SoJam
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 #83: SoJam
The term “a cappella community” can be an ambiguous one. Does it refer to the immediate community one shares with his or her a cappella group? The group at one’s school, or the surrounding geographic region? Is it something that happens online when groups connect over Facebook or the RARB message board? Or does it apply to that ethereal link between everyone who has had a part in a cappella and can strike up a conversation at the drop of a hat once they realize the common link?
The a cappella community probably applies to all of the above, but nowhere is that sense of communal spirit more vibrant or clear than at gatherings like SoJam. Since its founding in 2003, the annual festival has grown to include a collegiate competition, a professional showcase, dozens of workshops and master classes, and perhaps most vitally for the purposes of community, some of the most happening after parties in all of the a cappella universe.
SoJam represents a rare weekend in which the boundaries between scholastic, post-collegiate, semi-pro and professional a cappella get blurred, if not erased in the name of a collection of musicians and fans coming together drink in the music and enjoy one another’s company. This year, it happens in Atlanta, November 13-15.
I love it!