If the phrase “male a cappella group” conjures up an image of students in blue blazers, ties, and khakis singing traditional college songs on ivied campuses… think again. Straight No Chaser (SNC) are neither strait-laced nor straight-faced, but neither are they vaudeville-style kitsc – and they’re coming to Australia this July!  As original member Randy Stine comments, “We take the music very seriously; we just don’t take ourselves too seriously.” In the process, they are reinventing the idea of a cappella on the modern pop landscape.

Originally formed two decades ago while students together at Indiana University, the group has reassembled and reemerged as a phenomenon – with a massive fan base, more than 32 million views on YouTube, numerous national TV appearances, and proven success with holiday releases, 2008’s HOLIDAY SPIRITS and 2009’s CHRISTMAS CHEERS as well as WITH A TWIST (released in 2010), UNDER THE INFLUENCE (released in 2013) and THE NEW OLD FASHIONED (released in 2015).

Under the Influence featured guest artists including Sara Bareilles, Phil Collins, Elton John, Jason Mraz, Dolly Parton, Seal, Rob Thomas and Stevie Wonder. Their 2013 Holiday EP, titled Under the Influence: Holiday Edition included a track with Paul McCartney and they 2014 Christmas track entitled Text me Merry Christmas featured singer/actress Kirsten Bell. In an era when so much pop music is the product of digital processing and vocal pro-tooling, Straight No Chaser is the real deal – the captivating sound of ten unadulterated human voices coming together to make extraordinary music that is moving people in a fundamental sense… and with a sense of humor.



WITH A TWIST marked Straight No Chaser’s first full-length departure from holiday music, and marked the group’s highest debut on the Billboard 200 to date, at #29. The group’s 2008 debut, HOLIDAY SPIRITS, hit No. 4 on Billboard’s Top Holiday Albums chart and spent two weeks in the No. 1 slot on Amazon and five days atop the iTunes sales chart. Its version of “The 12 Days of Christmas,” went Top 5 on the Adult Contemporary chart and was Top 10 on the Christmas radio chart. The subsequent CHRISTMAS CHEERS in 2009 was No. 6 Top Holiday Albums and rolled into the Billboard 200 at No. 38, while “The Christmas Can-Can” kicked its way to No. 18 on the Adult Contemporary Tracks chart.



Even after all the success, the members of Straight No Chaser don’t take anything for granted: “To think that the ten of us could go our separate ways after college, start professional lives, and then commit to putting SNC back together after all these years is nothing short of a minor miracle,” said original member Charlie Mechling. “With each opportunity to perform that comes our way, we are reminded of how fortunate and blessed we are to be able to do what we love to do.”

Who: Straight No Chaser

When: Saturday 16 July 2016

Where: York Theatre Seymour Centre

To Find Out More Click Here

 

About Straight No Chaser

The group originally came together in the fall of 1996 at IU, basically as “10 guys who happened to be good friends who also liked to sing.” Choosing the members carefully for personality as well as vocal talent – Stine, Mechling, Jerome Collins, David Roberts and Walter Chase remain from the original lineup — SNC set itself apart from other a cappella groups with its contemporary repertoire and dynamic approach, quickly headlining concerts both in Bloomington and on road dates. SNC recorded three independent albums, and John Mellencamp even invited the group to his home for a private performance.
When the founders began graduating in 1999 and went on to jobs mostly outside of music, they chose replacements and established SNC as an ongoing group on campus with future generations of ambitious IU undergrads. More than 50 members have passed through the group’s ranks so far. Such was the impact SNC made at IU that the school hosted a 10th anniversary reunion show for the original lineup in 2006, and when Stine posted clips from a 1998 concert on YouTube, SNC’s fan base grew exponentially. In 2007 alone, the group’s version of “The 12 Days of Christmas” was viewed more than seven million times. Today that number has surpassed 19 million, and the group’s cumulative YouTube views clock in at more than 113 million.