NSA <3s PNMs

WHOA has NSA been busy these past few days! Let’s start from the beginning of the madness: hump day!

Wednesday was “UF’s Got Talent,” where all three a cappella groups, along with several dance troupes and Theater Strike Force, UF’s improv comedy troupe, took the stage at the incredible University Auditorium to a crowd full of eager, wide-eyed freshies just waiting to see what wonderful performing-arts opportunities UF has to offer.

I’m not gonna lie, we did VERY well.

We performed our fan fave — “Viva La Vida” — and received a standing ovation from the crowd and the judges! How cool is that? I think that that performance of “Viva” was one of our best, mostly because of the amazing venue in which we were performing. The University Auditorium has such great acoustics that we didn’t use ANY mics and everyone was heard (even Chris over Hali’s very, um, commanding descant at the end!) Even though it’s a bit expensive to rent out the Auditorium for shows, I think I’m going to try to have the group perform at least a couple more times there because of the quality of sound. It’s a big place, but with all the publicity and big shows we’re getting this year, we might be able to fill it.

Also, in regards to “UF’s Got Talent,” I’ve got to give a huge thanks to our president, Chris Rienas, who put this all together. The event was specifically for new students, and it really gave all the groups great publicity and a chance to show all the incoming students what UF performing arts is all about. If anyone reading this is interested in how Chris was able to pull off such an impressive show, please feel free to e-mail any questions to nsaccent@gmail.com and he’ll help you plan your own “UF’s Got Talent.”

Then on Thursday were the first round of AUDITIONS and wow, we had a great crowd. The entire group (excluding Mallory) was present for most of the six hours auditions were going on Thursday night, and we picked a good group for callbacks, which will be happening on Tuesday.

Our auditions are usually pretty simple, with each auditionee performing a verse and chorus of a popular song demonstrating his or her voice. We usually ask that no Disney or Broadway songs be sung, but I forgot to add that clause to our fliers this year, so we got a few of each. After that, we check each person’s pitch-matching ability (a make-or-break quality) and his or her range. The technical “tests” are very important as we’re able to see if this person really has what it takes to keep up with the challenges of an a cappella group: staying right on pitch and being able to stretch your voice to it’s full potential. The range test also helps when some people who audition have no idea what part they sing or were placed once upon a time in grade-school choir. Does anyone have any other tests they conduct during their first round of auditions that helps them pick good callback candidates? I’d love to hear them!

Anyways, with so many powerful singers coming back on Tuesday, I predict lots of fighting for the very limited spots in this year’s group; each person, I’m sure, has his or her favorites and with such strong personalities, no one’s going to let up too easily Tuesday night. But whatever happens, I know we’ll have a great group in the end. Thank you to all those who came out on Thursday night. We were very impressed by the immense amount of talent that strolled through MUB 146!

Because we are taking so few new singers this year, NSA decided to host a little social for the PNMs (potential new members) before Saturday’s football game between UF and Charleston Southern (GOOO GATORS!) in order for the existing members to meet the PNMs. Diana, Kim, Chris and I worked hard all week and that morning finding a great spot on campus, setting up a tent, gathering food and drinks, and creating our first NSA tailgate next to Hume, the honors dorm on campus. Even though it was VERY hot outside and the situation could have been a little awkward for the PNMs, the tailgate turned out to be a great success. Really getting to talk to the PNMs let me get a better sense of who’s who and how he or she feels about potentially becoming a part of NSA. For all the aca peeps reading this, I highly recommend doing a social between first round and callback auditions to see how PNMs can fit into your group. I’m sure I’m late to this boat, so I’m preaching to the crowd, but just in case you haven’t hosted a social for newbies, DO IT. I’m so glad we did. And it was so much fun to just relax and have a burger with my aca loves. Good times.

