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“Music education has been atrophying,” Ben Folds says. “And yet, at any given school, any number of a cappella groups are getting together a few times a week to rehearse and perform. What’s more is they’re really good.” An idea was born. “If there are thousands of a cappella groups out there,” Ben says, “it must be amazing to sing in them. I wanted to capture that magic.” And so Ben Folds—one part Jane Goodall, two parts Ahmet Ertegun—set out to recruit and record these university a cappella groups. You hold the result in your hands. Click HERE to read the FULL BIO...
Harmony 101 With witty lyrics, hook-filled piano rock and a handful of hits since the 1990s, singer Ben Folds has carved out a comfortable niche in pop music. In the world of collegiate a cappella singing, however, Mr. Folds is unrivaled...
Leave it to Ben Folds to put out what is essentially a greatest-hits album...sung by college a cappella groups. On April 28, the North Carolina-born singer/songwriter/pianist/cutup will release Ben Folds Presents: University A Cappella!, which features more than a dozen undergraduate groups (and even one high-school act) performing instrument-free versions of some of his best-known songs...
There's a lingering image of glee clubs - as glassy-eyed geek squads grinning their way through music as antique as a barbershop quartet and as corny as a hootenanny...
For years, a cappella has kept a low profile, hidden in ivy-encrusted college campus centers, dismissed as derivative mimicry, and relegated to the annals of history as novelty tunes sung by overgrown choirboys. Matters haven't been helped by Folgers commercials, children's game shows, or the endless parade of jokes...
Ben Folds first got the country to sing along with his music back in 1997, with his breakthrough hit "Brick." His dynamic live shows often found Folds leaping on top of the piano, dividing the audience down the middle, and conducting them in two-part (and sometimes even three-part) harmony...
Not long after Ben Folds heard that his songs were popular among college a cappella groups, he got an idea for a new album.
"We just put the word out," he says. "I put it on my Web page: If you're an a cappella group and you're doing my songs, send your submission...
While you were in your dorm room sleeping off last night's hangover, there's a good chance the kid down the hall was singing Ben Folds songs a cappella in a college-sponsored club...
A cappella's been creeping further and further into the indie rock realm: Not necessarily bands who sing without instrumentation behind them, but straight-up college a cappella groups covering Animal Collective and Vampire Weekend, backing Rivers Cuomo. It's like a sickness! Just kidding (sort of). One-upping these dabblings, Ben Folds has created a new album, Ben Folds Presents: University A Cappella, a collection of the US of A's best a cappella groups covering his songs...
Two of Washington University’s a cappella groups, Mosaic Whispers and the Amateurs, contributed to a record produced by Ben Folds earlier this year...
The audience would have to do without the low D, rocker Ben Folds announced after he broke a string of the grand piano at McCarter Theatre on Wednesday night during the opening concert of his current tour...
A lot can happen in a few weeks. Ask Asher Perzigian ’09. What began with a video post to YouTube culminated with a one-on-one recording session with singer-songwriter-performer Ben Folds, of Ben Folds Five fame...
Alt-popster Ben Folds has announced he’s hitting us up with a new full-length and, believe it or not, he’s ditching the piano... |
1. NOT THE SAME - The Spartones from Greensboro, NC. 2. JESUSLAND - The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's Loreleis 3. BRICK -The Ohio University Leading Tones 4. YOU DON'T KNOW ME - The University of Georgia's With Someone Else's Money 5. STILL FIGHTING IT - Washington University in St. Louis's Mosaic Whispers 6. BOXING - Ben Folds 7. SELFLESS, COLD, AND COMPOSED - The Sacramento State Jazz Singers 8. MAGIC - The University of Chicago's Voices In Your Head 9. LANDED - The University of Colorado Buffoons 10. TIME - The Princeton Nassoons 11. EFFINGTON - Ben Folds 12. EVAPORATED - The Newtones from Newton, MA 13. FRED JONES PART 2 - The West Chester University of Pennsylvania Gracenotes 14. ARMY - The University of Rochester Midnight Ramblers 15. FAIR - University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire's Fifth Element 16. THE LUCKIEST - The Washington University in St. Louis Amateurs
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