Female a cappella group offers 'No Apologies,' first CD of the year
BluesTones album a little bit country, a little bit rock’n’roll
Posted on January 28, 2008
The BluesTones, a female a cappella group at JMU, released their fourth CD Jan. 25, the first CD to be released by a JMU a cappella group in 2008.
The CD, No Apologies, has been in production for two years and offers a wide variety of music, including rock and country. Listeners are bound to find something they like.
“The BluesTones’ ability to dip into so many different genres is something that makes the group so appealing,” junior Bryce Nielsen said.
No Apologies includes songs such as Alanis Morissette’s “Crazy,” “Stuck” by Stacie Orrico and “Kiss Me” by Sixpence None the Richer, as well as music by lesser-known artists like Nikka Costa. The group has produced three successful CDs in the past: On the Rocks (2005), Deja Blue (2005) and Just a Little Bit (2000) and feel confident about this CD as well.
“We’re expecting even greater things from this CD than the previous ones.
“We feel as if this is definitely our best sound and best work,” said Rachel Tombes, president of The BluesTones. “We’re so incredibly proud of this CD.”
Compared to previous CDs, No Apologies was a chance for the ladies to try some different things. It’s more offbeat and off-the-wall than the other three albums, and there’s a higher energy, according to Tombes.
During the recording phase, the group added new members, resulting in a constant rotation of voices on the CD.
“[No Apologies] is contemporary a cappella, a combination of classical a cappella and pop,” James Gammon said, owner of James Gammon Productions, which produced No Apologies. “It gives [listeners] the excitement of rock and pop, but still the pretty blend of classical a cappella that’s really pleasing to the ear.”
Recording a CD is no easy task and The Blues- Tones put in many hours of hard work. The group traveled to Charlottesville to work with James Gammon Productions and recorded each part individually.
“It’s a very time consuming and, at times, a very trying process,” Tombes said. “We probably spent between fifty and sixty hours in the recording studio for this CD.”
At the steep price of $75.00 per hour, that’s not cheap.
Once the recording process was complete, the separate layers were mixed together and sent back to the group for review. After that, it was time to design the CD cover. Unique to this CD, the girls designed the cover and did all the graphics themselves, something they are very proud of. Additionally, before the CD was finalized, the rights to every song had to be purchased. Sometimes that involves contacting the producer or the original artist, a process that can be very difficult.
“You never really know if you’re going to get the rights,” Tombes said.
However, in the four years Tombes has been involved in The BluesTones, buying the rights to songs has never hampered CD production. To promote the release of No Apologies, The BluesTones performed Friday night at TDU. Students crowded the room, cheering and shouting after each song ended.
“They have a lot of energy and a lot of movement, so you don’t just go to listen to them, you go to see a performance,” Nielsen said.
Although they were scheduled to perform from 7-9 p.m, the actual performance time lasted only until 7:52. Students yelled for an encore until the ladies filed back onstage for one last song.
Sophomore Mamie Sifen, a first time listener of the group said, “Being someone who isn’t usually drawn to a cappella music, I was surprised by how much I liked them. I wish they would have performed until 9.”
