There’s a saying that everything old is new again. The voice is humankind’s first and, ergo, oldest musical instrument. In an artistic flip of the script, modern a cappella groups use their voices to emulate instruments in popular music, including drums, bass, guitar, horns, and even synthesizers and electronic sounds. Colloquially, the term has come to mean music sung without instrumental accompaniment. Centuries ago, the first man-made musical instruments were created to emulate the human singing voice.
A cappella groups have gotten so good at mimicking instruments, you’d be hard pressed to hear the difference between vocally produced bass and percussion, and the computer-generated and sampled sounds of today’s pop music. As one of the most well-known a cappella groups in the business today, Straight No Chaser is bringing its interactive show and unique sound. Don’t believe it? Search up some Straight No Chaser on YouTube or your favorite streaming service.
Straight No Chaser (SNC) is a professional American a cappella group that originated in 1996 at Indiana University. The group formed in 1996 at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. Dan Ponce, Randy Stine, Charlie Mechling, Steve Morgan, Jerome Collins, Dave Roberts, Walter Chase, Mike Itkoff, and Patrick Hachey became Straight No Chaser. SNC's debut was at a 36-hour dance marathon.
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 Randy Stine posted clips from a 1998 concert on YouTube, SNC's fan base grew exponentially. Originally formed in October 1996, the 10 members of Straight No Chaser all met through the Singing Hoosiers. 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.
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.
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The Viral Sensation
Like so many of today’s popular music stars, Straight No Chaser got their big break in just the way you’d expect: a viral video. Originally a student group at the university, they recorded a video in 1998 of a comical version of "The 12 Days of Christmas". By 1999, all the founding members had graduated, leaving the group and the name - inspired not only by an album by jazz luminary Thelonious Monk, but perhaps by a favored pastime of college students as well - to a new class of singers.
But a video of the original group recorded in 1998 would be posted to YouTube in 2006. In April 2006, a video recording of the group's performance of "The 12 Days of Christmas", filmed on December 7, 1998, at the Musical Arts Center in Bloomington, Indiana, was posted on YouTube by founding member Randy Stine. A humorous and well-rehearsed comedic reimagining of “The 12 Days of Christmas,” which included a medley of other Christmas classics - and, somehow, Toto’s “Africa” - became a template for Straight No Chaser’s success when it caught the ear of the CEO of Atlantic Records.
The song was an adaptation of a 1968 comic arrangement of the song by Richard C. Gregory, a faculty member of The Williston Northampton School, for his a cappella group, the Williston Caterwaulers. SNC added their own touches, including songs like "I Have a Little Dreidel" and Toto's "Africa". It has received over 26 million views. 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 12 million, and the group's cumulative YouTube views clock in at more than 25 million. Among those viewers was Atlantic Chairman/CEO Craig Kallman.
The invitation to record a Christmas album turned into seven full-length albums and four EPs with Atlantic. The group also has another three albums and one EP on their own SNC Records label. “The 12 Days of Christmas” video is still on YouTube, where it has amassed over 25 million views.
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The Members of Straight No Chaser
As with any band, the group has a core of original members, along with former members and their replacements. The one common thread is that every member of the group was once a member of the collegiate group, which changed its name to Another Round in 2012. In July 2008, eight original SNC members-Dan Ponce, Randy Stine, Charlie Mechling, Steve Morgan, Jerome Collins, Dave Roberts, Walter Chase, and Mike Itkoff, along with 2000-03 SNC members Mike Luginbill and Ryan Ahlwardt-recorded a Christmas album, Holiday Spirits, in Bloomington, Indiana.
On August 18, 2009, SNC announced that Michael Itkoff and Steve Morgan had decided to step down from the group to spend more time with their families. SNC replaced them with Seggie Isho, originally from Rochester Hills, Michigan, and Tyler Trepp, originally from Urbandale, Iowa. The professional group currently consists of founding members, Jerome Collins (tenor), Walter Chase (tenor), and Steve Morgan (tenor), joined by Mike Luginbill (tenor, joined 2008), Seggie Isho (baritone, joined 2009), Tyler Trepp (tenor, joined 2009), Jasper Smith (baritone, joined 2020), Freedom Young (vocal percussion / baritone, joined 2022) and Luke Bob Robinson (bass, joined 2024).
