 Rolling Stone has this to say in their current edition:
"Is a capella secretly awesome?"
In reviewing Pitch Perfect, the upcoming summer non-fiction book focusing on collegiate a cappella by GQ senior editor Mickey Rapkin, Rolling Stone appears willing to admit that a cappella might in fact be great. Did I say great? I meant awesome!
Stop the presses! No, actually, keep 'em rolling. It's nice to have some contrast to the current spate of "a cappella = uncool" statements in the mass media.
Secretly awesome sayith the bible of pop music magazines. But does that mean a cappella is or has to be cool?
Perhaps not. David Brooks makes a compelling case in his latest New York Times column The Alpha Geeks.
He's speaking in more broad cultural and political terms, but his thesis embraces and is in fact partly driven by the arts.
To quote, in part:
"...the new technology created a range of mental playgrounds where the new geeks could display their cultural capital. The jock can shine on the football field, but the geeks can display their supple sensibilities and well-modulated emotions on their Facebook pages, blogs, text messages and Twitter feeds. Now there are armies of designers, researchers, media mavens and other cultural producers with a talent for whimsical self-mockery, arcane social references and late-night analysis."
Boy, does that ever sound like the a cappella community. Over-educated, highly tech savvy, the pre, current and post-collegiate a cappella community is a significant slice of the contemporary a cappella world. Computer programmer (or CompSci major) by day, vocal rock star by night.
And, as may be shocking to some and exhaustingly repetitive to others: a cappella is often portrayed as uncool.
But, is uncool finding its way to being cool? Perhaps.
"Elvis Costello and The Talking Heads’s David Byrne popularized a cool geek style that’s led to Moby, Weezer, Vampire Weekend and even self-styled “nerdcore” rock and geeksta rappers."
That sounds not unlike us. We have an aesthetic, a culture, a focus, a style, a sound. And that sound in the past decade has gone from primarily amateur to surprisingly professional, especially when recorded. Technology indeed plays a central role in our most natural of creative pursuits.
Might we have our day in the sun? Might a movie/documentary/reality show about a cappella bring some public attention to and respect for our form? Might an a cappella "Revenge of the Nerds" play out over the next few years in some form? It might.
But I caution people not to worry too much about it either way. Make good music, have a good time. Don't worry about being cool. Don't chase trends in hopes of scoring our fifteen minutes. We're good at making music, bad at style and public perception. Let's play to our strengths so that when people do come upon us, in numbers large or small, they'll clearly see our central attributes: love of harmony, music, the voice. Participatory art. Fun and friendship and song.
Which is most certainly uncool in some people's minds. Their loss, because it is most certainly... well... um... awesome!
And perhaps the secret is getting out.
P.S. "Pitch Perfect" hits stores on May 29th. You can learn more about it and read the clever blog associated with it at http://www.pitchperfect-thebook.com/
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