Straight No Chaser Announces 50 City Tour Dates, Lands In Progress Energy Center 12/23

ATCO/Atlantic a cappella group Straight No Chaser has announced a 50-city tour with dates beginning in September and running through the fall. The 10-member group, who claimed the top spot last December on iTunes and Amazon.com with their debut album, HOLIDAY SPIRITS, will kick off the fall run with a handful of dates at the end of September, starting in Bloomington, IL on September 24. The tour will get into full swing in October and will run through December 23. Tickets go on sale August 14 unless otherwise noted in the below itinerary. Additional dates to be announced soon.

In other news, Straight No Chaser has announced plans to release CHRISTMAS CHEERS, a new full-length holiday album this fall. The release will feature a new batch of holiday classics reworked in Straight No Chaser's inventive and original style. Next week, the group will perform some of these new arrangements in a live concert set to air on PBS this holiday season as part of the PBS December Pledge Drive. More details on the album and PBS concert coming soon.
Straight No Chaser recently released "SIX PACK," an EP of six non-holiday cover songs ranging from "Rehab" to a medley of "I'm Yours" and "Over The Rainbow." The physical and digital EP can be ordered exclusively through the group's website, www.sncmusic.com.

Taking off from the runaway success of "The 12 Days Of Christmas," HOLIDAY SPIRITS saw Straight No Chaser re-energizing holiday classics such as "The Christmas Song," "Silent Night," and "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" with their captivating and powerful vocal arrangements. Fueled by appearances on ABC World News Tonight, CNN Headline News, and the Today show, among others, the album spent 14 days in the #1 slot on Amazon, and 5 days at the top spot overall on iTunes. The group's now famous version of "The 12 Days of Christmas" peaked in the top 10 on the Christmas radio chart and reached the top 15 at Hot AC. On their first-ever headline tour in December 2008, Straight No Chaser sold out shows across the country.
Founded at Indiana University in the fall of 1996, Straight No Chaser's goal was to expand the boundaries of the traditional college a cappella group. From the start, they viewed themselves more like a local band that just happened to use their voices as their instruments. As original member Randy Stine comments, "We take the music very seriously; we just don't take ourselves too seriously." In the process, they are reinventing the idea of a cappella on the modern pop landscape.

The 10-man group performed at campus events and sorority functions, and soon found themselves headlining their own concerts. Within two years, Straight No Chaser was touring nationally. They opened for artists like Lou Rawls, performed at Chicago Cubs and White Sox games, and blew away a sold-out Carnegie Hall crowd at the National Championship of Collegiate A Cappella.

In 1999, the graduating members of Straight No Chaser chose their replacements, ensuring that the new tradition they had created would continue on with successive generations of IU undergrads. Then, in 2006, the unexpected happened - Indiana University decided to host a reunion concert for the original members. In honor of the event, Randy Stine posted footage from one of their 1998 concerts online.

To the group's surprise, Straight No Chaser's version of "The 12 Days of Christmas" - interpolating Toto's "Africa" - became the hottest viral video of the holiday season, eventually receiving more than 10 million views online. Among those millions of viewers was Atlantic Records Chairman/CEO Craig Kallman, who tracked the group down and promptly signed them to the label.
The birth of Straight No Chaser's second life is a story of talent, drive, and some very good luck. But their goal remains the same as it was back in their college days. As Stine says, "We want the audience to not miss the instruments, be surprised by what we're doing, and in the end, appreciate the songs in a whole new way."

For up-to-the-minute news and information, visit www.sncmusic.com, and www.myspace.com/sncmusic.

STRAIGHT NO CHASER
ON TOUR FALL/WINTER 2009
Tickets on-sale Aug. 14 unless otherwise noted by *
Additional dates to be announced soon.

SEPTEMBER
24 Bloomington, IL Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts
25 Wabash, IN Honeywell Center
26 Elyria, OH Stocker Arts Center

OCTOBER

23 Klamath Falls, OR Ross Ragland Theater
25 Eugene, OR Hult Center for the Performing Arts
26 Vancouver, BC The Clutch
27 Portland, OR Aladdin Theater
29 Medford, OR Craterion Performances
30 Napa, CA Napa Valley Opera House

NOVEMBER

5 Ridgefield, CT Ridgefield Playhouse
7 Milwaukee, WI Potawatomi Casino* (on-sale date TBD)
8 Minneapolis, MN Fine Line Music Café
11 Toronto, ON Queen Elizabeth Theatre* (on-sale Aug. 21)
12 Belleville, ON Empire Theatre* (on-sale Aug. 21)
13 Montreal, PQ Cabaret Juste Pour Rire* (on-sale Aug. 21)
14 Schenectady, NY Proctors Theatre
15 Buffalo, NY University at Buffalo Arts Center
18 Atlanta, GA Center Stage
22 Bel Air, MD Amoss Center
27 Seattle, WA Nordstrom RecitAl Hall
28 San Francisco, CA Palace of Fine Arts Theatre* (on-sale Aug. 23)
29 Los Angeles, CA Wiltern Theatre* (on-sale Aug. 23)

DECEMBER

1 Canton, OH Palace Theatre
3 Louisville, KY Brown Theatre
4 Piqua, OH Edison Community College
5 Indianapolis, IN The Murat Centre
6 Royal Oak, MI Royal Oak Music Theatre
8 Iowa City, IA University of Iowa, Hancher Auditorium
9 Arkansas City, KS Cowley College
10 Bartlesville, OK Bartlesville Community Center
11 Junction City, KS C.L. Hoover Opera House
12 Lawrence, KS Lied Center
13 Chicago, IL Park West
15 St. Louis, MO Harrah's VooDoo Lounge
17 New York, NY Nokia Theatre Times Square
18 Glenside, PA Keswick Theatre
19 Boston, MA Berklee Performance Theatre
21 Alexandria, VA Birchmere
22 Alexandria, VA Birchmere
23 Raleigh, NC Progress Energy Performing Arts Center

To post a comment, you must register and login.