About

A bit of history

Realtime has been together since March of 2003, when John Newell arrived in Canada and mutual friends helped bring the group together. Since then it's been a musical whirlwind of activity, with three recordings, hundreds of shows and a world championship and a whole lot of fun under their belt.

In 2008, Doug Broersma became the official lead singer, when John retired.  Then in 2010 Tim was replaced by Joseph Livesey recently of L.A. After some bribery and threats, he was convinced to move up to Bellingham to sing with the group.

With the original foursome, Realtime became the 2005 International Quartet Champions of the Barbershop Harmony Society in Salt Lake City. So having reached the pinnacle of the barbershop contest world, they have sung in their last contest, and received their final score in the barbershop genre.

The Singers

Joseph Livesey (not shown in this image!) is Realtime's newest member.  He sings an awesome tenor, although he is easily distracted.  He lives in Lynden, WA and kicks ass at Starbucks.  He plans to attend Western Washington University to finish off his third or fourth academic degree.

Mark Metzger (in front of the mirror) is Realtime's fabulous baritone.  He lives in Vancouver, BC and works as an Occupational Therapist and St. Paul's Hospital.

Doug Broersma (crouched, center) is the amazing lead singer.  He lives in Lynden, WA and owns Northwest Professional Services, a carpet cleaning and restoration company.

Tom Metzger (apple on head) is the bass.  He lives in Vancouver, BC and is the founder and CEO of Groupanizer, a company that provides online software for running choruses and choirs.

World Travelling

Realtime has sung so far in: British Columbia, Alberta, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Kentucky, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Florida, California, Utah, Massachusetts, Ontario, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Georgia, as well as New Zealand and Australia, Germany, England, France, Finland and Russia. In the near future: Italy!