The Chaser Archives

'Familiar, but different' for Straight No Chaser

Napa Valley Register
Wednesday, September 15, 2010

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.

“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.”

The Bad Boys of A Cappella: Straight No Chaser is shaken and stirred

The photo that goes with this article is too funny!

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By Brianna Snyder
TimesUnion.com
September 10, 2010

(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.)

A shot of vocal adrenaline

Yes, indeed! We call it #SNCpermagrin or #SNCpermasmile. Great review of the AC show!

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Straight No Chaser entertains with high-energy a cappella show at Harrah's
By Vincent Jackson
Press of Atlantic City
August 10, 2010

Attending a Straight No Chaser performance would put a smile on anyone's face.

Singing Ponce sets the stage for reporting encore

By Robert Feder
WBEZ 91.5
July 21, 2010

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.

Five Questions With … Straight No Chaser

Walt packs a lot of great stuff into only 5 answers! I'd also like to say "thank you" to Walt's dad.

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Harrah's Resort brings in charting a cappella group for a summer-long run in Atlantic City
By Ray Schweibert
Posted Jul. 8, 2010

"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."

Questions:

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?