"After each show, we do a signing line," Stine said. "People come through on a regular basis come up and say, 'You know, I didn't want to come to this. I was dragged here by my girlfriend or wife, and they bought me a ticket, and I didn't want to come.' And then they come through the line, and they bought three albums and a T-shirt."Read more: http://onmilwaukee.com/music/articles/straightnochaser.html?36165
Glaser and Straight No Chaser share managers, but she hadn’t heard of the group before being invited on the tour.Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/music/voice-singer-caroline-glaser-breaks-out-with-straight-no-chaser/article_8a284506-fd06-57c1-8699-2a2d654df726.html
When the manager presented it the music to her, “I was like, ‘Eh, I don’t know much about a cappella music,’” she says. “It’s so different from me. But I checked it out, and they’re frickin’ awesome. Their show is so entertaining.”
How did you make the decision to rejoin Straight No Chaser?
What was it like transitioning from the 9-to-5 job into one where you were well known and performing a lot?
Did it affect your family life or your personal life when you rejoined?
Have you noticed a progression in how you all worked together in 1999 versus the present?
What is most important in performing a cappella music? What things do you have to keep in mind while you’re performing?
Do you have a moment that was really big for you?
AFB: How has your past experience working with SNC’s first PBS special helped?
Dan: Putting the first SNC special together was the most challenging thing I’ve ever done in the music business. I think I have a good understanding of the hard work that’s involved on and off stage to pull something like this off. You can’t cut corners.
The group’s label told them to make a wish list of artists they’d like to work with. “Not a list of people we might get to work with us but people that would be amazing to have on an album,” Nottingham said. “These names are just absolutely mind blowing... I mean, a Beatle! It’s hard to beat that.”
Nottingham began performing with the group full time in 2010 after giving up his day job as deputy district attorney in Jefferson Country, Colo.Read more: http://billingsgazette.com/
“It was a really good job that I enjoyed,” Nottingham said. “People think of music as a creative pursuit, but when I was a lawyer I was a trial lawyer and part of my job was connecting with 12 individuals sitting in front of me. There are times when I would think how to get a message across to them just like I do in singing.”
The 11-track album features covers of some well-known songs like The Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back” and Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep” as well as guest performers Phil Collins (“Against All Odds”), Elton John (“Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me”), Stevie Wonder (“Signed, Sealed, Delivered”) and Dolly Parton (“Jolene”) performing some of their well-known songs.Read more: http://amestrib.com/sections/entertainment/music/nationally-renowned-cappella-group-kick-stephens-auditorium-2013-14
Trepp said he and the other arrangers work on songs on their own and then present them to the group.Read more: http://qctimes.com/entertainment/music/straight-talk/article_568823e6-0895-5bd9-aa5c-a3bc94c75fe2.html
"We record a bunch of songs," he said. "Some of them make it, some don't. It's kind of a longer process, but we're very happy with what comes out."
“We look for something that would lend itself to harmonies and maybe a change in style, a change in tempo,” Isho says of how the group assesses a song when deciding whether it will work in a cappella form.Read more: http://www.reviewjournal.com/entertainment/music/straight-no-chaser-transforming-favorite-songs-something-new
If we were to go backstage right before a Straight No Chaser gig, would we find a lot of water, throat lozenges and other aids for the proper care and feeding of voices?
How do you take care of your voice?
That has to be easier said than done. What with meet and greets and shaking hands with a new group of people on every show day, that must increase the chances of catching a bug.
But out of 10 singers touring in the group, there’s probably someone that has a frog in his throat. How do you cover for that?
How does Straight No Chaser select songs to sing?
Is the origin of a song – who wrote it or who had the hit with it – important when considering it for performances?
You have a version of “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me” that also features Elton John on vocals. Did he come in and recut the vocal or did he supply you with a recording?
Speaking of entourages – does Straight No Chaser have an entourage?
Considering all the time the members of Straight No Chaser spends together, is there a trick to getting along with each other?
