Getting Ready for January 14th

Hello Friends and Family,

If you haven't heard already, we were able to completely sell out Benaroya Hall for our upcoming January 14th performance. Not trying to toot our own horns or anything (toot toot), but we try to keep you all informed--and maybe toot our own horn a little bit. If you are anything like my own personal friends and family and assumed that you would be able to just waltz in and buy your ticket at the door (looking at you Mom and Dad) and now you're starting to freak out because you live in Seattle and this was the perfect opportunity to see us and you're going to miss it, relax. We've added another performance on February 18th for people just like you. (Yes, I know that that was a run-on sentence, but we're exciting professional reality TV stars baby. Who cares about sentence structure? Not this guy.)

We've been working our collective tails off trying to put together a show that proves to you all how much we've appreciated all the support. It's been a lot of hard work, but it's always totally worth it when we get the chance to perform for you all. We've got a lot of surprises in store, and I, personally, think it's going to be a lot of fun. We're looking forward to seeing you all, and I mean all. If you still haven't gotten your tickets for the February 18th performance (Mom), don't make the same mistake twice. Order your tickets here today. Do it now or don't come complaining to me that you "didn't get a ticket." You were warned.

So our last bit of news for today is pretty exciting for us: we are officially part of the Single Source family. We have an agent (of the booking and not the secret variety)!  Why should you care, you ask? This means we have access to contacts, venues and festivals that we've never had before. So all of you that send us tweets like "I wish you were coming to [insert your city's name here]," you may now actually see us at a venue near you. I know. It's exciting. Calm down please. Is the screaming and crying really that necessary?

We've been blessed to be able to hear from so many of you this past month. I don't think any of us were expecting such an overwhelmingly positive response, and it has really warmed our hearts. Thank you all for making us feel appreciated and loved.

Peter
GFT

The Sing-Off: Episode 3

Well, it was a fun ride. We all knew that our trip on the Sing-Off roller coaster had to come to an end; and if we leave the stage having a blast to one of the happiest songs of all time, then so be it!

The Sing-Off was one of the most challenging experiences Groove for Thought has ever faced. We sang our hearts out, took flying leaps out of our comfort zones--and even without that $100,000 recording contract, we made some new fans along the way. Thank you, all you groovers, who have supported us during this process. We've grown musically as well as personally, and we can't wait to show you all the new Groove.

And hey; just because our time is up, that doesn't mean it's all over! Keep showing your support to those guys and girls who are left; because singing is singing, and every single musician on that show is pretty great at it. Tune in on Wednesday at 8 PST / 7 ET, and don't forget about the live finale on Monday, December 20th!

Now that we're back to our usual (slightly improved) selves, we'd love to catch up. Drop in and see us on January 14th at Seattle's Benaroya Hall (tickets are on sale now). We can't wait to see you there!

-Stephanie
GfT

The Sing-Off: Episode 2

Hello All.

See anything good on TV last night?

We were so excited for this episode to hit the airwaves. To be honest, we were a little worried when "Cooler Than Me" was assigned to us for the "Big Hit" episode as none of us had ever heard the song. How about a hand for Kelly Kunz for turning that dance/pop tune into one of the "coolest" vocal jazz charts I've heard in a long time. Apologies for the Lachey-esque pun. By the way, if you get a chance, check out Ben Folds' blog. He's full of insightful things to say after every episode. I gotta say, it's a huge thrill for me to get critique from Ben Folds. I used to rock out to Ben Folds Five in high school and have been a big fan of his for more than ten years now.

Now, on to the "Guilty Pleasure" tunes. Any Hall and Oates fans out there? #GFTSings

Don't forget to spread the Groove For Thought word to all of your friends and family. We really appreciate the flood of support that's been coming our way. Reading people's comments on our facebook page and Twitter is really awesome.

Stay tuned.

Jeff
GFT

The Sing-Off: Episode 1

Hello friends and family.

First off, thanks to everyone for all of your love and support. Facebook and Twitter have been blowing up with words of encouragement, and I can't even begin to explain how much we appreciate every single one of you! Even those of you that didn't shout your GfT love from a mountain (substitute "mountain" for "Facebook" and "shout" with "spelling Groove for Thought in all caps"), we know how you really feel. We got those supportive vibes you were sending.

