The ABCs of SNC: Z!!!

Don's good friend, Erin Zammett Ruddy and her sister, Melissa, are celebrating their 10 and 7 year Cancerversaries this month by raising $100,000 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Erin is in the running for 2012 LLS Woman of the Year, and tonight (April 30th) Straight No Chaser will be giving an exclusive performance at her Cancerversary Bash!

There are only 2 weeks left in the campaign - if you would like to learn more, please visit ErinZammettRuddy.com to find ways that you can show your support for these two amazing women!

The ABCs of SNC: Y is for...

Thank you, YouTube!

I adore YouTube - it's a bridge between small town me and the rest of the world.  I can get lost for hours just clicking from video to video, seeing things I would never get to see otherwise, constantly being wide-eyed and jaw-dropped amazed by the creativity of others, learning how to do new, useful and fascinating things, and yes, watching videos posted by both the audience and the members of my favorite a cappella group. :o)

YouTube is also a bridge in the Straight No Chaser story, linking the past to the present, a record company CEO to a group of good college friends, and those good friends to each other. Now it spans the gap between that group of friends and their fans, making it seem as though there is hardly any gap at all. I greatly appreciate that SNC allows the audience to share concert videos on YouTube - I truly couldn't be the Chaser I am without them.  I shudder to think of all of the fantastic spontaneous live show moments that would be lost if they didn't. I absolutely love watching all of the different ways they perform the same song, and I'm grateful for the many times I have laughed 'til I cried over a song intro or #shenanigans or been brought to tears by the beauty of a song.  And what about the historical view?  The videos capture their show developing from that 1998 performance of 12 Days, to the start of "10 stools, 10 mics," to the incredible lighting and set they have now!

In December 2011 the lucky staff at Google/YouTube got a private concert and Q&A session with Straight No Chaser!  And, thanks to YouTube, we get to enjoy it, too!

In this blog series you've seen the track listing for all of their albums and many of their mash-ups and medleys -  the following is a really good start on a list of their single, full songs. You can search for any of these titles on YouTube by adding "Straight No Chaser" or "SNC" in the front. Of course, the video quality varies.

I probably don't need to say this, but **SPOILER ALERT!!!**  :o)

The ABCs of SNC: X is for... X

I want to thank everyone who pitched in to help me brainstorm for the letter X - I really wasn't sure what I was going to do for this one!

Shoutout to John H. and Lieve D. for pointing out that X is the Roman numeral for 10!   

10 men in Straight No Chaser - discovered because of the SNC 10 year reunion at IU. I'd say 10 is an important number for them!

Photo credit: SNCmusic

The ABCs of SNC: W is also for...

Straight No Chaser's Musical Director, Tenor 2, musical arranger, vocal percussionist and rare blogger - Walter Chase!

Photo credit: Sara N.

The ABCs of SNC: W is for...

With a Twist (2010) is the first, and so far only, Atlantic Records Straight No Chaser non-holiday full-length album.  They are working towards a new album with hopes for a fall tour release date, but nothing definite yet.

1. I'm Yours / Somewhere Over The Rainbow 
2. Tainted Love
3. Don't Dream It's Over
4. Fix You
5. You're My Best Friend
6. The Living Years
7. You & Me & The Bottle Makes Three / Single Ladies
8. Wonderwall
9. Joy To The World
10. Under The Bridge
11. Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You
12. One Voice (solo: Barry Manilow)

The ABCs of SNC: V is for Vocal

It's a lot of fun to stop every now and then and really focus on listening to all of the different layers in a Straight No Chaser song.   First of all you'll hear the different parts of bass, baritone, tenor 2, tenor 1 and soloist. Some Chasers who are really good at this can even pick out that it's a bass (for example) and whether it's Randy or Charlie who's singing a specific section.  The guys are always gracious enough to let us know if we've gotten it right or not when we ask.

Next, if you look in the liner notes of the "With a Twist" CD, you'll find this:

No instruments were used in the making of this album.  All sounds were produced by voices, vocal percussion, snaps, claps or stomps.

So all of those instruments you think you're hearing are actually voices!  Organ, saxophone, trumpet, electric guitar, bass, piccolo, drum kit, you name it - all of it is done through their vocals.  Even knowing this I still have to concentrate sometimes to hear what sounds like an instrument as a vocal, and I'm always amazed again.

The vocal percussion, or VP, in the group is done by Don, Dave, Tyler, Seggie, Walt and Randy. In his most recent FanChat, Don gives us a brief explanation and demonstration of his VP skills.  He can sing two notes and do vocal percussion at the same time!

Now that you know what you're looking for, you can go back and watch some of the videos specifically to see the vocal percussion and instruments.  In the video from the Canada tour, you probably noticed Tyler doing VP during Wonderwall.  Get Ready is another good one for drums, and so is Billie Jean/Poison. Walt does a "trumpet" in the beginning of Let's Get It On, and there's the Big Band in the Frat Pack Medley. See if you can figure out who's currently doing the jingle bells at the end of 12 Days.

