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About the Brothers
The Brothers Flanagan are Doug Smith, , , and .
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Doug Smith - Doug Smith has performed in the
Washington area for over thirty years. As a member of the award
winning a cappella group Brock and the Rockets he sang at
the Kennedy Center, the Birchmere, and many outdoor festivals. Doug
has also performed in over twenty Hexagon shows and numerous
Music Hall productions produced by the British Players. But
he loves the Brothers Flanagan where he gets to do
Barbershop with three other fabulous singers.
 Robert Daniel
Bunning - Robert Daniel Bunning's Irish heritage comes
from his maternal grandfather, Robert Daniel O'Connell. Bunning's
early musical efforts were at the piano, guided by his father and
influenced by Erroll Garner. His interest led to a degree in music
from Princeton University. There he started "Harbour Lights", a
successful dance band which provided a musical outlet for many
years. Later in life he discovered the pleasures and challenges of
close vocal harmony. Founder and director of The Brothers Flanagan,
Robert has truly enjoyed the past ten years with his colleagues,
developing their sound and guiding their success.
 Bernie Kellett
- Bernie Kellett has been a performer/singer since he was 5 years
old performing in concerts at local churches. For many years he sang
in choirs as both a soloist and choir member. As part of a group of
young performers he sang classical and early 20th century popular
music in charity performances for many worthy causes. As a soloist
in school, college concerts and theater productions he has performed
in roles in most of the Gilbert and Sullivan Operettas. In addition
to singing he has produced, directed and provided the musical
direction for a number of shows in the UK, including traditional
British Pantomime. Following his move to the Washington Metro area
he has performed with several local amateur societies including The
Arlington Players and The British Players "Old Time Music Hall".
Now he is delighted to be able to contribute his rich tenor voice to
the Brothers' Flanagan mellifluous sound.
 Joel Schubbe - Joel
Schubbe The quartet’s lead, Joel Schubbe, started serious singing
and solo work in middle school with school all-state choruses and in
his church. He began singing barbershop and a cappella music as a
bass in high school with chorus, madrigals, and swing groups,
inspired by an influential choral director and his vocal coach. An
active participant in musical theater, he has had featured
performances in musicals from the obscure, The Pajama Game, to the
classic, The King and I, to the modern, Dream Girls. He has
established quartets as a baritone and tenor all along his route to
Maryland. Quartets include the featured quartet with the U.S. Air
Force Academy Chorale, the Aerotones, a quartet called Partners,
with Heartbeat, and most recently Fourgetaboutit. What he lacks in
Irish heritage, he supplements with an Irish heart and lyric tenor
timbre. |
Paul DeMarco - Paul DeMarco's love for the stage began in
his early years, where he could be found performing as a vocalist, musician,
or actor. He trained in classical piano and cello, but also found time for
playing keyboards and singing Michael McDonald background vocals with his
rock / pop bands. Choral singing has always been part of his life; church
singing lead him to singing with quartets through the Harmony Society,
(formerly the Society for the Preservation and Encouragement of Barbershop
Singing in America). He continues a heritage of classical singing with
membership with the National Philharmonic Chorale, the chorus in residence
at Strathmore Hall in North Bethesda, MD. Once the hidden Italian roots of
the Brothers' patron saint, Saint Patrick, were revealed by Pope Benedict
III in his Ex Cathedra writings, Paul was invited to lend his high tenor
voice to the Brothers' sound. 
Bill Karukas - Bill remembers
listening to his father improvise "Coney Island Baby" at the company picnic
when he was a wee lad. In high school, he joined the local barbershop
chapter and was soon discovered by a talented group, the Chesapeake Express.
With Bill on tenor, they became one of the top competitive groups in the
country in 1974-5. Bill is frequently seen in Washington D.C. area theater
productions as a leading man in musical comedies. He has also been a
contributing writer for many area theater groups and shows, including the
Hexagon Shows and British Embassy productions. Bill combines his love of
close harmony and his desire to obtain VIP access to the top local Irish
bars by touring with the Brothers Flanagan each St. Patrick's Day. He
expects the great chords and the great times will continue. 
Clarke Maylone - The variety
of Clarke Maylone's artistry is bewildering and astounding. He caught the
stage bug as a child in musical productions. The head swelled dangerously
playing lead saxophone in a dance band, touring through his high school
years. Theater at Northwestern University was spiced with sidelines of piano
gigs around town and madrigal singing, one group with young Darrell Parsons.
Songwriting, directing, acting, and playwriting followed including composing
an award winning musical revue "One Perfect Rose," a portrait of Dorothy
Parker. Vocal work at nightclubs and with choral groups reached a
pre-Flanagan pinnacle with a classical vocal solo at Carnegie Hall. Irish
rooted, he has put many Yeats poems to music. He draws inspiration from his
talented wife, singer and actress Joni Maylone. 
Darrell Parsons - His parents
knew Darrell Parsons was destined for singing when at two years old, he
stood up in his crib and sang, "I'm looking Over a Four-Leaf Clover". Mr.
Parsons comes from a long line of Welsh/English tenors, having learned his
first Irish songs at the knees of his father and grandfather. Denying his
destiny, he got formal degrees in classical voice from three institutions,
most notably the Music Academy in Vienna. Vienna was the base from which he
traveled to concertize in Western and Central Europe, eventually returning
to the Washington, D.C. area to continue his singing career. But, his
heritage grounded in the British Isles, and his love of Irish music led
inexorably to the Brothers Flanagan, where he has finally embraced the
opportunity to express himself in the music of his ancestors. He lives in
University Park, Maryland with his wife, jazz vocalist/pianist Julie
Parsons. 
Bob Schiff
Bob has been singing since he appeared in the Pittsburgh Symphony's
performance of Bach's St. Matthew Passion as a third grader, but his big
break in barbershop singing came when he was in the Quartet in his high
school's production of The Music Man in 1975 (a role he reprised in 2003
with the Brothers in a production mounted by the McLean Theater Alliance).
Then came three years with the HiJinks, a barbershop octet at Brown
University, which included performances in India, Nepal, Romania, China, at
Disney World, and for many drunken gatherings of alumni. He has sung with
the Choral Arts Society of Washington for over 20 years, and as a soloist
with Lewinsville Presbyterian Church for 12 years, gigs that, unfortunately,
rarely involved alcohol. His musical travels after college have taken him to
Russia, France, England, and across the U.S. Bob always wanted to be a rock
star, and singing with the Brothers allows him to satisfy that urge to be on
stage in front of adoring, albeit inebriated, crowds.