And now we shall do the NEWS! (A Cappella Edition!)

If you've been paying attention at all you know that there's a lot happening in the world of A Cappella. I'll highlight a few of my favorites but aside from them it is also "A Cappella" season again as well. By that I mean school is back in session and as an A Cappella fan you know with the return of students to campuses comes auditions, newbies, and concerts! There's nothing quite like a live A Cappella performance the shared experience of that amazing chord, hit high note, or a soul crushing belt.

The Sing-Off is BACK!!

NBC's The Sing-Off is back for a third season. Season 3 maintains largely the same (admittedly a bit quirky) formula with a couple of, in my opinion welcome, changes. It's a longer season now not just a holiday special which means more episodes which means more groups competing, 16 now vs. 10 in previous years. That means the groups are broken into two "brackets" or groups of 8. The best change by far is the addition of A Cappella alum herself Sara Bareilles to the judging panel. Her presence, even in the first episode, adds a welcome injection of fun and light heartedness to the show. I'm not going to break down each episode this season. I'll just say about this season I don't have an early favorite yet, I agreed with all the judges choices in last night's first episode, oh and WOW...

AcaPolitics November Release?

AcaPolitics is a novel written by a former collegiate A Cappella alum focused on the drama, romantic entanglements, and cut throat competition of the singing groups at the fictional Brighton University.  The origional, I guess manuscript, was released online some time ago. I read it and enjoyed it quite a bit. Now the final product is due to be published in November. I found the story to be a lot of fun and couldn't stop reading I think largely because I was never in a group and imagined or real I like getting the inside scoop on groups, even if it is a fictional one. I look forward to finally seeing how the story unfolds!

Sex, Dugs, and A Cappella

A recent discovery, for me at least is a new web-series known as "Sex, Drugs and A Cappella." The show bills itself as Glee set in the world of college A Cappella (which Glee's producers themselves actually briefly considered). As a result some might consider it a bit more 'risque' (interesting?) than Glee. Also of course it is A Cappella as opposed to show choir, score one already in my book! Story wise the Pilot covers familiar territory but definitely adds it's own take and humor. I especially liked the way they shot and presented "Let me Entertain You" in Part 1 of the Pilot. I had it cranked up pretty good this morning on the way to work and it's heard not to tap/bob something to it! At the very least take a look on YouTube and make your own judgement. If you like the music you can grab it on Amazon here.