The Bristol Suspensions

When the Edinburgh Fringe Festival closed due to the Coronavirus, The Bristol Suspensions got to work! The group created an online Fringe Fest for the month of August, culminating in the release of 3 brand new special releases: their Lower Voices High School Musical medley, their Upper Voices Movie medley, and their rendition of The Weather, originally performed by Lawrence.

You can check out the group’s YouTube channel and watch the videos of these songs here: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheBristolSuspensions or you can buy the single for The Weather in iTunes or listen in Spotify!

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UK Virtual A Cappella Collective

Rachael sat down with the team for the UK Virtual A Cappella Collective, who saw an opportunity when the Edinburgh Fringe festival was cancelled to provide a virtual space for UK collegiate a cappella groups to connect. Learn how the whole thing came together and get a sneak peek at the audio from the mass collaboration between 19 UK a cappella groups in a medley of famous tunes.

And tune in to Facebook Live on Sunday August 30th for a massive watch party for all the videos from the participating groups, which will culminate in the release of that mass collaboration!

Learn more about the collective here: https://www.facebook.com/ukvacfringe.
Join the Twitch channel here: https://www.twitch.tv/ukvac.
Donate to the MusiCares COVID-19 Relief fund here: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/ukvac2020

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Upstaged

You had questions, we sought answers! On this episode of The Pulse, Rachael sits down with the team at Upstaged, the organization behind the new virtual collegiate a cappella competition. With the final bracket announcement coming, learn more about the whos, the whats, the whys, and the hows.

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Cape Harmony

Cape Harmony is Cape Cod’s all female a cappella group, comprised of 10 talented young women from all over the nation who come to Cape Cod during the summer to make music for its residents and visitors.

The pandemic have upended our traditional summer plans, but for Cape Harmony, the show must go on! Tonight on The Pulse we learn more about how this iconic summer group is facing the challenge with grace and joy.

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Vocal Suspects

The Vocal Suspects is the oldest (and funkiest) mixed a cappella group at UMass Amherst. Founded in 1999, The Vocal Suspects have always had a reputation of blending contagious energy with adept musicality. Their arrangements are innovative and electrifying, and over the past two decades, they have continuously reshaped their sound to incorporate the new talent that is brought in each year.

Rachael sat down with the group to talk about their latest studio album, Spectrum! To listen to the album in its entirety, check it out on Spotify at https://open.spotify.com/album/7o0iiH3STLd86aMSN1FL1J or Apple Music at https://music.apple.com/us/album/spectrum/1513645858.

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Parkside Range

Parkside Range is the flagship contemporary a cappella ensemble of the Contemporary Commercial Music – Voice program at UW-Parkside. Rachael sat down with the group in the summer of 2019 at A Cappella University.

Learn more about Parkside Range here: https://www.facebook.com/ParksideRange.

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Swaram A Cappella

Swaram is Texas A&M University’s premier South Asian Fusion A Cappella team. Since its inception in 2007, the team has been renowned not only for competing at national collegiate a cappella competitions but also for numerous national accolades. Swaram fuses both Indian & Western musical styles through pure vocal performances to create innovative and vibrant music. Recognized for its avant-garde twist on South Asian fusion, Swaram enjoys bringing powerful stories to its music through representation of socially and politically prevalent concepts through its themes. Swaram has had the honor of placing at the All-American Awaaz National Championship for three years in a row and has released multiple albums and singles on Spotify and iTunes. Recently, Swaram’s latest single “Crazy in Love” was nominated for a Contemporary A Cappella Recording Award (CARA) for Best Mixed Collegiate Arrangement. Music is a beautiful language, and we hope our stories and music speak to you in a profound way!

Learn more about Swaram here: https://www.facebook.com/SwaramAcappella.

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Dhamakapella

Dhamakapella is an award-winning coed South Asian fusion a cappella group based in Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio.
Dhamakapella was formed in 2005 by student Mayank Prasad at Case Western Reserve University. With help from students, Raksha Soora and Manoj Nair, Mayank organized and established the first university-recognized coed a cappella group, which would feature genres from both Western and Eastern cultures. Within three years, Dhamakapella grew into an sixteen-member group, with singers of various and diverse styles. Due to the untraditional arrangements and unusual compositions, the group instantly stood out on University campus and downtown Cleveland. In 2011, Dhamakapella released its debut album Pehli Nazar: First Look, following the group’s growing popularity across the city and the University. The group derives its influences from Indian classical, contemporary Bollywood, pop, and electronic genres.

Learn more about Dhamakapella here: https://www.facebook.com/dhamakapella.

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Hum A Cappella

Hum A Cappella was founded in 2001 and is the South Asian a cappella group at the University of Texas at Austin. Hum blends cultures and puts a unique spin on both Hindi and English songs. From its six-member inception, Hum has evolved into a group of highly dynamic vocalists who arrange all of their songs by themselves. They have competed at a variety of local and national competitions including ICCA, Jhalak, Taal, Nasha, Texas Revue, Gathe Raho in Iowa, and Anahat in California. The team comes from a variety of musical backgrounds, and their collaboration and appreciation for a cappella music keeps them constantly moving forward.

Learn more about Hum A Cappella here: https://www.utxhum.com.

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Dhunki A Cappella

In Hindi, ‘Dhunki’ means ‘spellbound.’ The name also contains the Hindi word ‘Dhun,’ which means ‘tune’ or ‘melody.’ This Hindi name symbolizes this group’s focus on the areas of South Asian music and culture. The group’s goal is to spread their culture throughout the community by the means of a unique style of music in which Eastern and Western themes collide in intricately arranged mashups.

Learn more about Dhunki here: https://dhunkimusic.weebly.com.

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