So the end of this week was pretty crazy, and the weeks to follow are only going to get crazier, but I just keep looking forward to all the wonderful things we have coming up this semester. OH, and I have one more exciting piece of news…

So we were booked for a show at the Phillips Center for the spring. A show. As in one. And let me tell ya, that was an honor enough. But now, because so many people have purchased tickets for the first show, the Phillips Center has given us a SECOND SHOW!!! Now there’s no excuse for all you aca lovers out there to miss seeing No Southern Accent live! Go here to find out more about our shows and to purchase tickets. It’s SUPER cheap and it’s going to be such a good show; how can you possibly say no? Come see us and then party with us; I promise we’ll show you a good time!

Well, it’s time for me to get back to work. The next update will be an exciting one, as I will post NO SOUTHERN ACCENT’S 2009-2010 LINE-UP, so don’t miss it.

‘Til next time, aca fans. Have a great week!

It’s all one, big balancing act

So I want to take a little time away from the happenings of a collegiate a cappella group to talk about…well, me. Just for this post. Even though this is a bit different than a regular post, I think it’s a part of being involved in not only collegiate a cappella groups but also any kind of student group. Sooo…

Did you know I have a life outside of No Southern Accent? I know — wild! But in all seriousness, I really am more than a part of a great singing group. I’m a student, a journalist, a sister, a daughter and a friend to people who sometimes despise singing (again — wild!) And ever since I made my final, grand return to Gainesville, I’ve had trouble balancing all of my different activities and loves. Yes, I realize it’s only been a couple of weeks since I’ve started up with NSA again and only one week of school has passed. Still, I feel the balance should be made sooner rather than later, as so not to isolate myself from any part of my life.

NSA seems to be taking up a huge part of my day. With “UF’s Got Talent!” and auditions coming up so fast (not to mention writing and editing arrangements, picking repertoire and helping out an easily flustered, knowledge-hungry new president), I’ve barely had to time to focus on other parts of who I am, especially my academics and my future career.

I am no longer working for the Alligator, but just because I’m not writing stories daily doesn’t mean I shouldn’t be listening, observing, reporting, hearing, seeing, touching, tasting, smelling, absorbing and writing about my world. My undying curiosity should never be put to rest; unfortunately, it’s taken a backseat to my duties as a leader in NSA.

I’ve also been slacking a bit with my already-overlwhelming pile of schoolwork I have waiting at my desk. “Origins of the English Language,” “A Biography of the English Language” and “The Lost Language of Cranes” are all haunting me in my sleep; I close my eyes and think about all the chapters I need to read, abstract rules I need to learn and lovely plots I must explore just to make it through my next week of class. Have I started? Of course. But doesn’t it always seem that as much as one has read, one has barely made a dent in the boulder that is academic responsibility?

And then there’s the people I love. Every phone call I’ve made this week to my family has been to discuss my end-of-September trip to Brazil, the conversation usually ending in, “Fill out your visa form NOW!” or “Have you booked your flight to THIS PLACE?” By no means am I complaining. Instead, I’m thrilled UF and my family are allowing me such an incredible opportunity to explore and expand my writing in a foreign country. However, discussions about flight itineraries aren’t that fun. Try it. It’s actually very stressful. And with all my worrying about school and this trip, along with my responsibilities to NSA, I feel quite distant from my other j-school “golden children” friends.

I was lucky enough to spend three semesters reporting, writing, editing, starving, laughing and crying in a teeny newsroom with some of the most innovative and strongest journalists at the University of Florida today. And I was even more lucky for the fact these people are now some of my closest friends. People like Katie Sanders, who spent spring semester as an intern for Congress Daily in Washington, D.C., and her summer as a reporting intern at the St. Augustines Record; and Hilary Lehman, who interned for the business desk at the Miami Herald in the spring and spent her summer as an intern for the Associated Press in Miami. Young, vibrant journalists who have spent semesters working for the St. Petersburg Times, the L.A. Times and Rolling Stone. I have the great pleasure of running with this crowd, but not as much as I have wanted to since coming back to the ‘Ville. It’s hard to connect with people who are just as busy and focused as I am, after all.

