Happy Jacks harmonize for holidays
Published 12-6-2007
Local legend states that during the construction of Wyoming Highway 210 from Laramie to Cheyenne, a worker named Jack whistled and sang to himself all day while on the job. Thus, he was dubbed ‘Happy Jack’ by his fellow contractors and the naming of the completed highway followed suit.
Jack’s spirit and love of music remains intact today through his namesake, the University of Wyoming’s a cappella group, the Happy Jacks.
The all-male group will perform their Christmas concert tonight and Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. in the Agriculture Auditorium. The performances are free to the public and feature a wide variety of family-friendly music, including traditional carols, holiday classics and parodies.
“There’s even a guest appearance by Santa Claus,” McCann said.
The Happy Jacks began in 2005 when five friends and members of the UW’s Singing Statesmen decided to form a branch of the choir, an all-male a cappella ensemble. The group currently has 10 members and performs a wide variety of music; everything from rap, pop, oldies and contemporary.
“We just want to promote music, especially a cappella singing,” second-year member JC McCann said of the group’s goals.
The group also hopes to change perceptions of a cappella performance.
“When most people think of a cappella, they think it’s stupid, or that it’s all barbershop-stuff,” original member Nick Linn said. “But it’s a really cool sound, especially when we do contemporary numbers and add things to it like beat-boxing.”
The Happy Jacks choose songs together, usually with member Erik Stratton arranging them.
“Since I know everyone’s voices so well, I’ll split up parts as I go through the music to play up our strengths,” Stratton said. “However, members can bring numbers they prepare themselves and we’ll include them in our repertoire.”
While Stratton arranges music, each member plays their part in the ensemble.
“We each have our own role in the group. Just as Erik does most of our arrangements, others do publicity, set-up gigs, do CDs, etc,” McCann said. “The success of the group really depends on each individual member.”
Happy Jack members are selected through audition from the Singing Statesmen, allowing the ensemble to continually change as new members are selected. However, while each person possesses musical talent, not all are music majors.
“We come from all different backgrounds,” Karl Heimbuck, Happy Jack member and Singing Statesmen president, said. “We have engineering, theater, math and business majors, among others, but we all like performing the kind of music we want.”
Every year, the Happy Jacks perform a Christmas concert, spring concert and spring break tour. Next semester the group will travel to northeastern Wyoming, holding clinics for junior and senior high schools and presenting concerts for the communities.
The ensemble also performs gigs for private parties, university functions, hospital banquets and other local events, using gig money and donations to fund tour costs and other necessities.
The group hopes to broaden its position in the community and university through new opportunities to get its music out to the public.
“If you don’t know what a cappella music is, you should come and check it out,” McCann said. “You’ll enjoy yourself.”
For more information on the group, visit their MySpace page at www.myspace.com/uwhappyjacks. For questions or to book a gig, e-mail happyjacks@uwyo.edu.
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