Vocal Chords History

The JHU Vocal Chords coed a cappella group was formed in September of 1995 by graduate and undergraduate students from several departments on campus. Initially, the group had a membership of seven people interested in barbershop singing and learning school spirit songs written in the 1800's by glee club alumni. Even in the beginning, the sound of the group was surprisingly strong, despite the fact that only a few of the members had more than a year or two of singing experience under their belts.

After a few months of practice, the Vocal Chords were beginning to come together as a unit, and by December of 1995, they were ready to face the public for the first time. Equipped with a repertoire of holiday tunes, the group caroled around Homewood Campus. From this unique venture, the Vocal Chords gained some well deserved recognition, and it was not long before the group was invited to perform its first concert for the benefactors of Union Memorial Hospital. The concert performance was a resounding success, and it led to a number of other "gigs" including singing for the HopCops and Food Service folks at Wolman, McCoy, Terrace, and Shriver Hall, as well as the start of a tradition of singing at the Dean's Holiday party at the Medical School.

It was then that the Vocal Chords began to find its niche among the rich musical diversity and varied personalities of the different a cappella groups on the Homewood campus. After a brief taste of barbershop music, the group started singing classic and contemporary pop songs. However, it was in their barbershop roots that the men of the group found their uniforms which include a pair of "cranberry" red suspenders. As far as a group personality goes, it was hard to ignore the endearing and amiable demeanor of the Vocal Chords, and as such, they quickly became known as "Your Friendly, Neighborhood A Cappella Group", and the name stuck. The origins of the Vocal Chords go a little something like that, and it is certainly a testament to the ideals of the group founders that all of these qualities, which were forged nearly a decade ago, are still very alive in the group today (even the suspenders).

But, many things have changed over the years and a lot of great things have happened in the rich history of the Vocal Chords. The group has performed dozens of times on the Homewood campus with scores of other groups from Johns Hopkins and a long list of other institutions. The group has also traveled around the country to sing with groups from an equally impressive list of schools. In addition, the Vocal Chords make regular appearances to sing on Baltimore/Washington area radio stations and has competed in the International Competition of Collegiate A Cappella (ICCAs).

Over the years, the group has also recorded five albums, three of which were released publicly. The first two albums, which come from the early days of the group, were recorded for fun, and to allow for the perfection of the recording techniques that would be essential in the production of the publicly released albums. These two lesser-known, you might even say "underground", albums go by names of Coughing Grounds, and Take 21. Then, in 1997, with the experience and talent of their eleven member group, the Vocal Chords recorded and released Feels Like a Moan. This was a great success for the group and led to the release, shortly there-after, of their second album, Deep Fried Happy. After a few years, the group was ready for their next project. This album, titled Vintage, was recorded in the spring of 2004, and released a year later in 2005. This development brings us to the present. Where the group will go from here is not certain, but if the experience of the past ten years has anything to say about it, they are sure to continue to improve and to strive for new levels of excellence in their music and performance.