So how to balance? I can’t say I really know the best way. For me, it’s all about to-do lists, even though the previously mentioned Hilary Lehman once told me to stop making to-do lists and actually DO things. But is it normal to schedule friend time? In order to keep my social life alive, I think I’ll have to. I want to be able to be the best leader, journalist, sister, daughter and friend I can possibly be. I just don’t know how to do it.

Help!

NSA is back in town!

Welcome back, aca fans!

This summer went…well, not exactly as planned in “Andrea’s Aca World,” but now No Southern Accent is back in action and so am I. And, boy, are we back in action!

NSA began rehearsing the Wednesday before classes because we had our first performance of the year on Friday morning: Freshman Convocation. It was such an honor to sing to the entire incoming freshman class and all the deans of the different colleges; what a great way to kick off a new year! We sang a beautiful rendition of UF’s alma mater, so initially, we felt it was pretty easy. Until we saw the crowd. Then we knew how big of an impact this performance was going to make. Since Friday, we’ve received nothing but compliments on our (tinybabyeensyweensy) performance, so thanks to everyone who came out and THANK YOU to all the wonderful members of NSA for cutting summer vacay a bit short to return for a great first gig.

Next week we’ll be having our next performance at “UF’s Got Talent,” an event hosted by us and created by NSA Prez Chris Rienas featuring NSA, The Sedoctaves, The Staff, several of the UF dance troupes and other performing-arts organizations strutting their stuff and attracting potential new members. The show starts at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 2, at the University Auditorium, and it’s 100 percent FREE, so if you’re in Gainesville, stop in and see us! We’d love to meet you!

And speaking of new members…

It’s time for AUDITIONS!!

Have you been reading this blog and thinking to yourself, “Wow, these people sound crazy. But they also seem kinda fun. And weird. But this whole a cappella thing seems pretty cool, in a dorky kinda way”? If so, YOU’RE COMPLETELY CORRECT! And if you’re willing to give this whole a cappella thing a try, why not try out for us? You know you want to! And even if YOU don’t, I know you’ve got friends who can sing and need a fun outlet to let their inner divas out. Here’s all the info:

NO SOUTHERN ACCENT AUDITIONS FALL 2009

Do you love to sing? Are you totally hot? Do you enjoy themed parties?

If so, NSA is the group for YOU!

What: NSA Auditions

Who’s invited: Male and female singers who study full time at the University of Florida

When: Thursday, Sept. 3 at 6 p.m.

Where: The music building, across from Century Tower (check back for an exact room)

What you need to do: Sing a verse and chorus of any popular song. We’ll do the rest!

Sound good? E-mail us at nsaccent@gmail.com to schedule YOUR audition!

Sooooooo tell your friends. Really. Tell ALL your friends about “UF’s Got Talent” and our auditions because we want this to be the most competitive audition year YET! Just send them a link to this site and that’s it! You would be doing us SUCH  a huge favor.

In other news, I (finally) finished my “Maps” arrangement! So happy about that. Even though I didn’t get too much arranging done this summer, I finished the most important song in my hands for this year, and I’ve made plans for some future arrangements. With all this new music coming in from me, ACAPELLAGOD Christopher Diaz and other NSAers, we’re practically going to have a fresh repertoire this semester. So expect some kickass music this year, aca lovers!

Also, if you guys have any song suggestions, feel free to comment on this blog. I looooove suggestions!

More regularly scheduled posts will be happening now that I’m back in the ‘Ville and working with NSA again, so keep checking back to check on us. And also follow us on Twitter at NSAccent; we’ll be updating that a lot more now also.

See you around campus, aca friends!

EXTRA EXTRA READ ALL ABOUT IT!

Happy Sunday (and Father’s Day), aca fans! I hope summer is treating all y’all well. It feels good to be back on the Web, blogging about my escapades. I’ve just been crazy busy with the responsibilities of my kick-ass internship to update, but I’m glad to be back with lots to talk about. And trust me, we’ve got some serious news in this update.

