Residents of the Sandhills once again have the opportunity to hear the 140-man North Carolina Harmony Brigade, which comes to the Owens Auditorium, at 7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 17.

The N.C. Harmony Brigade is composed of barbershop quartet singers from every corner of this state and from New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. This is the 17th year they have made their annual pilgrimage to Southern Pines, for a jam fest weekend of singing a capella, barbershop-style music.

Although it's called "barbershop vocal harmonizing," which has its roots in the first half of the last century, today many of its songs are arranged from composers such as Billy Joel and the Beatles. All those familiar tunes encompass a wide age range of styles and make for a great night of beautiful close harmonizing.

"You'll also be entertained by a few select quartets that can dazzle you with the results of many hours of dedicated rehearsing in close, synchronized, harmonic singing," says a spokesman.

The N.C. Harmony Brigade chooses Moore County as a place to meet because it also is the home of the Golf Capital Chorus, a local barbershop choral group, that over many years has earned a loyal following here.

Tickets can be purchased at the door the evening of the concert or at the following locations: Arts Council of Moore County (692-4356); The Country Book Shop (692-3211); Little River Golf and Resort (949-4600) or members, Bob Tweed (295-3199), Bob Boone (715-1458), or Larry Harter (295-3529).