Members: Joe Delzell, Ken Keltner, Keith Young (6), Keith Keltner, Larry Hedgepeth

The Four Pitchikers is the Barbershop Harmony Society's 1959 International Quartet Champion.

The original Pitchikers, natives of two tiny farming communities in southwest Missouri, were high school students; Larry Hedgepeth (Tenor), Keith Young (Lead), Keith Keltner (Bari), and Johnny Marriott (Bass). Bitten by the barbershop bug, they joined the Heart of the Ozarks chapter and competed at a couple of district contests while still in school. They called themselves the Teen Tuners.

At about that time (around 1950) another chapter member with a lot of musical talent was trying his hand at writing barbershop arrangements. But he couldn't find a combination of voices that "played back" the songs to his satisfaction. The arranger's name was S. K. Grundy. The Teen Tuners graduated, and Johnny left to take a job elsewhere.

It occurred to S. K. that the two Keiths and Larry, plus an experienced bass, might prove the combination he was seeking. He coaxed Joe Delzell from another quartet to join what then became the Pitchikers. The two Keith’s swapped parts and the championship version of the quartet was in place.

With Grundy's coaching and arrangements, the Pitchikers won bronze medals in 1956 and '57, took the silver in '58, and the gold in 1959. S. K. Grundy went on to coach other quartets and became on of the Society's best-known, most prolific and most respected arrangers.

After winning the gold, the Four Pitchikers appeared on the Perry Como show and became semi-regulars on the Ozark Jubilee TV Show as backup singers. They were known as the Jubliares on that show and sang with three female backup singers.

In 1961, Larry Hedgepeth took a job in Alaska and was replaced by Keith’s brother, Ken Keltner, as tenor. The released their one and only LP entitled “Let’s Bust One” in 1963. The Four Pitchikers performed their final show in 1965. Larry Hedgepeth died in 1999, Joe Delzell died in 2004, and Keith Young died in 2021. Keith Keltner is the last living gold medalist of the quartet and still lives in Nixa, MO at age 87 with his wife, Wanda. Ken Keltner also survives and lives in Springfield, MO.