CASA - the contemporary a cappella society - A Cappella Originals Blog #3

A Cappella Originals Blog #3

Written by Tim Jones

Sunday, 04 March 2007

March already. Time is a mooovin’.

Part I
Quick mention of the ongoing conversation going on at this blog site at casa.org – Chad, Jesus, and Dave have dropped some good comments; you should too! I want to know what you’re thinking, any gut reactions you have to the blog. You just have to join CASA as a free member – which you should anyway!

In my next blog I’ll respond to the comments in detail (and also maybe your comments since you’re going to post them now, huh). As a preview, here’s a rundown of the latest conversation:

Chad has asked, “What do you think makes a great a cappella original?” Jesus comments on the “very different performing and marketing dynamic in a group that does originals,” causing Dave to suggest interviewing groups that perform originals and ask about the way they market themselves – is it different from the way ‘cover’ groups do it?

Fun dialogue... and I’ll get to these topics in a couple of weeks.

Keep the comments coming!

Part II
If you’ve listened to the a cappella originals podcast then you know about the great original a cappella music being produced. You’ll also be aware that there are relatively few groups represented. Is this because there are only a few groups that know how to write original songs? That might be part of it, but I think it’s mostly because for some reason, groups have not sent in their music. CASA offers groups a chance to have their music on an international podcast, as well as have it included in the A Cappella Originals mp3 library at CASA.org.

What do they fear – loss of business? Afraid that sending their music out there is going to scare people away? Or, is it that they don’t think people are going to buy what they have already heard? If anything, listeners are going to be more inclined to buy their music – I know I’ve discovered several groups who I had heard of, but never heard their music, and now that I’ve listened I’ll get more. Not to mention that there are more groups I’m excited to see live, where before they were just another name on the list o’ groups.

The ‘preview music’ model isn’t anything new – that’s what commercial radio is, after all. Many artists are now offering full album previews on their web site, free promotional downloads, etc. AOL has a ‘Full CD Listening Party’ where they stream complete albums for the public to listen to. Same result – I hear music that I never in a thousand years would have heard before, and now I love. Groups ought to be ecstatic about using this method of educating the public about their music. Hiding your stuff is not going to do you any favors! People buy what they like, and they can’t like what they don’t know.

I can’t imagine any other reasons why they wouldn’t send their music in.

Part III
I want to quickly run over the tracks played in the last podcast, and give some information and opinion about them (http://acappellaoriginals.libsyn.com/)

Cadence “Don’t Fix What’s Broken” by Dylan Bell
The more I hear of Cadence, the more I idolize their recordings and songwriting. The production is simply astonishing – they are the only a cappella group that my wife consistently mistakes for a ‘real’ band. It’s not that they sound like a band, because they definitely sound like singers. I think it’s the writing and production – top notch, imaginative, thorough, and skilled. I’ve seen Cadence live a couple of times, and they are awesome, but their recordings are unique nuggets. They convey the same musical brilliance as they do in live performance, using skilled and subtle studio helps.

And I love, love, love their original songs. Well-crafted, thoughtful, bluesey-jazzy-poppy-happy… it’s great stuff. And very refined… I’m hoping to interview their writer(s) soon, and ask them about how much time they spend editing/crafting their songs.

Duwende “I Fall” by Morgan Philips and Abbey Janes
Duwende is awesome. Their live shows scream. I love this song, not just because Abbey’s voice is so pretty, but also because I don’t think of it as a ‘song,’ which is saying a lot for an old music-analyzing freak like me. I just listen, and enjoy. It helps that the rest of the group, who are flat-out funky, can also flat-out sing.

The House Jacks “Dirt” by Austin Willacy
The thing about The House Jacks that I find most amazing, and more so the more of their music I hear, is that they all write. I don’t actually know if they all do, but, they all do. They have somehow cultivated it as part of their group culture that everyone is welcome to contribute. Or maybe they just happened to hire a bunch of crazy good songwriters. But I think it’s because it’s encouraged. And I love it. And I love this song. It’s hotttt. t.

Marcoux Corner “Changes” by Josh Baesler
First, apologies to Josh for calling him John in the podcast. And I slaughtered his last name, which I still don’t know how to pronounce. Dude. I know very little about Marcoux Corner, and they’ve been a fun discovery for me. I like their smoothish old-school style, and they write some nice songs. ‘Changes’ is cool. I’d make out to it if my wife would let me come near her after I ate that garlic ice cream.

Vote for Pedro “Cool Kidz”
Pretty clever. Great singers, too. VfP’s whole ep is nice – they’ve got a solid sound, good charisma, loads of talent.

Toxic Audio “Tunnel Vision” by Paul Sperrazza
TA (is it okay to call them TA?) has such a sharp pop sensibility that their excellent originals don’t surprise me. They make it sound effortless.

New podcast is in the works as we speak – until then,

Be Original!

You can reach Mister Tim at tim at moosebutter dot com

If you would like your music to be featured on the A Cappella Originals podcast it must be in the CASA A Cappella Originals mp3 library. For information on donating your recordings to the CASA A Cappella Originals mp3 library email podcast@casa.org or phone: 415-358-8067