Edit: The article is no longer online, so the text appears below.
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By Holly LeberTimes Free Press
Friday April 6, 2012
Original link: http://current.timesfreepress.com/news/2012/apr/06/chasing-down-straight-no-chaser/
What do you call a combination of 10 handsome men and a repertoire of songs that spans several decades?
Straight No Chaser.
Beginning at Indiana University in 1996, Straight No Chaser was like most other college a capella groups.
Old members graduated, and new ones came in every year.
They made their presence known on campus by chalking sidewalks and putting up fliers.
They all planned to graduate and move into "real" jobs.
Most did.
A 10-year reunion concert brought some of the group's original members back together, and a YouTube video caught the attention of Craig Kallman, chief executive officer of Atlantic Records.
The group signed to Atlantic in 2008.
"That was not in any of our plans," baritone Seggie Isho said of the opportunity to become a full-time professional musician.
In fact, he confessed, most of the guys originally became involved for two purposes: "to sing to girls and to have fun on campus."
They were all at least quasi-successful, he said, on both fronts.
"A couple of the guys are actually married to ladies who were part of female a capella groups on campus."
Isho was a member of the on-campus group from 2002 to 2005 and was brought into the professional group in 2009. At the time, he was working for his brother's wireless company in Las Vegas.
"It was a pretty easy decision," he said. "When someone calls and says, 'Hey, do you want a record deal?' you don't really say no to that."
Currently there are two incarnations, the pro and the on-campus, though the on-campus group is being changed to Another Round.
Straight No Chaser's repertoire ranges from Lady Gaga to Frankie Valli. They perform at the Tivoli Theatre on Wednesday.
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