Pardon me while I crawl out of my bunker for a few moments to tell you about AcappellaFest!  Now in it’s third year, AcappellaFest is the MidWest’s -finest- A Cappella event.  And this year, it’s too big for any one city to contain!  It’ll be in Detroit on October 17th, and in Chicago the following weekend of the 24th.  All the details are available at http://www.acappellafest.com/index.html, but to summarize, it’s all sorts of great groups, special guests, workshops, and contests!  Listen to AcappellaFest Radio Spot and tell me it doesn’t get you excited!  And if that’s not enough, go check out an interview with Jeff Swearingen, one of the executive producers of the festival – great stuff!

On June 25th the world lost a person why might arguably be called the greatest solo performer of our time.  Popular around the world, he was always the subject of public attention, be it for his music, his dancing, his championing of various causes, or even his eccentricities.  Show #57 is comprised entirely of Michael Jackson covers, mostly from his solo career, but a few from his time with The Jackson 5 as well.  The outlier in that is the cover of Billie Jean/No Diggity by Blackstreet and Dr. Dre, itself a cover and remix of the original Michael Jackson song.

Congratulations @VocalBandNico10 and @jennycz for having their names drawn in the Firedrill! giveaway announced in show #56!

44 minutes of Acapodcast goodness, served hot and fresh!  Subscribe to the show or click here to listen to show #56!  Read below the track list for more goodness!

Oh Firedrill!, we’ll miss you. Your riveting covers of delicious Eighties tunes brought me back in time to the explosion of college a cappella, but with over 20 years of arranging, production, and advancement of the art.  Keep us up to date on whatever you guys do next.

Don’t forget that if you are registered with twitter, you can follow me (http://www.twitter.com/acapodcast) and tweet the phrase “Firedrill! rocks!” to me to be entered into a drawing for one of two Firedrill! CDs.

I mentioned that Andrew Chaikin performs under the stage name of Kid Beyond.  Here’s a great wikipedia article detailing much of his amazing efforts.  In a secret special commonality, Andrew got his start with the Brown Jabberwocks!

Send me thoughts and suggestions for show #57, which will be a Michael Jackson tribute episode.

Phew!  Got some free time, so I cranked out Show #55 for you all!  This one features all new releases!  Some are by well known groups, others are putting out their first albums.  I gotta say, there’s no wrong albums in this group.  All of them are worth picking up and adding to your collection.  Check out the artists and see what tickles your fancy.

As I said above, each of these is worth picking up.  What more can I say?  Well, quite a bit.

Starting with Play The Game, it was recently reviewed by the hosts of a new a cappella podcast, Mouth Off! Do check them out, these dudes are -in the -middle- of the a cappella world, and know what they’re talking about.  It’s well worth their time. (And to add to controversy, I agree with them on the topic of Ben Fold’s new album.)  Play The Game took almost 2 years from beginning to end, and the care and time shines through.  It’s an excellent blend of studio talent and student talent.

Suit Up. features a couple of original tracks, something I wish the Bubs would take a stab at.  As much as I love great a cappella covers, I love great a cappella originals at least as much.  Ok guys, which of you posed for the cover?

No Strings Attached…  why no English web site? Apologies to those in the listening audience who don’t speak German but are trying to work your way through the purchase process anyhow.

Superawesomesauce!  On My Way is available as a –free– download from Slapdash Graduate.  You can find that on their web site.  See?  Original tunes carry no restrictions, and make for the best promos.  Go download it now.

Heh, it turnes out TCFI actually did release an earlier album, and Syllabolical is their second release.  The first album seems not to have gotten wide distribution though.  I’ll see about tracking down a copy (I’m such a completist).

Enough of my chatter, you came here to listen to the show, right?  Then what are you waiting for?  Start listening to Show #55 [Play]

A long time in the making, 54 is chock full of awards and competitions goodness!

Let’s try something a little different.  Here is what you’ll hear on show #54:

Oh, hey, the Tupelos have this awesome “Stalkapella” shirt.  I think I need one of those.

I apologize to those of the listening audience who don’t get why the Six13 parodies are funny.  I admit, some of them go over my head as well.  That said, even without the jokes, the music is abso-smashing-fantastic, and the fact that they’re even -making- jokes based on some of these pop songs is pretty funny.

As mentioned during the show, if you’re affiliated with a cappella in any way, and are looking for webhosting, the fine folks over at A’Cappella Hosting are top notch, and can help you out from bits to bolts.

Oh, and as promised, the YouTube video of Naturally Seven.  (Boo, NBC has pulled the Leno clip from YouTube, so here is an equally excellent clip of them on the Ellen show)

Some of you may remember them from their Paris Subway video last year.  If not, here’s that too:

And now, on with the show!

It’s here!  It’s finally here!  I know, we’re all excited like kids at a birthday party, right?  It’s a birthday of sorts for the Acapodcast, as we now enter the 4th year officially.  Incidentally, this also means it is now officially the longest running a cappella podcast on the internet, now matter how you count it.

So to celebrate, let’s listen to:

That’s right, seven kick butt tracks!  All wrapped up in Show #53 for your aural pleasure!

Don’t forget to go check out the Liquid 5th bundle, three great albums, and some of the money goes to charity.

I recorded show #53, but had to throw it out. Turns out the fuzziness heard on #52 wasn’t just a result of a loose capsule in the Mic. I’ll be replacing the trusty microphone soon, and re-recording. I know I’m 2 weeks overdue already, and I really want to get this episode out while parts of it are still timely…

I promise, tons of good stuff in there, but I’m not going to make you listen to me while I sound like I’m on the wrong end of a tin can and string connection….

After a few hours of shoveling snow, it looks like up here in New England it’ll be a White Christmas.  Here’s almost an hour and a half of music to listen to with friends, family, and loved one while you sit by the fire or go about your holiday merriment.  Do you hear what I hear?  I hear:

Here’s hoping you get all you wish for this holiday season.  And here’s show #52.

edit: After hearing eactly how fuzzy I sounded (I didn’t think it was going to be that bad while recording), I opened up my mic and found that one of the capsules was loose and misaligned.  Here’s hoping I sound better in the new year!

Miss me?  I missed me too.  Here’s a plateful of warm a cappella for your late autumn nights.  For those of you in the US celebrating Thanksgiving this coming week, try not to gorge yourselves.

As a reminder, I’m searching for new material for the annual holiday show, so if you’ve got something you’d like to submit, get in touch with me.

Click here to listen to show #51!

The big 5-0!  I never imagined it would get this far, and yet, here we are!  This is the listener favorites show, and I have taken ten of the songs you voted for and put them together into this one double-sized show.  Thanks to all the pro, semi-pro, collegiate, amateur, and high school groups that have chosen to be a part of the show over the years, and thanks to all the listeners, without whom this would be a useless exercise.  Here is what you chose:

Again, as an experiment, all the older shows are moving to $2 paid donation model.  You won’t have to change a thing to keep receiving the great podcast you know and love, but if you want to go back more than a few episodes, those won’t be directly available for download.  Please, let me know what you think of this.  I want to be able to continue bringing you the greatest contemporary a cappella music, and I don’t want to ransom it, or say you have to pay for new episodes.  If you don’t want to pay a dime, that’s fine, you can keep listening to the full show, no problem.  And I know this hurts new listeners more than it does old listeners, and I’m sorry for that.  Thanks for your understanding, and your donations.

Tune in to Episode #50!