In 2014 two bright and extremely bored choir members asked each other, how can we spice up our singing careers? Thus, the Nashoba barbershop quartet was born-kinda. John Atkinson and Carson Bond, former Nashoba students, originally wanted to start a barbershop quartet, but after a lot of female singers expressed interest from other choirs, they decided to make it an A Cappella group instead.

A Cappella is a singing group where all music is made by the singers by using various sounds to create harmonies. In addition to assistance from Ms. Egan, who was in an A Cappella group herself while she was in college, became the unofficial choir teacher and helped to create the group. With the help of the  movie popularity of “Pitch Perfect”, we were able to advertise our group. The year after it was created, John decided one day that our little family needed a name and laughed saying “Let’s call us the Chieftones”. It started off as a joke at first, but the name stuck, and now A Cappella has improved more than anyone could have imagined.

The group meets Mondays from 4:00 to 5:30. Meetings are always a blast and the group accepts everyone, whether they are one of the best singers in the school or they don’t know a sharp note from a flat note. Many people who have been involved with A Cappella since day one still praise the group for what it stands for. Senior Jessie Harmon, who has been in the club since it has started, says “it is a really fun and simple club- it’s smaller, so it kinda feels like a little dysfunctional family that sings sometimes”. There are many good times shared in and out of the choir room with this group of people. The Chieftones participate with at least one song in every Choral concert.

Last year the group went to the Stow Springfest and performed three songs. This was a great opportunity for the group to get some recognition for all their hard efforts. John Atkinson was asked to express his feeling about no longer being a part of the group after graduating. “I definitely miss it, a bunch of great people were involved and it turned into a fun environment for all ranges of singers to be creative”. He is very proud of how much his group has progressed. The Chieftones are constantly in search of new members, everyone is welcome. A Cappella has always been a home for me where I could be myself, and I feel so fortunate to have my own little dysfunctional family to sing with sometimes.