If you're thinking about trying some vocal percussion of your own, Tyler suggests starting out by learning to make one noise while you're breathing in, and another noise while you're breathing out so you can keep a steady rhythm going.

This is just a very basic overview, but I can tell you that the more you listen and watch, the more you'll notice!

The ABCs of SNC: U is for...

Ustream

Whenever Straight No Chaser has some particularly exciting news to share, they announce on SNCmusic.com that there will be a live web chat on their Ustream SNC-TV channel within the next week or so.  Usually, they will start out by telling us the big news (hint: they don't take the word "exciting" lightly!) and then they will answer questions live from the Chasers through the Ustream chat feature. In order to ask questions, you have to be registered on the Ustream site, so it's a good idea to do that before the day of the chat.  Double-check your settings ahead of time and decide whether you also want your questions to show up in your Twitter and Facebook feeds or not. There are a couple of archived chats on the channel - last time they told us about the cruise!

The ABCs of SNC: TT is for...

*Spring Tour spoiler alert*


Let's face it, when it comes to the SNC alphabet,  
Tyler Trepp pretty much owns the letter T.

Photo credit: Julie F.

In Straight No Chaser, Tyler is a Tenor 1, vocal percussionist, musical arranger and, as of this posting, "the single guy."
He's on Twitter @TheRealSNCTyler.

The ABCs of SNC: We've Made it to S!!!

And S is for Seggie Isho!

Photo credit: Sara N.
#purplepaisleypocketsquare

The ABCs of SNC: From R to S

If you've ever wanted to see Straight No Chaser on a schooner, now's your chance! Rose Tours presents -

snccruise.com

The ABCs of SNC: R is for... Ryan!

Ryan is always in the middle of everything in a good way... Ryan is the heart of the group.   ~Walter Chase

Photo credit: Sara N.

The ABCs of SNC: R is for... Randy!

Next up is another R, THE Randawg himself, Straight No Chaser bass and vocal percussionist - Randy Stine!

Photo credit: Dottie K.

The ABCs of SNC: R is for... Dave?

Sure! Meet Dave Roberts, aka DR.

Photo credit: Julie F.

The ABCs of SNC: Q is for...

SNC Quarter Notes!

If you're new to reading this blog (hi!) you might not realize that the SNC Quarter Notes is first and foremost a fan-run online publication about Straight No Chaser written "By Chasers, For Chasers," as well as a source of fun and information for the general a cappella community. 

SNC Quarter Notes launched on June 21, 2011, created from an initial vision by Shaina Eng, and is now put together on a quarterly basis (hence the name) by Shaina and a team of nine editors.

I encourage you to check out our first two issues!
http://sncquarternotes.blogspot.com/p/past-issues.html#volume1

The ABCs of SNC: P is for...

Patriotic

Today Show July 4, 2010
America the Beautiful
Video: ctjkl00

The ABCs of SNC: O is for...

One Voice.   

One Voice is the last track on Straight No Chaser's album, "With A Twist," and Mr. Barry Manilow himself sings lead.  The song was done at his invitation and Mr. Manilow arranged it (Deke Sharon assisting) so that each of the guys would have his own individual part.


Even though they had collaborated on a recording and SNC had opened for Mr. Manilow at the Hollywood Bowl in the spring of 2010, they never actually met until they performed One Voice together live for the first time in Atlantic City, NJ at Boardwalk Hall on August 14, 2010.
Video: nmanilow

A couple of days later, Ryan posted an outstanding blog about the experience on the SNCmusic site:

The quote of the night went to Barry when he pulled us aside after the last picture was taken and imparted, "Listen, guys, you can sing as many minor ninth chords as you want, but people don't care about that at all.  What they want to see up there are friends."  I'll always remember that.  

~Ryan, Moments with a Legend

The ABCs of SNC: N is for...

Nottingham. Don Nottingham.

The ABCs of SNC: M is also for...

I can't believe we're halfway through the alphabet already - I still have so much to tell you!!! 


So last week I said that M is for Mash-up and Medley, but in the ABCs of SNC, M is also for the amazing Michael Luginbill!

Photo credit: SaJaFo Photography
Randy (left), Mike (middle), Don (right) and Blake (lights) - do you see the M?

Sunday - day off

Sundays are days off in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. Thanks for stopping by and I'll see you back here on Monday for N!


Enjoy this alphabetically-appropriate SNC performance of ABC / I Want You Back!
Video: Bmb3134

The ABCs of SNC: M is for...

Mash-up and Medley, and Straight No Chaser are masters of both!

Note: If you're avoiding spoilers for the current tour, you'll want to skip this post.