First launched on May 25, 2010, "SNC FanChat: Behind the Mic with Straight No Chaser" is the first and only podcast dedicated to SNC. It's the brain child of SNC SuperFan Shaina, who (along with SuperFan co-hosts Tina, Dave and Kathy) brings interviews, news and fun to all of the loyal listeners. If you're new to the FanChat, I recommend starting with the most recent episode and working your way backwards so you'll hear the current news.I consider myself a SuperFan of the FanChat. I have listened and re-listened and done my share of walking along in public listening to the episodes on my iPod while laughing out loud and looking like a crazy person, and I've stayed up way too late to finish a new episode. I've taken notes and sent in guesses and questions and suggestions and basically I just love it. I encourage everyone to send in feedback, because they do want to hear from you!
Blog: http://sncfanchat.blogspot.com/
Email: SNCFanChat@gmail.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/sncfanchat
Twitter: @SNCFanChat
As a Chaser, it's wonderful to listen to the SNC guys tell their stories, in their own voices and in their own words. I'm very familiar with the Atlantic signing story and yet I still teared up a bit listening to Randy tell it again in his most recent interview.
One of the best things about the FanChat is that the hosts will ask a question and then let the interviewee answer as much or as little as they like. Walt calls it rambling and usually thinks he's gone off on a tangent, but honestly it's interesting to listen to him connect some dots that are *way* over there and then bring the whole path back to wherever he started. That's how we find out the little things that wouldn't normally come up in an interview due to lack of time.
SNCFunFact: Walt wrote the theme song as a surprise and it premiered on his first interview. He sings all of the parts, except for Charlie on bass.
We also hear about the rivalries (SNC Twitter Wars and Fantasy Sports), get inside scoops (we first learned about the possibility of a cruise from one of Ryan's interviews!), and some of the best quotes have come from the FanChats (intentional or otherwise lol). The interviews aren't just from the guys, there are a lot of Chasers who have had their turns behind the mic as well.
The FanChat is also very useful! For example, let's say when you searched YouTube yesterday for a wider angle of the 50's medley (you did go search for it, right?) you also found the other SNC 50's medley from the summer of 2010 where they're in the white and blue suits. You probably noticed that the guy who solos on I Only Have Eyes For You isn't in the group anymore.
That's Dan Ponce, the founder of SNC, and the one I mentioned before who went with Randy to meet Craig Kallman in LA. When SNC first announced that Dan was leaving the professional group to go back to his other great love, reporting, and to be with his new found true love (now his lovely wife, Amy), there was a lot of great support from the fans, but there were also a lot of questions.
Three weeks later, SNC FanChat posted an interview with Dan and gave him a chance to talk about founding the original group in 1996, as well as calmly explain that this was the best decision for him and that the group was going to continue on and be absolutely fine. SNC FanChat gave "The New Guy," Don Nottingham, some time to get settled in a bit with the group and then they interviewed him so he could say hello. And *then* (and this is the brilliance of FanChat) they did another interview with Dan a year later, to find out how he was doing and to see how he felt as the Number One Fan of SNC instead of being on stage with them.
I've told Dan before that I am so in awe of his ability to make fantastic, solid decisions with such confidence. He's so ambitious, but he always seems to make it work. Also, I'm such a romantic. One of my favorite parts of Dan's first chat was when he told us about how he met Amy and knew within an hour that she was someone very special. A year later he proposed on stage!
So, yes, Dan did leave the group. But he's fine! You can catch him on WGN and on his Sunday radio show with his brother, Anthony. He's also on Twitter: @DanPonceTV.
Dan reminds us by example that it's okay to have more than one really big dream, and that it's important to go after them. Because sometimes your dreams will ripple through the lives of others and simply bring joy, or even help to move them towards a really big dream of their own.
And he also reminds us that, no matter how busy we may be, "...there's always time for just one song."
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