It came to Chris Rienas in a dream.
Rienas, the music director for the coed a cappella group No Southern Accent, woke up and hurriedly jotted down what had come to him in his sleep: a circle of 18 empty chairs, one for each member in the group, surrounding an old-fashioned microphone.
That’s how the album cover for Group Therapy was conceived.
Founded in 2001, NSA plan to release their first concept album, surrounding the five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance.
The music on the album explores how the college experience introduces various adversities, whether it’s relationship problems, stresses of academics, or work or family problems.
“It’s not just a bunch of sad songs,” said Kim Meyer, president of NSA. “It’s a very thoughtful examination of each stage of grief. It’s about the healing process as well.”
Members from the group all echoed the sentiment that music serves as an escape from the grief and the rigors of college.
There are 10 songs total, all covers, with two songs dedicated to each stage of grief. Songs range from “Wake Up” by Arcade Fire to “Love the Way You Lie” by Eminem and Rihanna to “Heavy in Your Arms” by Florence and the Machine.
Rienas said the biggest obstacle was choosing which songs to incorporate because each song was new for the group, and all 18 members interpreted each song differently.
Rienas estimated more than 300 hours have gone into this project from its inception in November 2009 to the grueling summer the group spent laying out the foundation to the recording that went on into this spring. The group also contacted outsiders, esteemed names in the a cappella world: mixers, arrangers and producers.
“It was so much work that it’s really easy to become jaded by it,” Rienas said. “You lose sight of what you’re doing. When I finally recorded that last song and got my first mix back, that’s when — for me — I did become un-jaded.”
He said the group probably couldn’t fully appreciate all the hard work until all the members listen to the CD alone with headphones on.
But even for an award-winning a cappella group that books more than 40 performances during a school year and performs in a cappella competitions, bringing together a CD was an unfathomable challenge.
“We took a big risk,” said performance director Mallory Zuckerman. “No one at UF has ever done this before.”
Deadlines passed. Backup plans were resorted to. At times, members questioned if they were good enough.
A side effect of recording the album was that everyone elevated his or her abilities because of how much was invested in the album.
With most of the hard work completed, NSA will perform two CD-release concerts at 7:30 p.m. April 13 and 2 p.m. April 17 at the Phillips Center for the Performing Arts.
To purchase tickets, which are $12 for UF students with a valid Gator 1 Card, visit the Phillips Center Box Office or visit http://ticketmaster.com.
For those who can’t make the show, the album is also dropping on iTunes on April 13.
“To be an iTunes artist is a landmark,” Zuckerman said. “It’s euphoric. We’re all pretty freaking excited about it.”