First, NSA news.

This week, NSA was confirmed as a performer at the University of Florida’s first-ever freshmen Convocation, where all the first-year students will gather along with the heads of all the departments of the university. This sounds like such a sweet gig; not only will we be performing for a ton of newbies (some of whom could become members *WINK*), but this event is basically free advertisement for us to the entire UF community. We’ll be singing the Alma Mater, so it’s a pretty low-stress event. I’m just excited that we were chosen to be a part of this. It means a lot for UF to recognize us as an important part of the university. It’s good stuff, man, good stuff! Big shout-out to our Prez Chris Rienas for getting us this gig. Nice one, Chris!

Riding the high of our Convocation announcement comes our BIGGEST announcement yet: Tickets for the UF Performing Arts 2009-2010 season have gone on sale, and we’ll be performing as part of the UFPA’s season! Tickets have already gone on sale for our March 25 show at the blackbox theater of the Phillips Center, and as of Thursday, 71 tickets had already been sold! This is super exciting for us. Being a part of the UFPA’s season is going to bring us a ridiculous amount of publicity, and performing at the Phillips Center is a huge honor. And apparently, if more than 100 tickets are sold for the show on March 25, we’ll get a second night (a concert on Sunday, March 28) at the theater! So, my lovely readers, please come to our show! I would love to see each and every one of you there, and tickets are way cheap. So invite your friends, bring the fam and make the road trip to Gainesville (or to the Phillips Center if you’re already at UF) and watch us LIVE! Check out our page through the UFPA and if you want to buy tickets, here’s a link to our Ticketmaster page. Can’t wait to see you at the show! (And a shout-out to Performance Director Mal who probably promoted us to no end to the UFPA! You’re the best, Mal!)

In collegiate a cappella news…

The dates for this year’s SOJAM have been set! SoJam 2009 will be on Nov. 6-9 in Durham, North Carolina, and I am already excited. We go to SoJam every year, and it is one of the best places to learn and bond with your aca friends. Learn how to improve arrangements, stage presence, live performances, recordings, vocal percussion and even how to bring out the inner diva in that meek soprano you’ve got in the group. If your group has never attended SoJam, IT’S TIME TO START! I can guarantee that you will have an amazing time, and that the lessons you learn there will be invaluable to future performances around campus and in competitions like ICCA. Make the trip to NC — it is worth it! I cannot wait. SoJam is one of the things I look forward to each year, not just because I love to learn about a cappella as a craft and art form, but it’s the first real bonding experience NSA has in the fall. Yeah, we rehearse and we party, but when we all go away and take in the wonders of other collegiate groups and professional groups like Naturally 7 and FORK…that’s when we become a family. Please insert the Jackson 5’s “I’ll Be There” here.

When it comes to arranging news, well, there’s not toooo much to say, other than the little arranging I had done of “Maps” was cleared from Sibelius on Thursday and replaced with something completely different and, in my opinion, way better.

On my way home from Shop Miami on Thursday night, inspiration struck as I drove on the dark highway parallel to the Everglades. I wasn’t listening to any music, or anything at all. I was thinking about my night and my day, and I was thinking about Iran. And I really don’t know what happened, but it just came to me. I got home and went straight to the computer and wrote it down, and I haven’t really looked back since. I haven’t done a tremendous amount of tangible work on this arrangement, but I finally have a realized vision, and I’m running with it.

This is my inspiration:

I hope you all think it’s as beautiful as I do. I also hope to expand this into a bigger theme, but I’m speaking too soon, and it seems like that idea will someday be a blog post in itself.

And in case you’re wondering what I’ve been up to at the Miami Herald for the past couple of weeks, here are some links to my first front-page article (with this as an added bonus) and my first review, both published online and in print. Lots more stories in the works and to be printed in the coming weeks, so thanks for reading!

