New Tunesday – March 12, 2019

This week’s #NewTunesday brings some heavy-hitters this week. From world class, to world champions, to worldwide, we’ve got your need for new a cappella amply covered this week:

The Swingles

Now with two new ladies, The Swingles quietly dropped this Spanish lullaby and it wows. Did you expect anything less?

Naturally 7

Somewhat under the radar, top US vocal group N7 has been competing on The World’s Best Championship. Their most recent performance was a tribute of “Fix You”, but you can also see their cover of the iconic “In The Air Tonight” or their audition using “Wall of Sound.”

Women of the World

Two new videos in two weeks from this amazing group? We feel spoiled.

Cadence

Losing power might be your worst nightmare, but what if it meant an impromptu unplugged set from one of the best jazz quartets in the business? Here they are entertaining in the dark at Beach Fire Brewing and Nosh House.

VoicePlay

In their first PartWorks installment of Season 2, the fellas of VoicePlay bring us a cover of “Mr. Blue Sky” that is sure to brighten your day.

Scott & Ryceejo

This dynamic duo caught the attention of the composer with their medley of songs from Mary Poppins Returns – the latest in their long series of Disney covers.

BisCaydence

The recently crowned South Regional Finalists for this year’s ICCA just released a live video of their performance of “No Air” from the Betsy A Cappella Festival in the fall.

MVP | After5 | The Macabellas | Centenary Vocal Ensemble

The ladies of Aussie a cappella came together for a cover of “Independent Women” in honor of International Women’s Day.

The Eight Tracks

This Boston-based CAL group just snagged 2nd place at the Boston Harmony Sweepstakes – here’s footage of their whole set!

The Techtonics

Have you been following the #SmashHitSunday series? Here’s the latest out of the UK’s top collegiate group:

And this one was a little late to come to our attention, but here’s a new-ish Geico ad featuring a “barbershop quartet”:

 

2019 CARA Nominations Announced

The much anticipated annual Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards nominations were announced today and both long-standing favorites and new stars are among the talents honored.

Standouts include Boston-based experimental group Birdland Avenue who landed five nominations for Come Around including Best Non-Scholastic Debut Album, Best Electronic/Experimental Album, Best Pop Album, Best Electronic/Experimental Song (“Rabbit Hole”), Best Original Song by a Professional Group (“Breeze Baby”) and DCappella who earned four nominations for Best Non-Scholastic Debut Album, Best Rock Song (“Immortals”), Best Showtunes/Soundtrack/Theme Song (“The Glory Days”), and Best Professional Arrangement for a Non-Scholastic Group (“Immortals”).

We also saw multiple nominations for The Swingles, Pentatonix多么幸福 East West Collective, and Rebel Bit.

On the Scholastic side A Cappella Academy, The G-Men, The A Cappella Group, VoiceBox, The Coda Conduct, The Sons of Pitches, and Dragon Scales were among some of the groups heavily recognized for their work this year.

2009 International Quartet Champions Crossroads led in barbershop music with four nominations in barbershop and arrangements.

See the full list of nominations and then follow along as we catch up with nominees and broadcast live from BOSS and the CARA Ceremony in April.

New Tunesday – January 22, 2019

The great music keeps on rolling in – here are some of our favorite new releases this week:

The Swingles

An original folk tune written by group tenor, Oliver Griffiths, is the perfect way to celebrate your most important relationships this new year.

Peter Hollens

The one man a cappella band brings his favorite song from Lion King. Enjoy the many faces and sounds from this irrefutable YouTube star.

The AcaLumni Project

What a nice surprise it was for the Acaville team to get a virtual Valentine from the world’s first internet-based a cappella group. “You’ve Got a Friend” is the latest release from this group of a cappella alumni from around the world. Like what you hear? Send your own valentine this year with their help!

Jared Halley

The Ohio-based YouTube star with many clones released his latest cover – this time of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody.

HIVE

We’re not sure there’s ever been a video that perfectly captured the essence of a group like this one. Enjoy “On and Ever Onward” arranged by Lisa Forkish.

Rifftide

Born out of the very active BYU a cappella scene, this cover of “Dream” is visually stunning with cinematography work from Tyler Edwards.

RANGE

With a roster full of up and coming Broadway stars, Range out of NYC covers Meadowlark with full blessing from Stephen Schwartz.

燃点人声乐团Ignite Vocal

Is it just us, or does it feel like we’re ready for another boy band wave? In the meantime, here’s 18 boy bands in one pretty package from Ignite Vocal out of China.

Merry Christmas from Acaville!

We hope all of our listeners are enjoying the ’round the clock holiday music on the station. In case you need just a little more, here are a few new holiday releases to enjoy.

PLUS – tune in at 3 pm EST/12 pm PST on Christmas Day to hear the Alexandria Harmonizers’ Holiday Show – The Secret of Christmas. The concert will also air on Friday Night Live at 9 pm EST/6 pm PST on December 28th to close out our 2018 Holiday season.

The Swingles – This Christmas

Voctave – O Holy Night

VOCES8 – Lully, Lulla, Lullay

DCappella – All I Want for Christmas is You

BeatVox – All I Want for Xmas

Pitch Slapped – Intro (Christmas & Chill)

Bluebird – Winter Wonderland

Pop-Up – Carol of the Bells

Legacy – Have Yourself A Merry Christmas

The AcaLumni Project (featuring Jamie Howe of KeyStone) – Little Saint Nick

Shawn Thomas – Last Christmas

And finally, the head on over to Facebook to see the latest release from OneVoice (Briarcrest School) – O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.