Straight No Chaser success leads to a second album

After the success of their Christmas album “Holiday Spirits,” the original members of Straight No Chaser have packed their bags and boarded planes headed for New York City, where they will record their second album. Group member Ryan Ahlwardt said all he can do is ask, “Is this seriously happening right now?” At their first performance at IU Dance Marathon more than a decade ago, the members never imagined that the group would still be together now. Ahlwardt, who joined Straight No Chaser a couple of years after it was founded, didn’t even intend to be a musician in the first place.

MAKING IT INTO THE BAND

Ahlwardt began to develop his musical gift in junior high school when he auditioned for his seventh-grade choir as a joke. He quickly fell in love with singing and performing and continued participating in musicals all throughout high school.

During Ahlwardt’s senior year of high school, he called Dan Ponce, former director of Straight No Chaser, to ask for permission to use some of the group’s musical arrangements.

Later, Ahlwardt e-mailed two of the group’s founding members, Walter Chase and Randy Stine, asking them about the a cappella group. Ahlwardt said they both urged him to audition for the group when he began his freshman year at IU.

Ahlwardt and his best friend, Mike Luginbill, both auditioned and were asked to join during their freshman year at IU in 1999. A former marketing major, Ahlwardt said singing with Straight No Chaser gave him a creative outlet.

The early success of the group was not anticipated by most, but support from the Student Alumni Association allowed the group to perform in cities across the country.
Ahlwardt said one of the highlights of the group’s many college performances was singing at the Brickyard 400.

“We kind of felt like the basketball team in a way,” he said.

Immediately after receiving his bachelor’s degree, Ahlwardt embarked as a cruise performer with Celebrity Cruise Lines in Alaska, the Caribbean and Europe.

After his stint singing for the cruise line, he moved back to Bloomington to start a band and work on a solo career.

“I’m starting to realize that I’m meant to be an artist,” Ahlwardt said.

MAKING THE  RECORD DEAL

In honor of its 10th anniversary, Straight No Chaser held a reunion concert at IU in 2006. In anticipation of the event, Stine compiled some old footage of the group’s performances.

Stine said he decided to put a couple of the performances up on YouTube for kicks.
During the first few months, the songs were mainly viewed by family and friends.

As of December 2007, ‘12 Days’ had 6 million views. In December of 2008 it hit 10 million views. Then Warner Music and YouTube had a legal disagreement and ‘12 Days’ was hidden on YouTube. Stine said after 18 months of being on YouTube, it had 100,000 views.

On New Year’s Day 2008, a year before the numerous views of ‘12 Days,’ Stine received a phone call from Craig Kallman, the CEO and chairman of Atlantic Records, who had seen the video on YouTube and said he wanted to hear the group.

“It was pretty amazing to get the phone call,” Stine said. “It seemed unreal until we sang for them in their office in New York.”

Eight of the original members agreed to make a Christmas album, along with later recruits Ahlwardt and Luginbill. After several months of arranging and recording, Straight No Chaser released “Holiday Spirits.”

“It’s surreal to be on the same label as artists like Ray Charles and Jason Mraz,” Ahlwardt said.

Along with the release of the album, Straight No Chaser went on a promotional tour that involved many concerts and TV appearances, including “The Today Show” and “Fox & Friends.”

Atlantic Records offered a second deal to the group after the success of their first album and tour. Ahlwardt said the new tracks draw from Motown hits and that the group hopes to release the new album in May.

MAKING THE NEW ALBUM

Many members of the group permanently left their jobs to pursue this musical opportunity.

“It’s a big risk,” Stine said. “But how often do you get a chance to do this?”
Chase, a current member, said working together as professional adults is not the same as singing together during college.

“Our attitude toward rehearsal is amplified a little bit now that the stakes are higher,” Chase said.

Chase said the group is working on arrangements that range from “modern hip-hop to old school doo-wop.” They even released a version of T.I.’s “Whatever You Like” to iTunes earlier this month.

“The top dog of Atlantic really likes to take risks,” Ahlwardt said. “We pulled out this arrangement of R&B songs, but it was actually really cool.”

He said that Atlantic has given them a great deal of creative control, which is encouraging to him as an artist. Ahlwardt said forming new arrangements is a long and tedious process that he refers to as a “labor of love.”

“Nobody in the group is self-interested,” Ahlwardt said. “We just want to see what the group can do.”

Straight No Chaser expects to go on a second tour following the release of its next album, but the group has no specific plans post-tour. Ahlwardt said the first goal is to put out a great album.

“There is so much riding on this,” Ahlwardt said. “You just have to take that leap of faith and hope for the best.”