That being said, I think we learned some valuable lessons during this first episode that we'll be taking with us into episode two:

1.  I should never wear yellow.

2.  We should have utilized our mastery of all things choreography--more.

3.  We do not like being the last to be called "safe."

If you want to hear us really reflect on our performance last week, you can watch this video. (Make sure to watch Brennan specifically. Trust me.) On the off chance that you may have accidentally missed the show last night (and I'm giving you Brennan eyes right now), you can watch the whole thing on hulu right now.

We're one show down and ready for tomorrow night when we'll be singing Mike Posner's "Cooler Than Me." Let us know how you feel about our song assignment! Is there a hit song that you feel would have been better for us?  Let us know on Twitter (make sure to include the #GFTSings hashtag), Facebook, or Myspace. We're looking forward to hearing from you!

Peter

GfT

'The Sing-Off: Harmonies for the Holidays'

I'm going to try to keep this one short and sweet (much like myself). There have been a couple exciting announcements made about the Sing-Off. The Sing-Off. You remember. That little announcement we made last month about us being on a little reality show on FREAKING NBC! For the record, that caps lock was used in excitement and not out of anger.

Digital Journal and SunHerald posted articles about "The Sing-Off" and the upcoming holiday release that is sure to rock your socks: The Sing-Off: Harmonies for the Holidays. (WARNING: Groove for Thought shall not be held responsible for socks that are not rocked due to lack of socks being worn.) "But we already knew you were going to be on 'The Sing-Off' on NBC starting on December 6th 8-10pm E.T., and we also know about the exciting holiday album 'The Sing-Off: Harmonies for the Holidays' being released on November 30th that is sure rock our socks," I hear you saying. What you may or may not know (depending on your link clicking habits) is the official track listing for said holiday album that is... well, you know...

...sure to rock your socks. You can pre-order your copy today from Amazon to ensure that you get your copy before all of your friends. Bragging rights are a big deal people. This is one of those links I would encourage you to click before reading the rest of this blog. Go for it. Its just sitting there. Looking all pretty.

Epic Records has announced that they will be "releasing digital tracks of each group's performance online the day of each episode". That is just as exciting as it sounds. You will be able to purchase your very own copy of each and every GFT performance on The Sing-Off stage. "Whoa! This is too exciting. I'm not sure I can handle any more exciting news" said the overly excitable blog reader. Then you might want to stop reading right now.

Pop Tower has some official pictures from the show. If you just can't wait to get an insider sneak peek at the show (or you were just one of those people that kept clicking on that link in the official NBC release in vain), here is your opportunity. Enjoy.

Did I mention there are videos?  Because... yeah, there are videos.




Peter
GFT

Groove for Thought on The Sing-Off!

Okay. I'll start off by apologizing. A few entries back, I stated that GFT was taking some time off of gigging to work on our upcoming CD release. Well, that wasn't entirely true. Now before you start throwing rotten fruit and eggs at me (and who brings rotten fruit and eggs to their computer anyway?), let me explain. While we did spend some time on our new CD (which I've tentatively entitled "That One CD With Those Songs On It"), we also spent a substantial amount of time preparing for The Sing-Off.

"So what exactly is The Sing-Off?" you may be asking yourselves with mouth agape. Well fret not, baby birds, because I'm about to tell you. The Sing-Off is a reality TV show on NBC that brings in the best a capella groups in the country to compete against one another for $100,000 and a Sony recording contract. I'll give you all a second to let that soak in. Yeah. That means you get to see Groove for Thought on TV! The show begins Monday, December 6th (8-10pm ET). I don't have to say this, but you're probably going to want to mark this one on your calendars. For more info, go to the official NBC release.

So, about that CD. There is good news and bad news. The bad news is that we aren't done with it yet. (Put that moldy peach down!) The good news is that we're about four or five songs into the project and the tracks are sounding great. Amanda and Steph (and Brennan too, for that matter) have added something completely new and cool to the GFT sound. We all dig it here and I'm sure you all will feel the same about it when you hear it. When will you hear it? Um...how about you move that fruit to just outside of arm's reach. We have no idea.

