The Trinity College Accidentals

On March 19, while many Trinity students were heading out for spring break, excited for a week of sleeping and tanning, the members of the Accidentals had something different in mind; on this day the 10 members of Trinity's only all-male a capella group (accompanied by family and fans) headed down to Rockville, Conn. for the first annual a capella competition hosted by the Rockville Downtown Association. Other competitors in the competition included Wesleyan's all-female Cardinal Sinners, Yale's co-ed Out of the Blue, and UConn's all-male The Conmen. Each group was to perform a twenty minute set after which the audience would vote by placing a ticket stub in whichever group's box they thought deserved to win. One audience member was heard saying that the Accidental's won by a landslide.

So what set our Accidental's so far above the rest? Director Doug Goodman '06 said that although all of the groups gave flawless performances, the set list that they chose to perform seemed to set them apart from the other groups. From their repertoire of about 18 songs, the boys chose to open with "Good Ol' A Capella," complete with sections of tap dancing and beat boxing, followed by the relatively new song "Some Kinda Wonderful." Then there was "Dock of the Bay," featuring Marcus Garcia '06 who came back from Trinidad for the event (he was on spring break as well), and the old favorite "Let It Be." It was the final number, however, that would make it or break it for the Accidentals. Carter Erwin '08 took center stage and the group sang their oh-so-popular rendition of "Enormous Penis," much to the joy of the audience. Not only did the group win a monetary prize and the rights to a 30-minute encore, but they were able to promote their new CD, Dam, which went on sale this past January.

When asked about the logistics of the group and the competition, Goodman said that a lot of the actual process of entering the competition had to do with the work of their business manager (Erwin). Once there, their success had a lot to do with the fact that they have an especially strong group this year. Last semester they accepted Devin Romanul '07 and Alex Dancho '08, then added IDP student Dan Klin '07 only a few months ago, bringing the grand total to 10 members. Of the group, five of them are music majors. Not only does this help in selecting and arranging music, but all of the members can sight-read now which makes it possible to learn new songs more quickly.

Although this was the first time that the Accidental's entered a competition of this nature they felt it was a positive experience and hope to do it again. Other plans for the future include going on a tour of high schools and colleges next year during winter break, recording a new CD to be released in the fall of 2006, and finding new members in preparation for the large amount of members who are currently juniors and will be graduating (auditions are held in September after the "Freshmen Concert"). When looking for members, it is important not only that they are good singers but, because of the huge time commitment involved in rehearsals and performances, people that the group can get along with; as Goodman puts it, "we're looking for both a good singer and a best friend." - The Trinity Tripod