AcaGeeks

'aca' or 'ACA' could be any number of a cappella related things (or things outside the community as well.) Within the community: 

'Aca' - colloquial term for a member of the contemporary a cappella community

'aca' - shorthand for 'a cappella', used primarily within the a cappella community, hence

'aca-' - prefix used to associate whatever comes after it with a focus on a cappella music (e.g. acageeks are 'a cappella geeks.') This prefix is also featured prevalently in the film Pitch Perfect as a generic addition to normal words/phrases (e.g. “Aca-scuse me?” as a means of creating a cappella portmanteus and slang. This was not nearly as common within the real-world until the film came out.

ACA - acroynm for the A Cappella Community Awards, organized and given out (usually) every year by the Contemporary A Cappella Society (CASA), often referred to as the “People’s Choice” of a cappella (the CARAs (Contemporary A Cappella Awards) are known as the “Grammys” of a cappella)

NBC's The Sing-Off is hitting the road for its first live tour. The winning a cappella group of season four (to be announced during the holiday strip's final episode airing Monday, Dec. 23) will join a handful of finalists for The Sing-Off Live Tour!, which kicks off a 32-night jaunt Feb. 19 in Verona, N.Y.

Over the last few years, I have been honored to do graphic design work for Corey Slutsky and Voices Only A Cappella. Together, we have seen two editions of the Voices Only collegiate complilation, the first two editions of the Voices Only Forte non-scholastic compilation, Corey's debut Solo EP "Lucky Oysters," and the successful charity recording "Voices That Care" benefiting the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund. I have also worked with him on website graphics and promotional materials for representing VO at CASA festivals.

And if you'll indulge me, there is nothing quite like seeing my album artwork pop up on iTunes and Spotify.

But now, as I am moving on and re-prioritizing many things in my changing life, it is time for me to step down and give another of the A Cappella Community's many hobby and semi-pro graphic designers the opportunity to work with one of our community's best independent voices.

THE FILHARMONIC. MALE FILIPINO GROUP. LMFAO.

After seeing this list on Broadway World (and nowhere else), I switched over to my Sing-Off Twitter War Room to check for confirmations and buzz. Seemed legit, so I got started. Then, while I was doing this quick write-up, there has been additional coverage and I have seen official announcements on most of these group's webpages and faceplaces, so I think we can say this is confirmed.

ACOUSTIKATS (Lexington, KY): Men's group from University of Kentucky

CALLE SOL (Aguadilla, Puerto Rico): A group of pro vocalists from Puerto Rico, assembled to audition for The Sing Off, i'd wager.

ELEMENT (New York City): An all-woman adult group from NYC

THE FILHARMONIC (Los Angeles): Male Filipino group

HOME FREE (Minneapolis): a fairly well-known A Cappella Country group, though I hadn't yet had a chance to get to know them.

THE PRINCETON FOOTNOTES (Princeton, N.J.): Men's group from Princeton University

STREET CORNER RENAISSANCE (Los Angeles): All-Male group specializing in doo-wop style

TEN (Dallas): A pro singer mashup hailing from Dallas

VOCAL RUSH (Oakland, CA): High School Group from Oakland Center for the Arts, repeat ICHSA winners, also known as the "video leaked" group.

VOICEPLAY (Orlando, FL): A mixed adult group with a similar formation backstory to PTX - started as three high school friends, expanded to six.

Once again, we can see the familiar casting instructions brought to life. Come to think of it, I don't see many "prepare for The Sing-Off" articles/workshops approach is that there's more to getting on the show than being good performers - you also have to fit a certain casting block and have a good human interest hook.

That said, this approach does give a great advantage to groups we might otherwise never hear of in addition to its core purpose of cultivating the needed audience desired by the producers and promised to the advertisers.

News broke earlier this week about the upcoming US tour of CLUSTER, who only last year melted the faces of acas and non-acas alike at Strathmore as the headliners of VoCALnation 2012.

If I had to summarize Cluster in one sentence it would be this:

Tom Anderson, probably the best aca-arranger alive, lost his sh*t watching CLUSTER at VCN.

I meant to post about this sooner, but Six Appeal did a really cool thing when I followed them on twitter - they checked their schedule and messaged me with the date of the next time they'd be nearby me.

Nominations are now open for the "People's Choice" of contemporary a cappella, through September 8. To nominate for one or more of the categories, all you have to be is a registered user on CASA.org, and if you're not already a CASA.org user, registration is FREE.

Some of the special categories this year include (but are not limited to):

Favorite A Cappella Producer

Favorite A Cappella Event

Favorite A Cappella YouTube Video

Favorite A Cappella Fan

Favorite A Cappella Activism (using a cappella to promote a worthy cause)

Favorite Breakout of Newcomer Group

Favorite Festival Workshop

First installment of the "Good Aca-Idea, Bad Aca-Idea" promotion for ACF 2013. Started originally by the people behind Vocal Chaos and elmoTHUMM, ACappellaFest became a CASA festival last year, and this year's theme is about kicking off your group's Best Year Ever. The Instructor list was released last night, with the workshops to come soon.

It will definitely be an intense one-day event, full of all the workshops we all have come to expect, and headlined by Nashville's Breath Of Soul, who recently won the 2012 Lady Antebellum A Cappella Contest, and two-man musical comedy powerhouse Dakaboom.