But what if there was a way you could hear the new GFT recorded sound before our second album release? Shhhh. Come closer. What I'm about to tell you is extremely public information and (had you read the official NBC release) you would already know. For those true Groove for Thought blog fans, the ones that couldn't possibly dream of clicking on meaningless links when there is more hilariously informative blog to read, follow me to the next paragraph. For those "link clickers" that already know what I'm about to say, you can follow me to the next paragraph too. Think of it as a punishment for reading ahead. Nobody likes a know-it-all.

An album entitled “The Sing-Off: Harmonies for the Holidays” is being released by Epic Records on November 30. Each of the ten groups (did I mention there were ten of us?) that will appear on this season of the Sing-Off has recorded a track. All of the tracks will then be combined and placed in an order that makes the most logical sense to form a CD of awesome that is "The Sing-Off: Harmonies for the Holidays." I'm not saying this is what everyone on my list is getting for Christmas, but yeah this is what everyone on my list is getting for Christmas. For those of you that have been foaming at the mouth to get something (anything) new from GFT or those of you that have complained (since before the first album was released) that we don't have even a single holiday track recorded...well, there you go. While we don't know about distribution at this point, we will let you know as soon as we do.

Lots of cool stuff on the Groove for Thought plate. A TV show, a new CD in the works, and we're back to gigging. I know we've been quiet for a while, but you can expect regular updates in the future. We'd love to hear your thoughts about some of these new announcements. Post something on our Facebook wall, leave a comment on our newly updated Myspace page, or tweet about us on Twitter.

Peter
GFT

Updates

GFT has had quite a bit on our plate lately. When we aren't recording our new album, gigging, or doing photo shoots; we are diligently practicing new material for some exciting new performances. In other words, we've been busy working on some projects that all of us GFTers are really excited about.

We recently had a performance at Trinity Parish Church in Seattle. If you didn't make it (for shame), you really missed out on a special evening. While amplified sound and a cathedral hall creates an interesting set of problems, we are all creative individuals that are more than willing to embrace an interesting challenge. By the time we were done with our sound check, things were dialed in nice and tight (probably because the dynamic combination of my ability to run mic cable and Amanda's ability to tape stage markers). The stand out tune in that environment was, of course, And So It Goes. The acoustics of the cathedral hall were... unbelievable. For those of you who didn't show up (for shame again) you truly missed out.

Last weekend, we had one of our long weekend recording sessions. Because we've had some issues with planes, lawn mowers, leaf blowers, and dogs at our normal space; we decided to take a trip out to Port Orchard and record in Brennan's old stomping grounds. We spent all Friday night finishing up Brennan and James's tracks on "How Sweet It Is" and spent Saturday morning tracking Amanda and Stephanie. For lunch, we drove out to a great restaurant and had a nice normal casual run of the mill relaxing meal. Well, except for the photographer that was running around us making sure he got that perfect shot. You know the one of Brennan, nostrils flaring, as hes swooping down the his poor unsuspecting tacos. Just to clarify, we brought the photographer (not some random dude that was there taking pics of us eating) and that photographer happens to be my father... Hawk Jones. It comes full circle. GFT is a family affair.

Once we were done stuffing our faces, we went back to the improvised studio and took some more shots of us singing (see video below).



It was a nice fun/productive weekend for GFT. This weekend, we are all doing our own thing (although word on the street is that James and Brennan met yesterday to discuss choreography. Not a joke) so that we can be nice a relaxed for our performance next weekend. Did you see what I did there? That is what we call (in the biz) a perfectly executed transition.

Friday, May 21, 2010
Vocal Jazz Residency
Eastern Washington University
Cheney, WA

This is the last gig on the books for a while (taking some time to record the new album), so you should probably just plan on being there. You can always visit our website to see when we will be performing near you or visit our Facebook or Myspace page (yup. We've still got a myspace page) to just say hello.

There is one more super exciting announcement I'd like to make, but I think the rest of GFT would kill me if I let the cat out of the bag. So, I'll give you all a hint. GFT is preparing to... do something that would require all of us to sing... together. Oops. I better stop before I give too much away.

Peter
GFT