About Express Lane

Express Lane sings old and new songs in the traditional barbershop style. We formed as a new quartet in mid-2015, but our smoothly blended sound reflects a total of more than 50 years of experience singing barbershop harmony. Rob (Lead) and Doug (Baritone) previously sang together for 8 years in the Northeastern District medalist quartet Concord eXpress. Jim (Bass) has sung in several area quartets, including Sentimental Gentlemen, and Jon (Tenor) has sung in a quartet in the past, and has been active for some time in a few different jazz bands. Together we have a sound and style that is Expressly our own.

Jon Pachter sings Tenor. His love of barbershop started after his high school performed ‘The Music Man’ in the early 1970s and Jon began performing as the baritone in the Syracuse NY quartet ‘The DeWitt Dixies’. Jon has performed music all of his life and currently performs with his wife Wendy in a Boston area bluegrass/jazz band called Blue Train in which he plays the 5-string banjo. Jon also performs regularly with his family band known as the Waylin’ Pachters. Jon works as Chief Scientific Officer for a biotech company that develops drugs for the treatment of cancer, and lives with his family in Wayland MA.

Rob Freundlich is the quartet’s Lead. He was hooked by barbershop after hearing a chorus sing at Boston's Harborfest in 1995. Since then he has sung with the Wellesley, Medway, and Concord (MA) chapters. This is also the second quartet he has sung in, previously with Concord eXpress. Rob serves as contact and Webmaster for Express Lane. In real life he had a long career in IT, and in 2018 decided to take a different path at a local community bank. He enjoys league bowling (tenpin of course, growing up in Queens, NY) which he's been participating in since he was 10 years old!

Doug Burum sings Baritone. His interest in barbershop began in 1970, singing Lead in—you guessed it—a high school production of The Music Man. Over the years, Doug became active with school and community choruses and theater productions, but it was not until 2002 that he got back into barbershop with the Vocal Revolution chorus (at that time called the "Sounds of Concord"). By then, he had found his true calling, switching to Baritone. Express Lane is Doug's fourth district-registered quartet, having previously sung in "Concord eXpress" (baritone), "Super-8" (baritone) and "459" (lead). Doug has a PhD in physics, and works as a registered patent agent. When he's not busy singing, his other hobby is restoring classic radios and televisions from the 1930's and 1940's.

Jim Kenealy sings Bass. His first experience with barbershop came in 1972, singing bass in Lida Rose during a Boston College University Chorale concert. He then took a 35 year break before rediscovering barbershop when he joined the Sounds of Concord (now Vocal Revolution) chorus in November 2007. Jim has sung in a number of quartets (Sentimental Gentlemen, Mass Appeal, After 5 Four and as a fill-in for Eastern Standard Time), not to mention unnamed pick-up quartets. When not singing or attending barbershop chorus shows, he keeps busy athletically, enjoying hiking, basketball and roadrunning. He has run 4 marathons, including the prestigious Boston Marathon.

Contact Us

E-mail: info@expresslanequartet.org

Phone: Rob Freundlich, 617-232-4096