Along the same line I’m guessing that the group closes ranks, so to speak, whenever there’s a perceivable threat to one of the members – kind of an all-for-one vibe?
What moves Straight No Chaser from town to town?
What do you see when you look out into the audience?
There was a time when members of bands would take on specific roles. That is, there would be a cute guy, a joker, a serious person and so on. Do members of Straight No Chaser take on similar roles?
Is there a lady’s man in the bunch?
Whenever you hear a song, say on the radio or TV, do you automatically begin breaking it down into a Straight No Chaser arrangement?
What was your background before joining Straight No Chaser?
Are there acts you would like to work with?
What would you like to tell the world about Straight No Chaser and the upcoming tour?
With Under the Influence, was it important to preserve the original song's integrity while adding your own stamp?
Under the Influence also allows the respective artists a chance to re-approach their songs.
What was the curation process like for what artists you chose to work with? Did you vote on it?
Which guest surprised you the most?
How do you make each tour a different experience for yourselves and the fans?
The success of a cappella act Straight No Chaser is encouraging for Pentatonix.“They’re doing great and that proves that there is room for a cappella groups,” Hoying said.Read more: http://www.app.com/article/20130719/NJENT/307190008/Pentatonix-perform-Red-Bank
The group is known for the magical way they improve on originals, as well as their medleys, and a sneaky sense of humor. All were on display.Read more: http://www.dcmetrotheaterarts.com/2013/07/01/straight-no-chaser-at-wolf-trap-by-jessica-vaughan/
The second song was cut short when soloist Jerome Collins fainted in the heat, which was scary for a moment but he was back onstage for the next number and cracked jokes the rest of the night about it.
...Collins said at the end, “I am never going to live this down.”
Venue cancelled signing line bc of weather-1st time ever. It didn't feel right so we sat and signed autographs for each other for an hour.
— Don Nottingham (@breakofDon) July 1, 2013
Venue cancelled signing line...“@snemtuda: Did you take group pictures too? :)” Each of us just took a picture w @mikeluginbill
— Don Nottingham (@breakofDon) July 1, 2013
“I can’t explain the feeling when you get a phone call saying Elton John wants to work with you,” Isho said.Read more: http://www.fairfaxtimes.com/article/20130628/ENTERTAINMENT/130629219/1076/section&source=RSS&template=fairfaxTimes
“We always encourage our audience to have fun and be a little rowdy,” Mechling said. “We really welcome it.”Read more: http://www.accessatlanta.com/weblogs/atlanta-music-scene/2013/jun/26/straight-no-chaser-hitting-all-right-notes/
Collins said he thinks listeners find a cappella refreshing. He compared his group to a cool glass of lemonade, sipped while sitting in the shade of a tree on a hot summer’s day.Read more: http://chqdaily.com/2013/06/22/third-time-still-charmed-straight-no-chaser-rides-the-a-cappella-wave-back-to-chautauqua/
Each member likes to suggest songs; not all of them make it to the stage. But Trepp is proud of the contribution he dreamed up with Sargon David Isho ("Seggie").Read more: http://www.goerie.com/article/20130620/ENTERTAINMENT0301/306209987/Straight-No-Chaser-opens-Chautauqua%27s-season
"We do a medley that's theme songs that didn't have words; they had melodies everyone knew. I thought it'd be funny to put words to them, and Seggie helped with the lyrics with it," Trepp said. "We got it in the set and it's one of our most popular songs."
In the summer of 1999, @SNCWalt @thedude_snc @breakofDon & I sang in "Doo Wop 'N' Bop" @cedarpoint #Ohio @SNCmusic pic.twitter.com/Y1HGhOFde6
— Randy of SNC (@RandyStine) June 20, 2013
Full DooWop'NBop set list from '99: Blue Moon(@SNCWalt) RamaLamaDingDong (Toddy Pritts) Teddy Bear (me) Book of Love (@thedude_snc) ...
