Photos by Jimmy Fontaine
THINGS CAN get hectic backstage at a Straight No Chaser concert, especially when the RIAA-certified gold a cappella group comes through their home state of Indiana.
“It can be a bit of a zoo back there,” Straight No Chaser’s Jasper Smith tells us about the chaos of the backstage area during a hometown show. “There are always kids running around, and we have our wives and our family there. But being back in Indiana gives us a chance to connect with everybody. It’s wild, but it’s just that it feels so much like home to us.”
While Smith now resides in Chicago, and his fellow group members live in a handful of different locales, their roots are all firmly planted in Indiana—as this is where the roots of Straight No Chaser were first planted.
“Everyone except for [Straight No Chaser member] Freedom Young came through the college group that was left behind in Indiana after the original guys left,” explains Smith. “I graduated in the mid-’90s. It just feels so long ago, but the memories are right there.”
It’s those memories that still seem somewhat surreal to each of the members of Straight No Chaser, especially as they prepare to play a total of four shows at Murat Theatre in Indianapolis on December 14 and 15 and another show at their old Indiana University Auditorium stomping grounds on December 17—all part of their current Top Shelf tour.
The importance of Straight No Chaser and what they provide their scores of fans cannot be understated, as the harmonies of this group teetering on the cusp of legendary status continue to bring joy, laughter, and a whole bunch of healing.
Photo by Robert Hubbard
“I think people need a little bit of escapism right now,” says Smith, who joined the star-studded group in 2020. “Giving not only [the fans] but ourselves just a couple hours of fun on stage so they are not worrying about what’s in the newspaper and what’s on the newsfeed is important. That’s what our shows are for—just to give them time to have fun and step outside of all the junk that’s going on.”
This undertaking ensures their show is an ever-evolving one. “More or less, it’s the same show, but there are things that happen every night and ways that we connect with the audience on a certain level that are only unique to that night,” says the talented baritone. “It’s going to happen once, and that thing is never going to happen again. It’s this weird hybrid. It’s not quite a theater show. It’s not quite a concert. It’s this unique format that just doesn’t, in my opinion, happen very often.”
And yes, each member knows just how lucky he is to be a part of it. “I just told the guys last night, ‘What other job can you have that when you get done, people clap for you,'” Smith says. “It’s crazy.”
Their unique food cravings when they come home may be the only things that are crazier. “We’re not going to be too far from Kilroy’s, so I might need to get Kilroy’s breadsticks while I’m there,” laughs Smith. “They are the best.”
