The House Jacks
Encyclopedia
The House Jacks is a professional a cappella
quintet from San Francisco, founded in 1991 by Deke Sharon
Often labeled a "rock band without instruments", their live shows typically include not only singing but also vocally imitating instruments such as trumpets, guitars, harmonicas and strings as well as taking audience-requests for songs and rendering them in musical styles unlike the original versions. The group composes and arranges most of their material and is considered the first professional a cappella group to have a dedicated vocal percussionist.
The group routinely tours the United States and Germany, has recorded numerous jingles and has garnered numerous recording and community awards (see below). They can be heard in the background music on NBC's The Sing-Off
in the opening video, commercial transitions and elimination sequences.
The group performed at the 53rd Monterey Jazz Festival on September 17, 2010.
They performed the Monday Night Football Theme "Are You Ready For Some Football" with Hank Williams, Jr.
for the 2011 season
Past members include Kid Beyond
, Garth Kravits, Bert Bacco, Wes Carroll
and Antonio Medrano.
A cappella
A cappella music is specifically solo or group singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It is the opposite of cantata, which is accompanied singing. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato...
quintet from San Francisco, founded in 1991 by Deke Sharon
Deke Sharon
Deke Sharon is an American singer, arranger, composer, director, producer and teacher of a cappella music, and is one of the leaders of the contemporary a cappella community and a pioneer of the contemporary a cappella style, referred to as "the father of contemporary a cappella" by some...
Often labeled a "rock band without instruments", their live shows typically include not only singing but also vocally imitating instruments such as trumpets, guitars, harmonicas and strings as well as taking audience-requests for songs and rendering them in musical styles unlike the original versions. The group composes and arranges most of their material and is considered the first professional a cappella group to have a dedicated vocal percussionist.
The group routinely tours the United States and Germany, has recorded numerous jingles and has garnered numerous recording and community awards (see below). They can be heard in the background music on NBC's The Sing-Off
The Sing-Off
The Sing-Off is an American television singing competition featuring a cappella groups. It premiered on NBC on December 14, 2009, and is produced by Sony Pictures Television....
in the opening video, commercial transitions and elimination sequences.
The group performed at the 53rd Monterey Jazz Festival on September 17, 2010.
They performed the Monday Night Football Theme "Are You Ready For Some Football" with Hank Williams, Jr.
Hank Williams, Jr.
Randall Hank Williams , better known as Hank Williams, Jr. and Bocephus, is an American country singer-songwriter and musician. His musical style is often considered a blend of Southern rock, blues, and traditional country...
for the 2011 season
Member Changes
The original group met while singing in collegiate groups on the East Coast and relocated to San Francisco to begin the group in September 1991.Past members include Kid Beyond
Kid Beyond
Kid Beyond is a singer, beat boxer and live looper based in the San Francisco area.-Early career:Chaikin attended Brown University and was a leader in the co-ed fraternity Zeta Delta Xi. He sang in the Jabberwocks, a student a cappella group...
, Garth Kravits, Bert Bacco, Wes Carroll
Wes Carroll
Wes Carroll is one of the pioneering practitioners of vocal percussion in contemporary a cappella music. He is credited as a primary teacher of this art form, primarily through instructional videos and DVDs first created in the late 1990s.He was the founding vocal percussionist for the Boston...
and Antonio Medrano.
Discography
| Date | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Naked Noise | Ten tracks, debut album of original songs. |
| 1997 | Funkwich | Twelve tracks, original songs. |
| 2001 | Drive | Seventeen tracks, live album of original songs recording during European tour. |
| 2003 | Unbroken | Ten tracks of original material. |
| 2005 | Fitchy & Grikko | Twelve tracks, original songs. |
| 2006 | Get Down Mr. President! | Fifteen tracks, live album of original songs and covers. |
| 2009 | Good Things | Nineteen tracks, "best-of" album featuring tracks from their previous six studio albums. |
| 2010 | Level | Twelve tracks of original material. |
Awards
- Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards (CARAs)
- 2004
- Best Pop/Rock Album: Unbroken
- Best Best Pop/Rock Original Song: "Good Things" from Unbroken
- 2007
- Runner Up, Best Pop/Rock Album: Get Down Mr. President!!
- 2011
- Best Pop/Rock Album: Level
- Best Pop/Rock Original Song: "Little Red Dress" from Level
- Best Professional Original Song: "You Were Everything" from Level
- 2004
- A Cappella Community Awards (ACAs)
- 2010
- Favorite Vocal Percussionist: Jake Moulton
- Favorite Songwriter: Austin Willacy
- Favorite Arranger: Deke Sharon
- 2010