For some creative holiday humor, look no further than Straight No Chaser.
Our current favorite SNC track is off of "Christmas Cheers" from 2009, the short, jazzy "Who Spiked the Egg Nog?"Read more: http://host.madison.com/entertainment/city_life/recent-obsessions-straight-no-chaser-we-re-smelling-roses-cuddly/article_7b3c73e0-0cf6-11e0-a72c-001cc4c03286.html
“It’s just the 10 of us, 10 mikes, that’s it,” vocalist Walter Chase said in a recent phone interview. “Even on the album, what might sound like a drum machine, that’s all vocal percussion that has been engineered.
“That stems from our main vocal percussion guys, Tyler Trepp, Seggie Isho, Dave Roberts, myself and Randy Stine,” Chase said. “Tyler specifically. ... On our holiday set he does the sound of a sleigh bell; it’s uncanny how well he can imitate things. Seggie does amazing drums, like old-school beat box. ... You almost forget that somebody’s over there drumming with his mouth. It sounds like you’ve got a rhythm section behind you.”Read more: http://www.accessatlanta.com/atlanta-music/viral-video-revives-college-780233.html
Straight, no chaser -- no backing band, just the purity of the human voice. Instrumental effects, like guitars and percussion, are performed vocally.Read more: http://www2.canada.com/windsorstar/news/story.html?id=54b67c86-954a-449b-aba1-fc1420841e3f
"All you see is all you get on-stage," Seggie explained.
The group caught the eye of Atlantic Records Chairman/CEO Craig Kallman, who knew magic when he saw it and jumped at the opportunity to sign the group. The rest, as they say, is history.Read more: http://wildysworld.blogspot.com/2010/12/artist-of-month-straight-no-chaser.html
"...they asked us to send in childhood pictures of us from the holidays. When I first saw the box set, it was really neat to see - you know, just paging through and seeing all of us. Plus, if people are holding it up in the audience you can see them because the light reflects off the metallic covers so they look a little red or green."
In 2006, the group reunited briefly on campus at a 10-year reunion.Read more: http://www.theindychannel.com/entertainment/25894534/detail.html
"I found these old video clips that none of us had seen for ourselves. There were so old, they were on betamax," Stine said.
When Seggie Isho moved to Las Vegas five years ago, he had to put his musical studies on hold to help with his brother's local wireless business.
It looked as though his life passion, a career in music, would slip out of reach.Read more: http://www.lvrj.com/neon/straight-no-chaser-demonstrates-the-power-of-voices-106674953.html
"I think it all hit us when we walked in there for their sound check and we heard them warming up,'' said Heintzelman, a nursing major. "It was just a once in a lifetime opportunity."Read more: http://articles.mcall.com/2010-10-19/entertainment/mc-music-straight-no-chaser-20101019_1_youtube-video-cappella-groups-reading-woman
That was the true secret to Straight No Chaser: The singing was superb. They hit notes surprisingly high and rumblingly low, and the 10 members created a sound so full the lack of instrumentation was forgotten.
They were so good that the sold-out crowd spontaneously began clapping along to some songs and cheered with abandon at others.Read more: http://blogs.mcall.com/lehighvalleymusic/2010/10/straight-no-chaser-stands-alone-in-reading-show.html
It was an added pleasure that former Forks Township resident Walter Chase is the group’s musical director (and sang lead on three of the songs), and Allentown native Jerome Collins is one of the group’s lead singers and handled a good third of their songs Saturday.
Read more: http://www.louisville.com/content/straight-no-chaser-proves-its-not-just-christmas-anymore-musicThe biggest applause might have come after they sung a Lady GaGa medley, which seemed to take the crowd by surprise. Keep in mind, this was a couple songs after performing The Beatles' Come Together. While it may seem like the material is all over the map, it somehow comes out sounding cohesive. Not once were any of these songs a misstep. Their timing was impeccable, and how they can remember all of their vocal parts is, much like the TV series Small Wonder lasting 96 episodes, is one of the wonders of our time.
Collins says the tour will keep him from being able to visit his parents and sister in Allentown until Christmas Day. But having been a performer in traveling troupes of "Grease" and "The Lion King" before Straight No Chaser, Collins says he's suited to the road. "I don't plan on leaving anytime soon. I'm having too much fun, enjoying singing for people and living out my dream."Read more: http://articles.mcall.com/2010-10-01/entertainment/mc-straight-no-chaser-20101001_1_christmas-cheers-christmas-disc-cappella-group
TC: I read your bio on the website and it says your nickname is "fatty." What did you do to earn that?Read more: http://www.hofstrachronicle.com/arts-entertainment/an-interview-with-straight-no-chaser-1.1659075#.T30hr3kS-Sp
WC: Well first it's a misnomer. It's not a physical reason. We all have nicknames. I've created this fat persona, looking at things to the fullest, everything in excess. It's a fat mindset, looking to go out partying. Plus it's a fun thing to yell at the bar.
There are no big stars among the 10 brothers. Isho’s voice “is the best one” you hear on the CDs,
he joked. “Our two main soloists are Mike (Luginbill) and Jerome (Collins). We call them Thunder and Lightning.”
