionally in Southern Colorado. Most recently, from Barry Monroe and Friends, his group is now called Cheap Therapy.