In September of 1996 Dan Ponce, a member of the Singing Hoosiers, put together a men's a cappella group at Indiana University. He mentioned this idea to his friends in the choir and one by one, picked the members of what would become Straight No Chaser. The group began practicing several times a week, and put on their first performance in October at the 1996 Indiana University Dance Marathon.
Straight No Chaser began gaining notoriety when their YouTube videos started receiving over twenty million page views. After a huge audience response, the group decided to hit the road and share their music with the world. Some of the group members recall their favorite memory from when they were asked to stand in for a show at the University of Michigan because another group was snowed in. They were unheard of and this was their first big off campus show. Nervous and all, they ended up stealing the show and had a nice night on CD sells.
Since its founding in 1996, Straight No Chaser has gone on to perform at universities and auditoriums all across the nation and even Carnegie Hall! Straight No Chaser spreads their incredible blend of talent with their exciting stage presence everywhere they perform. The group likes to say "We take the music very seriously; we just don’t take ourselves too seriously." Each member has a personality and sense of humor of their own and brings lightheartedness to their hectic schedule of touring.
In addition to weekend schedules of tours throughout the entire school year the group consistently packs the houses of their two annual shows at The Buskirk Chumley Theater in Bloomington, Indiana (Winter Concert), and the Indiana University Auditorium (Spring Concert).
Straight No Chaser will be performing at the William Saroyan Theatre on Tuesday, November 2nd at 7:30pm.
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