| The Brown Derbies | |
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The Brown Derbies' Logo |
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| Background information | |
| Also known as | The Derbies |
| Origin | Providence, Rhode Island, United States |
| Genres | A Cappella |
| Years active | 1982–present |
| Labels | Collegiate |
| Website | Official Site |
| Members | |
| Jeff Baum '15 Austin Boxler '12 Andrew Hansen '15 Campbell Housh '15 Raghava Kamalesh '14 Adam Katz '14 Justin Klee '13 Clarence Lam '14 Josh Linden '14 Noah Lubin '15 Jamie Marsicano '15 Tim Parsons '14 Christian Petroske '15 Sam Phelps '13 Lex Rofes '13 Ben Simon '11 Matt Slauson '14 Nate Wardwell '14 |
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The Brown Derbies is an all-male a capella group at Brown University.[1][2] They were established in 1982 and have released ten albums. They sing a variety of different genres, ranging from Rock, to Barbershop, to R&B and are known in the a cappella community for their unique use of syllables in the background vocals.[3] They have toured all around the United States and the globe, and even sang at the white house for President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Clinton in 1997. In November 2007, they were featured on the CBS Early Show on a segment about the rising popularity of a cappella groups on college campuses, and in July 2011 they were featured on the Gospel Music Channel reality show America Sings.[4] They are known for building humor and choreography into many of their live performances. Their sister a cappella group is the Smith Smiffenpoofs.
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It is largely against the philosophy of the Brown Derbies to compete, but this was not true in earlier eras of the group. Their fourth album, "Down Time," was first runner-up for Best Male Collegiate Album in the 1995 CARAs.[5] Their next album, "Nightcap," swept the CARAs, winning Best Male Collegiate Album (though tied with the Middlebury Dissipated Eight's "Eighps"), Best Male Collegiate Song ("In the House of Stone & Light"), Best Male Collegiate Arrangement ("Who Are You?" arr. Evan Schiff), and Best Male Collegiate Soloist (Joel Begleiter on "The Downeaster Alexa").[6][7] The Derbies kept their streak alive on their next album, "Jericho," which also placed in all four categories of the 2000 CARAs. They tied in the category of Best Male Collegiate Album again, this time with the Tufts Beelzebubs' "Infinity." They won Best Male Collegiate Song ("I Wanna Be Like You") and Best Male Collegiate Arrangement (Raj Patil) and received first runner-up for Best Male Collegiate Soloist (Marcos Santiago, who was competing in the five-person category with fellow Derby Keith Getchell).[8][9]
The Derbies have also been recognized formally for their live performances by the ICCA. In 1996, they were first runner-up in the New England Region in the Semifinals and also got runner-up for Best Arrangement ("Who Are You?" arr. Evan Schiff). The same piece won Best Arrangement at the Quarterfinals the same year. In 1997, they were crowned champions of the Northeast region at the ICCA Semifinals, where they also won Best Solo (Adam Arian, "Who Are You?"). They received the award for Best Arrangement ("In the House of Stone & Light," Raj Patil) earlier in the tournament at the Quarterfinals.[10]
The Brown Derbies have appeared on several collegiate a cappella compilation albums. "In Your Eyes," from the Derby album "Down Time," was featured on the Best of College A Cappella: Volume 1.[11] "In the House of Stone & Light" was selected for the BOCA '97-'98 album and "Telephone Message" (Mentos Edition) made it on to "BOCA Humor: Wasting Our Parents' Money."[12][13]