This blog entry will be a short one, with a message directed specifically at college grads:

Many of you love a cappella, and you're about to enter the "real" world in perhaps the worst economic climate since the 1930s. 

This might have you concerned about employment, ready to take the first full-time job offer that comes your way.

But you have a dream: singing a cappella professionally. Seems highly unlikely. Should you try?

Absolutely!

There is no better time in your life than now. The year after college graduation is the absolute best time to take a big risk: you don't have a family, or a mortgage, or a specific career path yet. You don't need a great deal of money, you're full of energy, and if things don't work out absolutely no employer will begrudge your having taken a year to follow a dream.

When I graduated in 1991, the economic climate was bad, and there was no contemporary a cappella community whatsoever. People told me I was crazy (the ones that were brave enough to speak their mind, that is)... and the fact is I WAS crazy. But I'm glad I was crazy.

Making a career of a cappella is easier now than at any time in the past 100 years. A Cappella is ascendent in the media and there are more talented and experienced a cappella singers your age than ever before. Yes, schools, theaters and festivals are cutting back, but a cappella is inexpensive compared to most other entertainment options, and there seem to be fewer professional groups working full-time now than there have been over the past decade. There is most certainly room for your group.

Do you need more convincing? Straight No Chaser had a Billboard charting album last year and is working on another for Atlantic Records. Two reality shows are in production in which college and recent-grad aged groups will receive primary focus. Joe Public is discovering contemporary a cappella, and we need great young groups in all regions of the country to fill the growing hunger for harmony.

Just do it. Roll the dice. Give it a try. Even if it doesn't work out, you'll have an amazing year full of memories, and you'll spend the rest of your life glad that you gave it a try. And if it does work out, you will be living your dream.