by Dave Sperandio
Wow!
I look down for … 9 years … and the next thing I know, the little festival that a handful of friends and I started in 2003 using my 401K, many late nights, and a gallon or 12 of blood, sweat, and/or tears has become an aca-monster of an event. We have drawn audiences from all parts, and have inspired many other events – and artists! – around the world, helping to facilitate relationships that have shaped much of the contemporary vocal music community as we now know it. Who knew?
I couldn’t be happier with the way that SoJam has evolved and stand in awe of the effect it has had on so many lives. But our beloved event hasn’t always been the phenomenon we know it as now. SoJam’s roots can be found in what was formerly known as the East Coast A Cappella Summit, in the ICCA, and in my and others’ own experiences in collegiate and professional a cappella groups.
As I’ve said before in other interviews, when I attended UNC and directed the Clef Hangers, we had no social media, no youtube …essentially, no internet. Our exposure to anything “new” in the contemporary a cappella world usually came by way of a visiting group, or a group we saw while we were on tour. The Tufts Beelzebubs first introduced us to legitimate (as in, not “digga-doom”) vocal percussion during a guest performance at the Clefs’ Fall Jam, and we were dumbstruck (so much so, that we hardly noticed our girlfriends leaving with the Bubs – but that’s [in] another story). We resolved to learn how to make these magical sounds as soon as possible (spoiler: it took another decade or so).
Shortly after graduating from UNC, I joined a “semi-pro” group in Atlanta, and in 1998 we went to see m-pact perform at Emory. Once again, this performance left my group and I floored by innovation and overall excellence. By then, I’d heard about this new CD called BOCA, and the CARAs. Through a-cappella.com, I learned about a few other groups like The Real Group, Ball in the House, Five O’Clock Shadow, and The House Jacks. I bought as many CDs as my recent-grad corporate salary would allow. But I’d simply had no idea that the things m-pact did using only the human voice were possible.
At that moment, I was struck with the realization that I was not alone in my ignorance, but not yet sure what to do about that fact. I knew that the two “hubs” of contemporary a cappella in the United States at that time were Boston and San Francisco. My band had heard about ECS in Boston, and we decided to make an appearance there ~2000. When we arrived, we found other groups like us performing, attending classes, and generally partying all weekend. Most importantly, we found a sense of community, shared knowledge, and the possibility of a certain synergy that was electric to say the least.
We returned home energized, inspired, and connected – if not possessed. There was a whole world of a cappella music out there that we had never really encountered before. There was much to explore, and much to create. I watched the band use the knowledge and energy gained from attending ECS and apply both to the creation of a new, more contemporary-sounding CD (even hiring an a cappella producer to help us – who does that?!), organizing a world tour (of Wisconsin), and producing an oft-rumored, ill-fated music video. We began making plans for the future, booking more gigs, and thinking outside of our localized constructs. We started networking more closely with other a cappella groups, and I began to assemble the beginnings of what would become a galvanizing idea.
In time, I realized that our region (the Southeastern Unites States) needed a jump-start, a push if not a shove into this brave new world of contemporary a cappella that I had recently been introduced to by attending ECS. We had the talent to hang with these new sounds and groups, but we really just had no idea, collectively, of what we were missing. Naturally, quitting my secure corporate day job to form my own production company and non-profit to help provide this ‘jump-start’ was the logical next step. Well, maybe this wasn’t such a logical move, but somehow I convinced myself and my family that it was the only move I could make at the time. Deep down, I knew that one way or another, we were going to have our own event. Others would be inspired. Somehow…
Luckily, I had some friends to help me out with this wild venture. Fellow band-mate Graham Kuhn stepped up to produce the nascent event. Aca-stalwart Tekay (with whom I attended UNC), Symp Vibes founder James Clawson, current SoJam Executive Producer Mark Hines, former AACI President Nick Lyons, and vocal percussionist and fellow band-mate Dave Baumgartner along with a few other friends, ‘aca’ and otherwise, found ourselves sitting in a brightly lit room in the UNC union in early 2003. The topic of discussion was this event, which we had recently decided to call SoJam: “Who should we book to perform?” “Will groups attend?” “What sort of classes would we have?” “Where can we host the event, and how in the heck will we pay for it?” And, serendipitously: “should we have a competition?”
Ultimately, we decided that we had to go all-in. To take the best of ECS, ICCA, and our own plans and create the engine that would help drive if not define this vocal music eco-system we all loved. Happily, Tekay talked me out of having a mid-western event at the same time as SoJam. Even so, that first year we went a bit wild: Da Vinci’s Notebook, Blue Jupiter, NoJoe, Sean Altman, Andrew Chaiken (aka Kid Beyond), a collegiate competition on Friday night, two full days of classes, and JAM! Sessions for all attendees during the day. I think that first year, we had around 16-18 groups attend. Although we didn’t sell out the theater, the crowd was electric (as were the after-parties). We knew we were onto something.
SoJam 2003 was a success. Although I lost a good bit of money, following the event there was a palpable change in the energy and collective knowledge of the region’s a cappella singers – as crazy as that sounds. I considered it money well spent. However, were it not for the “aggressive nudging” of Mark, Nick, Carl and co., SoJam might have been a one-time event. The next year was a tough one for me personally, but the team rallied at the very last minute, managed to snag the HouseJacks and others to perform, and snagged us the lovely NCSU campus.
And the rest, as they say, is history: SoJam has grown each year, and it has touched the lives of thousands. Many of the ‘a cappella luminaries’ of today can trace their aspirational roots back to SoJam (one of these will be hosting this year’s Saturday concert!). Many a cappella events were similarly inspired (much as SoJam owes a nod to the ECS of yore for planting a seed). In time, we merged the AACI (and SoJam) with CASA, and our team grew from a true skeleton crew to an embarrassment of (human) riches. We have now built a network of other events in Los Angeles, NYC, Chicago, Boston, and DC using the SoJam model as a basis.
Today, students and a cappella singers of all ages have access to the plethora of knowledge and recorded performances. Collaboration and information transfer happens every day in a matter of moments online. However, SoJam remains the seminal experience for anyone involved with contemporary a cappella music, and those who attend take back with them something that cannot be found in any Youtube video, Facebook page, or Forum.
If there may exist “required reading” or “required listening” for the a cappella singer and fan, I would humbly submit that SoJam is required rocking. If you have not attended, you must. Once you have, your lives may change, as ours did, not so long ago.