Well, it’s time for this kid to get back to work. I will try to keep updating this regularly (maybe more regularly than before) to let you all know about things that are a-brewin’ for us. Keep checking back for news about NSA, the aca world and about me. (Quick note: Keep listening to Mouth Off! It gets better and better each week!)

‘Til next time, aca fans. Have a good week!

A (very) delayed post…

It’s been awhile since I’ve been able to write here. Sorry for being such a slacker, aca lovers, but with my new internship at The Miami Herald, I come home exhausted after working five days a week, 40+ hours. I know, excuses excuses. For this reason, I’ve decided to write on Sundays only, but make each entry a bit longer and more detailed. I hope that’s a good compromise!

This week, I’d like to talk about one of the best ICCA performances I’ve seen (on the Web, of course): The SoCal VoCals performing “Feelin’ Good” by Michael Buble. This video is from the group’s performance in the ICCA Western Semifinals. Check it out:

It seems like the West always takes the top spot at ICCA, and it wasn’t until a recent blog post by Dave Brown from CASA that I really understood why (in essence) the West seems to have a knack for winning.

If you are a competing a cappella group in the ICCA West, you have no chance if you don’t put on a SHOW.  Judgments aside as to whether that’s a desirable way to run a competition, it’s just a fact.  Groups that win in the ICCA West are polished smoooooth, they have a very cohesive look, they perform a ridiculous variety of song types in 12 minutes, they use the 12 minutes to do more than 3 basic songs, they skew much more toward upbeat material, and they deliberately entertain the audience.  You just can’t win the ICCA West these days unless you provoke the audience, inspire them, AND have them clap along to your set.  That’s just the way it is.

I think this is entirely true. I’ve seen several videos (and have featured some of them in this blog) from West coast groups, including the VoCals, Fermata Nowhere (this year’s ICCA champs), Noteworthy and Reverse Osmosis, just to name a few. I have to say that I’ve never seen a collegiate a cappella group perform like that right in front of my eyes; I think the closest I’ve seen was All-Night Yahtzee’s set for ICCA 2008. And I think Dave’s right. If the South wants a chance to beat the West, we’ve all got to start going bigger and harder. Everything needs to be more dramatic, more astounding, more gasp-worthy. We need to move audiences to tears, laughter, anger, something.

To the South: We need to step up our game, guys!!

In other news, I’ve put just a small dent in my “Maps” arrangement (see first graf.) However, I have decided that the song will be a male solo! I hope it turns out well; the song has such a deep sadness to it, and I’d like to find a voice to match and convey that emotion. I’ll definitely be working on it more now, since I’ve finally settled into my new schedule. Finally.

Also, keep tuning into Mouth Off! to learn about more a cappella goodness, and keep reading my blog even though I’m slacking. And if you’re interested in the stories I’m doing for the Herald, check out a couple I wrote this week here and here.

I hope you all enjoy the Tony Awards! Good night, aca fans, and see you next week for a (much better) update!

This weekend in a cappella…

So, about “Maps”…yeah. Still not on it. Mostly because Friday was my 21st BIRTHDAY and, well, you can just imagine my, um, state of being all of Saturday.

Let’s just say I had one too many and really suffered for it.

I plan on working on “Maps” tomorrow as it is my last day of doing nothing around the house, and because I will be starting my internship with the Miami Herald on Tuesday. I’m excited!

In the meantime, why don’t you listen (har har) to this incredible rendition of Beyonce’s “Listen” sung by BYU’s Noteworthy? I have to say, it takes a lot for me to really love an all-girl or all-guy group (I love the balance of male and female voices, thus my affinity for mixed groups), but these ladies never cease to amaze  me. In this particular song, I think that the emotion in their voices, their perfect choreography and EVERYTHING ABOUT THE SOLOIST add up to one of the best songs I’ve ever heard. Check it out:

Also, be sure to listen to this week’s Mouth Off. Apparently, everyone loves the new album by the Tufts Beelzebubs; I’ll need to get that one for sure. Oh, and I promise to have a real update on “Maps” by Wednesday. SRSLY.