Musical Evolution and Repertoire
Originally known for Christmas tunes, the group introduced a summer tour featuring yacht rock songs. Isho explained that the latest album, “Yacht on the Rocks,” released in June of this year, was the brainchild of the group’s tour manager, who observed the fact that backstage, in the dressing rooms and on the tour bus, many of the guys were listening to yacht rock anthems. People passing by, from tour personnel to local crew and catering, would naturally bop their heads and groove along. “It just kind of came together pretty quickly to be honest,” Isho said. “We got in the studio in Nashville and started banging these songs out, and it was just a lot of fun, and we toured it all summer.
“And I think moving forward, this is going to be a part of our new DNA. “So, this fall we’re not going to be doing any of that yacht rock stuff, which may disappoint some people that weren’t able to get to the yacht rock tour this summer. “We’re actually working on a ton of new holiday music, a ton of new music for the non-holiday set, maybe some T Swift. There’s a lot of Swifties out there that couldn’t get their hands on some Taylor tickets, myself included,” Isho admitted. “So, we want to give them a second chance at making their kids happy and getting them in front of someone performing those T Swift jams.
Straight No Chaser works hard to keep its repertoire fresh and exciting as well as diverse. Modern a cappella music is characterized by clever arrangements featuring polyphony (two or more lines of melody occurring simultaneously), layers of harmony, vocal percussion (also known as beatboxing) and perhaps the most awe-inspiring aspect of split vocal parts, the bass. “Luckily, we are in a position where every song we do is a hit because we’ve got the entire history of music to choose from when we’re thinking about what songs we want to perform,” Isho said.
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Put a Straight No Chaser playlist on and you’ll experience the gamut of musical genres. There really is something in there for everyone. “When we go out into the lobby after the show and sit down for our signing line like we do after every show,” he said, “people come through the line, whole families will come through and the dad will say, ‘Hey, I really loved when you did this song from the ’60s, it reminded me of my youth,’ and this and that, or, ‘What my parents used to listen to.’ And then the kids will come through and say, ‘Hey, thank you so much for doing that Lizzo song.
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Albums
The group has released numerous albums and EPs, showcasing their versatility and innovation in a cappella music. Here's a list of some of their notable releases:
- Holiday Spirits (2008)
- Christmas Cheers (2009)
- With a Twist (2010)
- Six Pack (2009)
- Six Pack Vol. II (2011)
- Under the Influence (2013)
- Under the Influence: Holiday Edition (2013)
- The New Old Fashioned (2015)
- I'll Have Another... Christmas Album (2016)
- One Shot (2018)
- Open Bar (2019)
- Social Christmasing (2020)
Their album With a Twist debuted on the Billboard 200 at No. 29. Christmas has been good for SNC. 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. 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. on the Christmas radio chart.
The Magic of Live Performance
With some 15 years of touring under their belts, the gentlemen of Straight No Chaser know that the magic of performing live music isn’t reserved solely for the audience. Playing 100 or more shows per year over two tours, the time away from home and family is an investment in something bigger than themselves. “All of us are somewhat new dads,” Isho noted. “All of us have young kids, and a lot of times people ask me, ‘What do you tell your kids when you leave for several weeks at a time?’ I can answer this question selfishly. When I step onstage, that’s where I feel at home, when I’m in front of an audience, that it’s exhilarating. It doesn’t matter what happened that day, it doesn’t matter what’s going on at home. When I step onstage, everything is perfect. But what he tells his children is something much deeper.
“What I tell my kids is (that) after every show, we’ll have someone come through the signing line afterwards and say, ‘Thank you so much for this show. I was recently diagnosed with stage 4 cancer,’ or, ‘This is happening in my life that is very hard to deal with,’ and all of these different things, all of the things that life can throw at people. And they’ll come through the line and say, ‘Thank you for the two-hour break from all that. “And it’s really rewarding,” Isho continued. “And that’s what I tell my kids when dad leaves. It’s to go and help people. ‘There are people who get so much joy from what your dad and the rest of the guys in the band do. It gives them that window of happiness that they’ve needed for a long time. And that’s the magic. Music is one of the most powerful forces in the universe.
“When you see Straight No Chaser, you’re not there to see a concert,” Isho said. “You’re there for an entire experience. It’s not just about the music. The music is certainly a large aspect of the show, but it’s kind of like being with a group of friends that you haven’t seen in a long time, just goofing off, joking around, making fun of each other, making fun of the audience, the audience making fun of us, laughing at us, whatever it might be. … It’s just entertainment. “Follow us on all our social media - that really helps spread the word,” he said. “We’ve been doing this for a long time, but we’re fairly unknown to the majority of the country still. So, you should consider buying your tickets now. You won’t regret slamming this one straight, no chaser.
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