A third full-length holiday album, “I’ll Have Another…Christmas Album,” was released last year. A second holiday CD, “Christmas Cheers,” followed in 2009 and went gold, while an EP, “Under the Influence: Holiday Edition,” arrived in 2013. Thinking Christmas music was the perfect introduction to the group, Kallman and Atlantic had the group debut with the 2008 Christmas album, “Holiday Spirits.” It was an immediate hit. Today’s lineup includes Stine, Morgan, Dave Roberts, Walter Chase, Jerome Collins, Michael Luginbill, Mechling, Tyler Trepp and Seggie Isho. Since reforming, a few singers have left Straight No Chaser - each replaced by singers from later lineups at Indiana. One person who saw the clip was Craig Kallman, the chairman and CEO of Atlantic Records, who tracked down Stine and eventually signed the group. It went viral and became 2007’s most viewed video. To generate enthusiasm for the occasion Straight No Chaser alum Randy Stine made DVDs of a1998 Straight No Chaser concert and posted a performance of the group’s wacky rendition of “The 12 Days of Christmas” to You Tube. But then came a 10th anniversary of the original group in 2006. The group began as a college project at Indiana University, with its 10 vocalists banding together under the Straight No Chaser name to perform around campus.įor almost a decade, it looked like Straight No Chaser would remain strictly a college group. Knowles’ hits “Put a Ring on It” and “Crazy In Love.” In addition to the R&B/hip-hop stylings of those songs, there’s country-tinged pop in the rendition of Bonnie Tyler’s ‘70s hit, “Total Eclipse of the Heart” and pure pop in the group’s mashup that brings together the Eurythmics’ ‘80s signature song “Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)” and Fitz and the Tantrums’ recent hit “HandClap.”Īs with all of the group’s music, the songs on the new EP are rendered entirely with voices, as the nine members of Straight No Chaser harmonize, vocalize percussion and sing signature instrumental parts to the songs. In the case of “Six Pack: Volume 3,” there’s something truly retro in the 1962 version of the Sam Cooke, “Twistin’ The Night Away,” something new in the versions of Bruno Mars’ “That’s What I Like,” Jon Bellion’s “All Time Low” and a “Beyonce Medley” featuring Ms. Tuesday in the Peace Concert Hall at the Peace Center for the Performing Arts in Greenville.
The group will perform in concert at 7:30 p.m. The consistency is the sound and trying to surprise people with what you can do without instruments.” We want to give you a spectrum of things because ultimately I think the consistency is that’s it’s a cappella. We never want to skew too young or too old. We want to have something there for everybody, so something new, something old. “It’s what we try to do on our (full-length) albums. “That’s kind of what we try to do in our live shows,” Steve Morgan, one of the group’s nine vocalists said in a recent phone interview. The variety of “Six Pack: Volume 3” is no accident, and in fact, was meant to reflect what Straight No Chaser tries to achieve any time the group performs or goes into the studio. But that doesn’t prevent the group from spanning eras and musical styles, sometimes within the same track.
“Six Pack: Volume 3,” the third in a series of EPs from the a cappella group Straight No Chaser, may include only six songs.