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Straight No Chaser

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A cappella ensemble born from an Indiana University student group, turned into a touring institution by a viral holiday video — close harmony played with a comic's timing.

Straight No Chaser started in 1996 as a ten-member male a cappella group at Indiana University in Bloomington, taking its name from the Thelonious Monk album Straight, No Chaser. The original lineup debuted at a 36-hour dance marathon and went on to perform at Wrigley Field, Comiskey Park and Navy Pier, opened for Lou Rawls, and played Carnegie Hall before the founding members graduated in 1999.

In 1998 the group filmed a comic arrangement of "The 12 Days of Christmas." Founding member Randy Stine posted the footage on YouTube in 2006, and it eventually drew more than 26 million views. Atlantic Records chief executive Craig Kallman saw it and called Stine to propose a reunion, which led to a five-album recording deal in 2008.

The reunited founding members recorded the Christmas album Holiday Spirits in Bloomington in 2008. Appearances on television specials and morning shows that December pushed the record to the top of both the iTunes and Amazon sales charts, cementing the group's return as a professional touring act rather than a college ensemble.

The act performs without instruments, building close vocal harmony arrangements of pop standards and contemporary hits, and its shows lean on comic timing and staging as much as on the singing. Holiday music has remained a significant part of its repertoire and its recorded output.

Indiana University's student group kept the Straight No Chaser name until 2012, when it changed to Another Round; every member of the professional touring group first sang in that campus ensemble before joining the professional act.

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