Ben Folds Presents University A Cappella
For the uninitiated, it can be difficult to understand why people love a cappella. Heck, even for those of us who do actively enjoy it, it can be difficult to put into words why we enjoy this art form so. While we’ll never have a truly comprehensive list of everything cool about a cappella, 200 Reasons to Love A Cappella is our best attempt at assembling a list of what makes it great.
Reason #76: Ben Folds Presents University A Cappella
One of the coolest honors an a cappella group can enjoy is knowing that an original recording artist has heard and appreciated their take on one of his or her songs. What, then, could be cooler than a darling of the a cappella community deciding to professionally record an album of college groups covering his songs?
That’s exactly what Ben Folds elected to do with his University A Cappella project, released in 2009. The album, highlighting groups from as North Carolina, to Western New York, to Chicago, to St. Louis, to Colorado, to Sacramento and more celebrated the universality of song and gave a slew of college musicians a new brand of exposure they had probably never dreamed of. And as for Folds, himself, there’s little doubt this project was a major stepping stone en route to landing his gig as a judge on The Sing-Off.
I love it!