...my dad has always, wherever he's out and about at a garage sale or an auction or something like that, he'll stop in, and if there are any records there, he'll just buy them. They're usually like 50¢ for the records or $10 for the box, so he'll just buy the box. We had this little record collection of this eclectic mix of things, and I would just wear those records out just because that's what was there.Read more: http://www.louisville.com/content/straight-no-chasers-charlie-mechling-talks-louisvillecom-music
They have a set song list, and some things are scripted, but 90 percent of the humor on stage is ad-libbed, he said. Group member Charlie Mechling “keeps us on our toes,” with new show opening lines and other humor he injects into each performance.Read more: http://www.news-sentinel.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100923/ENT/9230307
Local high school choir students participated in a Britt educational event on Friday, when they came out to Straight No Chaser's afternoon sound check.See post: http://www.brittfest.org/blog/sncblog
Ponce recalls sitting at a piano, “jamming” ideas for harmonies and textures. And Stine explains that the prevailing goal is to find the right “twists” without losing the identifiable character of the songs.Read more: http://napavalleyregister.com/mobile/article_5b855128-c068-11df-b26b-001cc4c002e0.html
“You have to figure out a way to make things familiar yet different,” he said. “You want to find what people love about the song and carry it over so it’s not too shocking to the ear and still has that known melody that people like. It’s tricky, but it’s a lot of fun, too.”
(If you're like me, you're envisioning a pretty rocking tour bus with 10 dudes belting out gorgeous multipart-harmony versions of your favorite songs for hours on end, delighting the bus driver and all the children on the streets. That doesn't happen, though. Ahlwardt says they save it for the stage. Fair enough.)
Attending a Straight No Chaser performance would put a smile on anyone's face.Read more: http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/life/article_0397d01b-b9bc-5ecf-adfa-9aaa2b32aaa7.html
Dan Ponce, who cut short a promising Chicago television news career last year to fulfill his dream of singing professionally, is returning home to join WGN-Channel 9 as a general assignment reporter.Read more: http://www.wbez.org/blog/robert-feder/singing-ponce-sets-stage-reporting-encore
"My experience, or what got me into singing a cappella, was that my dad would play the Beach Boys both ways — on the way up to my grandmother’s house in Perth Amboy, where we’d go every Saturday, and back. At the time, frankly, it seemed kind of agonizing to listen to the same 30 Beach Boys songs over and over again, but it subconsciously drilled four-part harmony into my head."
"Most bands have four or five people with one or two as leaders — a lead singer or lead guitarist that fronts the band or whatever. We have 10 guys who, for the most part, equally contribute to the passion and the orchestration of every song."
Can you talk a little bit about how the group formed and its history?
It’s incredible how you can use vocal skills to sound like there’s a band behind you, especially with some songs that would ordinarily be instrument-heavy. How hard is something like that to overcome?
Do all 10 of you have formal backgrounds in music?
Has the group evolved much since you first formed in 1996?
How do you and the others plan to spend you down time in Atlantic City?
DISCLAIMER: I am reviewing the deluxe version of Straight No Chaser’s With a Twist, which includes three extra “bonus” tracks.
Buy it. Now. In triplicate.Read more: http://www.casa.org/node/7169
With voices like these, who needs instruments?Read more: http://www.thefish.com/music/reviews/11629223/Straight-No-Chaser-Covers-Pop-Faves-With-a-Twist/
Throughout the performance, the act repeatedly mentioned how “it was great to be back” and acknowledged some IU notables in attendance such as men’s basketball coach Tom Crean.
“We’ve been on tour to 60 different cities, places like New York and LA,” one group member said, “and there’s only one thing we can say. It’s good to be home. Years ago we had our first show just 200 yards from here at the HPER. Now we sold out the IU auditorium.”
And you shouldn't expect to see a single musical instrument on stage. From the harmonies to the percussive sounds, Jerome said the sound of Straight No Chaser is all about the voices. "We don't cut any corners (by padding things with instruments)," said Jerome. "What we are is what we are. It's straight music."Read more: http://www.southingtonobserver.com/04_09_10/13.pdf
“Back in college, we started this group just for fun — no one ever thought of it as a possible career path,” says SNC’s Randy Stine. “It was hard to comprehend that ten years after our last performance, we were back together recording for a major label, with an album that reached number one on iTunes, heading out on an international tour. Along with all the fun is a lot of work, but it’s a complete labor of love, and one that we never dreamed possible.”Read more: http://www.atlanticcityweekly.com/arts-and-entertainment/features/Straight-to-Harrahs-89713712.html
“Even if you don’t go into music, it’s such an amazing experience to be a part of those ensembles and be under the direction of great [music] teachers like Phil Smith, Ted Klinka, and Dave Bachmann. It helps with everything you do in life—you’re performing, you’re storytelling, you’re communicating in a live setting. That’s why I love being a musician and a reporter.”Read more: http://www.sheridanroadmagazine.com/article.php/vol/4/issue/2/title/article-Dan-Ponce-Yearbook
Straight No Chaser has revealed details of its much-anticipated new album. "WITH A TWIST", arriving in stores and at online retailers on April 13, 2010 (via ATCO/Atlantic Records).
The birth of Straight No Chaser's second life is the classic story of talent, drive, and some very good luck. But their goal remains the same as it was back in their college days. As Stine says, "We want the audience to not miss the instruments, be surprised by what we're doing, and in the end, appreciate the songs in a whole new way."Also has a 2010 Tour Itinerary.