‘Night, aca fans!

Never seen it, but love the song

So I’ve never seen “Star Wars.” Yeah, I know that’s weird, especially because I love movies and they’re so epic and wonderful blah blah blah. I get it. I know I’m missing out. I’m just not that interested.

Despite my lack of “Star Wars” knowledge, I fully enjoy this original song by Moosebutter, a professional a cappella group I heard perform at my very first SoJam back in 2006. It’s a tribute more to John Williams than “Star Wars,”  so I think that’s why I like it so much. It’s way fun and it’s pretty funny; these guys always use comedy in their act, and though it can be pretty hit-or-miss, I enjoy their music, so check them out (come on, support a cappella no matter what)!

New arrangements update: have yet to start on “Maps” but will get on it soon. I’ve been more focused on plans for my 21st birthday (happening Friday), so arranging took a bit of a backseat this week.

General music update: Hey, you! Yes, you, person who loves to sing! I want YOU to go to Eric Whitacre’s blog (yes, Eric Whitacre, the god of choral a cappella music) and check out the virtual choir experiment he’s doing! All you have to do is record yourself (in video form) singing your part to Polyphony’s recording of “Sleep” and upload it to YouTube. Then he’s going to mash them up and make a big ol’ video of everyone singing together! I recorded my video today (as in Wednesday, but technically it’s Thursday…whatevs); you should record yours RIGHT NOW. Seriously — do it. This is just too awesome of an opportunity to pass up.

Also, I have to do a quick shout-out to my a cappella heroes Dave Brown and Christopher Diaz who are now hosting a weekly podcast called “Mouth Off!,” which is all about contemporary a cappella. These guys know their stuff, and they’re hilarious, so I highly recommend listening to it. Once again, the a cappella community is all about learning and support, so why not give it a go? I know you’ll enjoy. You can go to the “Mouth Off!” Web site to listen to the show, or you can download it from iTunes. So profesh, guys!

That’s all for tonight, aca lovers. See you Sunday!

Done and done

I fully enjoy setting goals and sticking to ‘em, and that’s exactly what I did this time around.

That’s right, everyone: I’ve finished my first arrangement of the summer! “Friends” by Flight of the Conchords is done and ready to be sung. Badass, right?

The song was easy to arrange, but I think it’ll be fun to sing and that everyone will like it, so I’m excited to hear some voices instead of my MIDI playback. Now I have to decide on my next arrangement. I’m thinking “Maps” by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs:

I’d like it to be more like this, though:

What do you think? Input rocks!

Aside from arrangements, Nic, Diana and I, with the help of the lovely Mallory, worked together last week (Thursday, I believe) to get some links and videos together so we could apply to an MTV a cappella competition/show/reality thing casting call! Although our entry was late (thanks, incredibly slow Internet connection!), I hope they’ll consider us. It’ll be nice to get some free publicity if this all works out. Keep your fingers crossed for us!

On a final note, I’d like to wish Mallory and Kim a HAPPY BIRTHDAY (they both celebrated this week)! Love you girls!

I expect to read some feedback on arrangements, people. See you Wednesday!

Arrange this!

After a slew of serious, sexy and rockin’ songs, I’ve decided to try a new kind of song: humor. Check it out:

I love Flight of the Conchords, and this song is sure to please an audience and the rest of NSA. And this song is practically written for me. I hope to have this finished by next Wednesday. Hold me to it!

(P.S. — super short post because it’s dinnertime and TONIGHT IS THE SEASON FINALE OF “LOST” OMGZ!)

A trip to Tally

So I didn’t get around to writing this up last week, which makes me both lazy and a liar. But I’m here now to state that No Southern Accent did, in fact, travel to Tallahassee and did, in fact, record a PROMOTIONAL CD!

I hope you can sense the excitement in the previous statement because, hell, I am SO EXCITED. This is such an important step in getting the word out about NSA and toward a more professional, successful atmosphere within the group. I mean, we said we were going to record a CD. And we did. Damn, we’re good!

