Off and Running in 2014

Happy belated New Year, friends! So far in 2014, we have been working hard, gigging often and making lots of new friends along the way.

Our first gig of the year was on Jan. 31 when we hosted the New England Voices Festival High School competition in Wilmington, Mass. The competition featured eight high school groups from all around the state and we had to pleasure of getting to know them all a little bit back stage before we introduced them. A shout out to our new friends in all eight groups and a special congratulations to Luminescence (Marblehead HS), Northern Lights (Plymouth North HS), and Voices of Steel (Wakefield HS) for being crowned the 2014 NE Voices HS Champions!

Thank you to the NE Voices team for bringing us in for the festival! We love going to Wilmington and will be heading back there in a few weeks for MARCH-A-PELLA!

The next day, several Townies participated in the NE Voices workshops. Alex, Chris, Katya and Liz represented the group while running a pair of workshops about vocal improve and warm up techniques. They also had the pleasure of working with Pitches and Does from Cambridge Rindge & Latin HS in a private masterclass.

That evening, we were back at it on the gig front heading up to North Andover, Mass. for a show at Merrimack College hosted by Boston Jazz Voices. Merrimack’s very own Mackappella opened up the show followed by an awesome set from BJV who previewed some tunes from their new album. After the break, it was Townie time with a full set of new and older tunes.

On February 8, Fermata Town returned to Danvers HS to headline at their annual A Cappella Night. We also sang at the event in 2012 thanks to a connection from one of our former members, Michelle, whose mother works in the Danvers school system. This show featured a little bit of everything including choral music, barbershop, all-female and collegiate a cappella. It was great to see so much variety packed into the same bill and we were honored to close out the show in front of the sold out house. Special thanks to our hosts Jax and Ashley for making us feel so welcome backstage and to DHS Musical Director Alex Grover for inviting us to perform!!

So what’s next for FTown?

We’ve got a few more shows already in the calendar for 2014 but for the rest of February, we’re going to get back to the basics and start learning some new music! We’re going to also get ready to return to the studio to continue recording for our new album project. On top of these exciting things, we’re in the pre-production stages for the first-ever Fermata Town music video shoot which will be taking place next month so stay tuned for more about that project in the weeks to come.

We’re off and running in 2014 and hope that somewhere along the way we see you out at a show near you!

Here’s to a happy, healthy and harmonious 2014!

Dan Campagna Business Manager Fermata Town