— Don Nottingham (@breakofDon) April 20, 2012
...Trickle Trickle (Walt) 60 Minute Man (@RandyStine) Remember Then (Toddy) Runaround Sue (me) Kiss Him Goodbye (me/DR?). We were very cool.
— Don Nottingham (@breakofDon) April 20, 2012
Throwback: 1 of the @SNCmusic concert posters I made for our final original members show: 4-28-1999 @IUBloomington pic.twitter.com/FPwlb6dd29
— Randy of SNC (@RandyStine) June 17, 2013
Throwback to 1999; photo negatives from the cover shoot for the @SNCmusic album "Last Call" #SNCarchives http://t.co/qBXMkpXVVO
— Randy of SNC (@RandyStine) June 16, 2013
The 3rd CD the original collegiate @SNCmusic made. #1999 #originalSNC #eBayit? http://t.co/S6GhbLJbCG
— Randy of SNC (@RandyStine) June 15, 2013
Another @SNCmusic poster I made for our final original members show: 4-28-1999 @IUBloomington #SNCarchives pic.twitter.com/kzRYoiiPbu
— Randy of SNC (@RandyStine) June 18, 2013
Throwback to @IUBloomington in 1998: the original @SNCmusic photoshoot inside the beloved @KilroysKOK #SNCarchives pic.twitter.com/R5oLfddOy4
— Randy of SNC (@RandyStine) June 19, 2013
Best interview done on @sncmusic yet in my opinion, a cappella understands a cappella... acappellablog.com/cdreviews/acb-…
— Walter Chase (@SNCWalt) May 22, 2013
SNC/AR pre cell phones...we don't change our office much. #17years @randystine @sncwalt @thedude_snc @mikeluginbill twitter.com/IUAnotherRound…
— Another Round (@IUAnotherRound) May 17, 2013
@iuanotherround Speed-dial #5 will get you the top floor of the barn-looking house at Grant & 7th.(Either that or 413 S. Highland.)
— Ryan Ahlwardt (@ryansongs) May 17, 2013
@iuanotherround my handwriting #beep
— Walter Chase (@SNCWalt) May 17, 2013
Its singers, which include Allentown native Jerome Collins and Forks Township native Walter Chaser, are as talented, or more so, than most singers on the charts these days. Its show is filled with sly, intelligent humor. It's visually engaging. And, of course, every song is a hit.Read more: http://articles.mcall.com/2013-05-12/entertainment/mc-review-straight-no-chaser-allentown-symphony-ha-20130512_1_ryan-ahlwardt-miller-symphony-hall-straight-no-chaser
“We were working with several different managers and trying to get which track we should do. We were mixing out of several different studios. So it was a big undertaking for the group. We did the majority of the recording in Los Angeles last summer and it took until almost May, almost another year, for us to get all the pieces in line. So this is something – not only because we have artists like Stevie Wonder and Elton John on the album are we super excited about it, it’s just been a long time coming for this album. And to have a lot of new material – some that we’ve been performing in our live shows, but a lot of songs that are brand new – it’s very exciting for us."Read more: http://blogs.mcall.com/lehighvalleymusic/2013/05/straight-no-chasers-walter-chase-talks-about-new-album-with-musics-top-names-new-member-return-to-al.html
Which points toward Reason No. 3: this group still does some things that no one else in its field can touch. That’s true even in the face of a newish mainstream a cappella boom, spearheaded by groups like Straight No Chaser, which released its fourth album on Atlantic this week. As it happens, the members of Straight No Chaser sat conspicuously at a front table during this set; their new album, “Under the Influence,” was produced by Mark Kibble.Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/10/arts/music/take-6-at-the-blue-note.html
(Randy) "That’s what’s most fulfilling — changing people’s minds. We really want people to see a cappella in a different way than what they might have had pre-programmed in their head.”Read more: http://www.jerseyarts.com/blog/index.php/nj-music/2013/05/straight-no-chaser-proves-you-dont-need-instruments-to-rock/
