The Northwestern Undertones are a 20-member co-ed collegiate a cappella group from Northwestern University in Evanston. Founded in 2001 by Jeni Noerenberg, the group was originally called Something Old, Something NU, but the name changed within a year.
Today the Undertones tour both nationally and internationally. Over the past decade they have performed in Washington D.C., California, Miami, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Houston, Boston, and Edinburgh, Scotland. They perform three shows on campus a year, compete in the International Collegiate Championships of A Cappella, do gigs in the Chicago area, and record albums.
The track "Get Set" was selected for inclusion on the collegiate a cappella compilation album "Voices Only 2009" Voices Only 2009 and the track "Perfect Day" was nominated for a CARA for Best Mixed Collegiate Arrangement. CARA 2009 The album was moderately well received by the Recorded A Cappella Review Board. RARB Review
The track "Before The Worst" selected for inclusion on the collegiate a cappella compilation album "BOCA 2011: Best of Collegiate A Cappella" BOCA 2011 and was nominated for a CARA for Best Mixed Collegiate Arrangement. CARA 2011 Robert Dietz said that the arrangements are, "some of the best I've heard from the collegiate community," RARB Review and the track "Eet" was selected as one of their Songs of the Year for 2011. RARB Picks 2011
Their current album, released March 2013 is titled "Rock Paper Shotgun". It was nominated by the Contemporary A Cappella Recording Society for Best Mixed Collegiate album. The album's opening track "Plain Gold Ring" was nominated for Best Mixed Arrangement and Best Solo and was included in the compilations "Voices Only 2013" and CASA's "sing 10: neon." The track "Gunpowder and Lead" was nominated for Best Mixed Collegiate song, and the track "Bluebird" was selected for "Voices Only 2014." Undertones Website
Awards Year Presenter Award Result 2008 ICCA Midwest Quarterfinal ICCA 2008 Overall 1st Place Best Choreography Winner (Joyee Lin, for "You Oughta Know") 2009 CARAs (Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards) Best Mixed Collegiate Arrangement Nominated (“Perfect Day” - enter soUnd) Voices Only Voices Only 2009 "Get Set" - enter soUnd 2010 ICCA Midwest Quarterfinal ICCA 2010 Overall 2nd place Best Arrangement Winner (Matt Edmonds - “I Will Follow You Into the Dark”) ICCA Midwest Semifinal Best Arrangement Winner (Matt Edmonds - “I Will Follow You Into the Dark”) 2011 BOCA (Best of Collegiate A Cappella) ICCA 2011 BOCA 2011 "Before The Worst" - Boots and Cats CARAs (Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards) Best Mixed Collegiate Arrangement Nominated (“Before The Worst” - Boots and Cats) RARB Pick RARB 2011 Songs of the Year "Eet" - Boots and Cats 2012 ICCA Midwest Quarterfinal ICCA 2012 Best Vocal Percussion Winner (Matt Kania) 2013 CARAs (Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards) Best Mixed Collegiate Album Nominated ("Rock Paper Shotgun") Best Mixed Collegiate Arrangement Nominated ("Plain Gold Ring" - Rock Paper Shotgun) Best Solo Nominated ("Plain Gold Ring" - Rock Paper Shotgun) Best Mixed Collegiate Song Nominated ("Gunpowder & Lead" - Rock Paper Shotgun) Voices Only Voices Only 2013 "Plain Gold Ring" - Rock Paper Shotgun CASA sing 10: neon "Plain Gold Ring" - Rock Paper Shotgun 2014 Voices Only Voices Only 2014 "Bluebird" - Rock Paper Shotgun 2015 ICCA Midwest QuarterfinalOverall1st Place ICCA 2015Best SoloistEliza Palasz, "Baby I'm A Fool" 2017 ICCA Great Lakes Quarterfinal Overall 3rd Place
See also List of collegiate a cappella groups in the United States Northwestern University
References
External links Official Website Official YouTube Channel Northwestern University