Mark Preston seems to be the ham of this group. One-third of singing trio the Lettermen, Preston put on a pretty good show even without his partners-in-harmony Tony Butala -- the only original member -- and Donovan Tea.
Dressed in jeans and a blue stocking cap, Preston greeted media with a drawn-out British "Helloooo." Later, Preston mugged when he saw a photographer looking for a candid shot during rehearsal and sound check.
"You can tell by Mark that we just stand there and sing," Tea said, joking.
The trio has a reason to be comfortable. The Lettermen were crooning love ballads such as "The Way You Look Tonight" and "Put Your Head On My Shoulder" long before boy-band harmonizers 98 Degrees, Restless Heart and Boyz II Men were born. The Lettermen performed with the Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra at Wednesday night's New Year's Eve show at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center Auditorium. They brought with them a handful of their own musicians, including a drummer, guitar player, keyboard player and conductor Michael Erickson.
By mid-afternoon, the venue was just 200 seats from maximum capacity, in what was likely the largest event in town.
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In 48 years of performing, some things have changed -- such as personnel. Tea and Preston aren't original members, but joined the group in 1984, long enough ago to be considered original enough. Preston also left for awhile to do solo work. Vocally, Butala said the trio's sound has evolved. One newer fan favorite is "My Heart Will Go On," the "Titanic" theme song popularized by Celine Dion.
"The Lettermen music really lends itself to a full orchestrated sound. We use that a lot on our recordings. So we think the audience expects that," Tea said.
Largely, fans seem to have favorites, and on Wednesday afternoon, the Lettermen were promising a lengthy and entertaining show filled with classics, their forte.
Butala said: "There are some elderly gray-haired people like me, who saw our shows in the early '60s, and what did they do? They got married, he's climbing the corporate ladder, she's having kids. So 25 years later, when the kids are in college, they start going out again. Then they see the Lettermen and say, 'Gee, the Lettermen are making a comeback.' We tell them, 'No, you're making a comeback. We've always been here.' "
