The University’s a cappella group The One Note Stand celebrated its 10-year anniversary with its best-ever competition showing and the release of its first single, Give Love.
After hosting an educational event for Cut Off Studios, a recording company based in Webster, New York, the group was given the unique opportunity to record the three-and-a-half-minute piece, a cover of the 2017 Andy Grammer song featuring Lunch Money Lewis. They then had the song mixed, mastered and distributed to Spotify, iTunes, Amazon Music and a number of other public platforms.
The 15 current members of One Note Stand, a student-founded and run group that arranges its own music, worked on the piece, and each is represented on the track. Vocal soloists are Lucy Rose Bartges, Allison Jakubek, Karen Smith and Joe Cheeks, all graduating seniors. The song already has had nearly 1,000 listens according to Spotify’s tracking system.
“For us, Give Love isn’t just saying ‘I love you’ or pretending to like each other, it’s about being able to make sacrifices for one another,” Jakubek said. “That’s what The One Note Stand is all about.”
To produce the piece, the group used the Department of Music’s state-of-the-art rehearsal spaces and recording studio, and received help from the Office of University Advancement and a number of alumni.
“We would not be the group that we are today if it wasn’t for the amazing foundation that was laid by our alumni,” Jakubek said. “Everything we do, we do because of and for our alumni.”
This semester, The One Note Stand also placed third in Varsity Vocal’s International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella quarter final competition, and came in second, winning best arrangement for Look What You Made Me at the Richmond Rhythm competition at VCU. The group also hosted 30 alumni during its 10-year anniversary celebration.
“Every day, every rehearsal, every year, we try to be the best group we can be,” Jakubek said.
Hear The One Note Stand’s Give Love for yourself on Spotify.
Emilie Begin says
Love this! Go One Note!