SOOOOO…

Twelve dedicated aca nerds met at Cabos Taco Shop in Tallahassee on Monday, May 4, to discuss the next day’s events and to chat about life after the end of classes and the end of the standard a cappella season for us. And to enjoy some kickass Mexican food, of course. We were missing Alex, Enrique and Jessica, but we made it work.

After dinner, we traveled to Doan’s house (and I mean traveled — love you to death, Doan, but your house is in the middle of nowhere) and took a lovely tour of his enormous farmhouse, complete with giant vegetable patch, leaf-covered trampoline and winding trails. Then, we had our first rehearsal in more than a week. And it wasn’t bad. We were a little rusty, especially because we weren’t used to hearing ourselves in a room entirely constructed of wood. But we adjusted quickly (we always do; I’m going to make the assumption that most a cappella groups adapt to their surroundings incredibly quickly), practiced the songs we planned on recording the next day and also re-auditioned “Viva La Vida,” since Alex couldn’t make it on the trip. After rehearsal, we spent some time together, talking, playing pingpong, pool and several of the Doan family’s instruments (Diana became a master of the pan flute.) Soon after, some Tally natives made their ways back home, taking with them a few guests, while the rest of us got ready for bed by watching the fireflies sparkling in the woods, enjoying a midnight dip in a nearby pool and showering.

The next day, we woke up and had a delicious breakfast (courtesy of Diana and Doan’s wonderful mother) with the rest of the group. We then headed to Opperman Hall, where we rehearsed briefly and then began to record as a group, a la live performance. It was interesting: Instead of recording different tracks for each voice part or even each singer, we recorded together as a group, and the result was great. Since this is not a full-length album and will be used mostly for promotion, we weren’t too concerned about perfect mastering. But the songs barely need any mastering because we were able to blend with each other during the recording. We recorded each song at least twice, but some were perfect on the first run, such as “We are the Boys from Old Florida.” Others took a bit more time, like “Viva La Vida,” mostly because the chords need to be perfectly locked throughout the song in order for it to sound just right. We sang it once. Then again. And then one more time, I think. Still not perfect. So we went on to other songs, like “The Longest Time” (both the original Billy Joel version and our version with our UF lyrics), “Joy to the World” and “We are the Boys…” We recorded “Just a Girl” and had our rock-out moment, and then came “The Lion Sleeps Tonight,” which drove us to laughter because of the hilarious animal noises.

And then we realized we needed to go back to “Viva.” We did some blending drills. We did some false starts. Chris tried it without the words. Then with the words. We closed our eyes. We took deep breaths. And then, it started to rain. We began to record.

I don’t really know what it was: the drills, the focus, maybe the hollow sound of raindrops hitting the roof. But it worked. And it was — is — stunning. We recorded it one more time after that before declaring that one done and going on to record “Nasty Habits” and “Annie Waits.”

Before I knew it, we were at Po’ Boys, scarfing down warm sandwiches and spiced french fries. It all happened so fast, but it went so well. I was so worried about the whole trip, mostly because I wanted everything to go perfectly as planned, but I really had nothing to worry about. Everyone was so patient and so focused on producing the best music we could possibly muster up that all we had to do was stand close, feed off each other’s energies and sing.

It was beautiful. Yes, I know that was incredibly cheesy, but it was. So suck it.

Now I know you’re dying to hear something, so as soon as I figure out how to upload a song onto this thing, you’ll be hearing some lovely a cappella muzak, so KEEP CHECKING BACK. I will try to have it up as soon as I can!

On a final note, because the NSA season is over for the summer, I will be updating this blog just twice a week: Sundays and Wednesdays (I know, I know, lame weekly entries lately, but I will be keeping a twice-weekly schedule for the rest of the summer.) Updates will mostly focus on my latest arrangements, songs I think would be great to arrange and also some a cappella videos I stumble across (a la The A Cappella Blog.) I hope you stick with me through this summer!

Good night, aca world!