Straight No Chaser is bringing its Summer: The '90s Part 2 Tour to State Theatre New Jersey on Wednesday, July 16, 2025. The nine-member a cappella group originated in 1996 at Indiana University in Bloomington and has gone on to sell three million albums, earn two gold records, and amass over 1 billion streams on Pandora.
Spotlight Central recently spoke with SNC baritone Jasper Smith and asked him about his musical upbringing, joining Straight No Chaser, and the group’s upcoming Summer: The ’90s Part 2 concert at New Brunswick’s STNJ.
Do you come from a musical family?
Yes, I do. I grew up singing in church, but I have an uncle who is a concert-level pianist, another uncle who’s done some on-and-off Broadway singing, and a brother who’s a phenomenal musician, too. At every family gathering we always ended up around the piano so, for us, music was a part of everyday life.
Do you play any instruments?
I do. I play guitar and ukulele and I’ve played bass in a couple of different projects when I’m not on the road. I’ve been doing that for about 20 years now.
You started singing with your family and in church but did you ever perform in school shows or in a band?
I did the typical performing in church and then choir in middle school and high school, but my first job was playing bass in a ’50s and ’60s band at American Legion halls and Moose Lodges when I was 15 or 16 with guys who were 20 or 30 years my senior.
We understand that one of your main musical influences growing up was Boyz II Men? Did that influence your decision to join Straight No Chaser?
I had grown up, really, with Boyz II Men as kind of my only touchstone to anything close to a cappella music, but when I was a senior in high school, my mom showed me a video of Straight No Chaser — and this was when their “12 Days of Christmas” video blew up — and I was like, “Wow, that would be fun to do in college!” So when I got to Indiana University, I tried out for the a cappella group that was still on campus after the original members left, but I didn’t get in and it took me about three different semesters of auditioning before I finally got in!
Can you tell us where the name, Straight No Chaser, comes from?
Originally, it was the name of an old Thelonious Monk song, but the guys say it wasn’t until years later that they found out it had an alcohol connotation, as well.
Is it really true that when the group first started out, they made their debut at a dance marathon?
Yes, that’s true. It started out with guys who were originally in the show choir at Indiana called The Singing Hoosiers. There’s been a long-standing tradition of collegial a cappella group singing on the East Coast which made its way to Midwest colleges like the University of Illinois and the like, and so when the guys started it at University of Indiana, their very first gig was at a IU dance marathon.
That’s a 36-hour event, isn’t it?
Yes, it’s a big fundraiser for a children’s hospital where all the different sororities and fraternities get together for this 36-hour dance marathon. I performed there myself during my time in college and I think we performed for an hour at 1 in the morning or something like that.
Earlier, you said you had seen the Straight No Chaser “12 Days of Christmas” video which went viral. Can you tell us how the group got its Atlantic Records recording contract long after that 1998 video came out?
It’s honestly a wild story. The video was filmed in 1998. After the guys had all graduated and gone their separate ways, for the ten-year anniversary of the group in 2007, one of them decided to post it on this new website called YouTube. It just kind of sat there for awhile, but at the end of 2007, it picked up steam and went viral and one of the people who happened to see it was the head of Atlantic Records. He reached out to the guy who uploaded the video and said, “I want to sign you guys to a record deal,” and the guys got together and sang for him in his office. He signed them on the spot and the rest is history.
And speaking of history, the group went on to record a 2008 Christmas album, Holiday Spirits, which became a #1 selling album on iTunes; taped a live concert in New York in 2009 that aired on PBS, and recorded a 2013 album, Under the Influence, which featured a who’s who of guest artists including Elton John, Dolly Parton, and Stevie Wonder, in addition to an EP, Under the Influence: Holiday Edition, with Paul McCartney. What was it like for the group to record with these world-class artists?
That was a kind of a pinch-me moment — it was a situation where they were like, “We’ll put out these requests and see who says ‘yes’” and everyone ended up saying, “‘Yes, yes, yes!” It really was a dream come true recording with guys like Elton John and Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder — all these artists we never thought we’d be in the same orbit with — so it was really unreal!
We know the group’s newest recording is 90s Proof and your current tour is called the Summer: The 90s Part 2 Tour which is coming to STNJ in New Brunswick on July 16. What can audiences expect to see and hear at this show?
Oh, my gosh, this show is so so much fun! This is Part 2 of our ’90s tour where, last summer, we had such a good time celebrating the music of the decade that we wanted to bring it back this year, but over half the show is different from last summer. There’s a lot of singing along, a lot of dancing, a lot of clapping, and there really is something for everybody; in addition to classic fun singalong songs from that decade, there are also songs that have made a reemergence in the zeitgeist that kids will know and will be able to sing along with, too.
And will you include your medley of ’90s TV theme songs as a part of this show?
Oooooh, yeah!
Is there anything else you’d like to say to music lovers who might be thinking about coming out to see Straight No Chaser at STNJ?
I would just say to people who think they know what a cappella music is to please come to a show! It’s not a stuffy situation where people just stand in a line singing together. This is a fun party of a show, and friends who’ve been with us before know that and can be excited for all the new music and new stuff we can’t wait to show them!
Straight No Chaser’s Summer the ’90s Part 2 Tour comes to State Theatre New Jersey (15 Livingston Avenue) in New Brunswick, New Jersey on Wednesday, July 16, 2025 at 7:30pm. Tickets range from $40.75 to $86.75 and can be purchased at stnj.org.
