By SALINA POST
Straight No Chaser is bringing its 25th-anniversary tour to Salina.
The chart-topping a cappella group is scheduled to perform in the historic Stiefel Theatre, 151 S. Santa Fe Avenue, at 8 p.m. Nov. 4.
Tickets start at $25 had go on sale at noon on Friday. You can buy tickets in person at the Stiefel Theatre Box Office or online at www.stiefeltheatre.org.
About the artists from the Stiefel Theatre
Formed during the 1996-1997 school year at Indiana University, a cappella group Straight No Chaser – which began, according to group member Steve Morgan as a “way to meet girls” – eventually emerged at the forefront of the modern day a cappella movement, and has since sold more than three million albums worldwide, garnered more than a billion streams, and sold more than 1.5 million concert tickets worldwide.
“When we started Straight No Chaser as college kids at Indiana University, we never imagined that 25 years later, we’d have two albums certified gold and tour dates around the world,” said group member Walter Chase. “What a ride it has been. It has literally been a dream come true.”
Anywhere in the world, nine dapper vocalists walk across the stage and immediately bring audiences to their feet.
They do so with nothing more than microphones in hand, grins ear-to-ear, witty banter on point, and an uncanny ability to belt out holiday staples, R&B smooth jams, and stadium anthems carried by style, swagger, and spirit. For as much as the story of Straight No Chaser belongs to the nine guys on stage, it also belongs to a devoted community of millions worldwide affectionately dubbed, “Chasers,” who cemented the a cappella collective’s status as an international phenomenon.
At the same time, theirs may be the most unlikely and unexpected underdog story in all of music.
In 2006, original member Randy Stine uploaded the 1998 performance of “The 12 Days of Christmas” to YouTube, simply with the motivation to share a bit of the glory days with his college buddies. Atlantic Records Chairman/CEO Craig Kallman saw the video, and blown away by the talent and chemistry of this a cappella anomaly, he sought out the guys and signed them. Nobody expected such a response—least of all, the guys in the video.
Throughout the ensuing decade-plus, the group—Stine, Tyler Trepp, Seggie Isho, Michael Luginbill, Walter Chase, Jerome Collins, Charlie Mechling, Steve Morgan, and Jasper Smith—surpassed a series of remarkable milestones. Their unassuming rise would be highlighted by album sales of 1.7 million in the U.S. alone, ticket sales of over 1 million worldwide, 100 million-plus YouTube views, 100 million streams, dozens of major television performances, three PBS specials, collaborations alongside everyone from Sir Paul McCartney and Sir Elton John to Stevie Wonder and Kristen Bell, and a pair of gold-certified albums, Holiday Spirits and Christmas Cheers.
They ushered a cappella into the mainstream, bursting on the scene before pop culture phenoms like "The Sing-Off" and "Pitch Perfect. "Continuing to forge ahead, they ascend to new benchmarks with each move. Annual tours sell out, television shows can’t get enough, and they always defy the odds, not just for a cappella, but for music, at large.