Megan Brown
Staff Writer
Who needs a cocktail when Straight No Chaser is in the Amp?
Delivering pitch-perfect performances, shaken and stirred, the a cappella group returns to Chautauqua for the seventh time at 8:15 p.m. tonight in the Amphitheater as part of their “Summer: The ’90s Part 2” tour.
The group made their Chautauqua debut in 2011. In an interview with The Chautauquan Daily, founding member Charlie Mechling, who is not currently a part of the group, shared the impetus for this a cappella extravaganza.
“We fellas got together and just had fun and started singing,” Mechling said. “(We figured we would) maybe meet some girls and get some free food out of it. It really took off, I guess.”
And indeed it has — with over 1 billion streams on Pandora and over 2 million albums sold worldwide, Straight No Chaser has been an aca-success. The group’s most recent release ’90s Proof came in 2024 with covers of ’90s favorites like Rascal Flatt’s “Life Is a Highway,” Backstreet Boys’ “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)” and Spice Girls’ “Wannabe.”
The group works to defy the a cappella group stereotype “of students in blue blazers, ties, and khakis singing traditional college songs on ivied campuses,” according to Straight No Chaser’s website. Freedom Young, the group’s newest member, reclaimed that stereotype before he joined the group. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Young originally went viral on TikTok for singing ’50s doo-wop versions of hit songs by artists like The Notorious B.I.G. and Megan Thee Stallion.
The group enjoys proving to audiences how expansive and exciting a cappella can be — think of The Barden Bellas from “Pitch Perfect” after Anna Kendrick switches up their stale sound.
“(People think) that it’s boring, it’s lame, it’s old and dusty. We don’t think we’re any of those things. We think we’re fun, we think we’re fresh, we think we’re funny,” baritone Seggie Isho said in an interview with ABS-CBN. “So, it’s breaking those stereotypes for people who haven’t seen our show. Once we get you in the seats, we will definitely make you a fan by the end of the show.”
With many of the members having sung a cappella for over a decade, one could imagine it starting to feel a little flat, but Straight No Chaser stays inspired by the people who come to see them.
“I think the thing that keeps us going is the audience. Because at the end of the day, it’s all about giving the audience joy. And so, for two hours, we want everybody to come in, forget whatever’s going on outside of those doors, put a smile on their face, and have the best possible time they can at our show,” baritone Steve Morgan said on ABS-CBN. “So, that’s what keeps us going each and every night.”
