Straight No Chaser is the name of a collaborative ensemble of two a cappella singing ensembles. One group comprises of tent o twelve male performers from Indiana University whose lineup changes regularly each year, while other group comprises of the core professionals, referred to as Straight No Chaser, and consists of the former members most of whom are from the original lineup that came from the band’s college group. Straight No Chaser released a video of their song The Twelve days of Christmas, made in 1998, which gained much popularity when made available on YouTube in 2006, leading to the signing of a record deal in 2008 with Atlantic Records that promised the release of five albums.  Since the band’s video on YouTube has already had fourteen million viewers, it is no surprise to that Straight No Chaser tickets are all the hype among its fans.

Straight No Chaser was founded in 1996 by Dan Ponce as a collegiate group at Indiana University, from where he added nine students including Randy Stine, Kevin Caroll, Patrick Hachey, Mike Itkoff, Walter Chase, Dave Roberts, Jerome Collins, Steve Morgan and Charlie Mechling. The band was named after the title track of a 1967 Thelonious Monk album, and is consciously used to evoke the American way of phrasing one’s request for a drink. The group’s debut was held in a marathon of thirty-six hours, in which the initial members played at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Navy Pier and Comiskey Park, following which they opened for a Lou Rawls concert and toured across the country performing at venues like the Carnegie Hall. The band’s original ten members stayed together between 1996 and 1999, till new students were chosen to join the graduating batch. By 2010, about sixty students from the university had been a part of the band.

Straight No Chaser has undertaken some extensive tours such as their 2010 fall touring plan in which they visited seventy-five cities in the US, UK and Canada. The shows featured set lists of their most recent released including their box-set called All I Want for Christmas that contains a couple of holiday albums alongside a DVD titled Live in New York, form their special on PBS. Their live performances won them widespread following so that in 2011, the group actually took some time off from their back-to-back touring schedule so they could play in Atlantic City’s Harrah Casino for a series of fifty-two performances. The band’s albums namely Holiday Spirit, With a Twist and Christmas Spirit all three of which were released between 2008 and 2010, became hits attained charting positions with Twist taking the twenty-ninth place.

Straight No Chaser has garnered considerable critical acclaim and honors, including CARA awards in 1999 in the category of Best Male Collegiate Album for their studio offering Last Call, Best Male Collegiate Song for their track Ghost Train, while also receiving a nomination for Best Male Collegiate Soloist for group member Michael Itkoff. The group also earned the second position in the final round of National Championships by College A Cappella. In 2000, the band gained recognition as the Best Arrangement from the quarterfinals of the ICCA Midwest Region.

In the ICCA divisionals of 2005, Straight No Chaser was given the first place, while also being selected at divisional level for Best Choreography. The group then went on to be win the first place in Midwest Regional Finals, following which it went to New York where it performed in ICCA finals held at Lincoln Center. Then in 2009, the group’s Atlantic Records release earned them yet another CARA Award in the category of Best Holiday Album for their studio offering Holiday Spirits, while they also received a nomination in the category of Best Holiday Song for their track Carol of the Bells from the same album. Straight No Chaser tickets provide a one of a kind live performance so get in line for them now and don’t miss the show.