As the first day of school photos start flooding your feeds, it’s hard not to feel a little grief over the passing of another summer. Today, we’ll take you to Cape Cod, where the boys of summer, Hyannis Sound, have been entertaining audiences in the warmer months for almost 25 years.

FloVoice sat down with some of the current members Peter Carboni, Matt Goldstein, Jared Gravely, and Jason Berk to learn a little bit more about the group and the strong tradition of a cappella on the Cape.

Hyannis Sound was founded in 1994, when ten guys risked it all showing up that first summer with no gigs, scrounged up part time jobs, and engaged in mercenary street singing. Over time, the group gained momentum, with the current ensemble working with Hyannis Sound full time each summer, rehearsing 4-6 hours a day and singing anywhere from 1-3 shows each day all summer long. And if there ever were a situation in which we’d love if the walls could talk, the group lives together in the same house from 1994. Can you imagine the stories?

Each summer starts with bootcamp, where the new ensemble comes together for two weeks and rehearses six hours each day to get ready for the season. “That can be a little grueling,” says Carboni. “By the end of the two weeks, everyone is ready to get in front of an audience and interact with some other people besides ourselves.”

The summer is then filled with 4 weekly evening shows in towns around the Cape, schools, masterclasses, one-off appearances, weddings, fundraisers, and private parties, with daily rehearsals on top of it all. They also do an annual 4^th of July extravaganza, packed with patriotic tunes and wacky costumes, as well as an annual alumni show.

The group is certainly a family, with an active alumni network who make frequent visits back to the Cape. In their most recent official Alumni weekend, some notable alumni sang with the group, also joining in on the latest Hyannis Sound project, Trio Tuesday.

Here’s Alfredo Austin (Freedom’s Boombox, The Exchange), Jon Smith (The Swingles), and Andy Degan (m-pact) singing Finesse:

Many Hyannis Sound alumni do go on to be professional performers, but many are business owners, teachers, lawyers, writers, at least one dentist, and a couple recent alumni in med school.

Outside of singing, there are a lot of other traditions for the group, including beach days, dinners, and other fun summer activities that help them bond as people off stage.

The audiences on Cape Cod are much different from those you’ll encounter with your regular high school or college group. While singers certainly giving it their all musically, it’s even more important to be charming and charismatic. The members of Hyannis Sound are known for their engagement and connection with their audience, as much as their known for crushing your favorite tunes from the 60’s and 70’s through today’s top 40. 

“Our music to some people is truly healing,” says Carboni. “To be able to get up there and sing your ‘doos’ and ‘dahs’ and have it actually bring joy to people and change people’s lives. It’s so powerful, and so beyond us, and it’s so beyond our repertoire or the notes that we’re singing. It’s more just about what we can give to the people who have come to see us, and in return, they’re supporting us and allowing us to do what we’ve been doing for the last 25 years later”

You have three chances left to see this year’s group:

Thursday, August 23 at 7 pm at Dennis Union Church in Dennis, MA
 Friday, August 24 at 8 pm at Federated Church of Hyannis in Hyannis, MA

And their final 2018 show on Saturday, August 25 at St Christopher’s Episcopal Church in Chatham, MA.

For those college age men out there, virtual auditions for the summer of 2019 will open up in early February, with callbacks over St. Patrick’s Day weekend in Boston. Potential auditionees should be ready to show off their singing chops, but also be ready to show your X Factor and demonstrate all the ways you can contribute to the group and the business.

Follow along on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube to catch videos of live performances, performance schedules, and news from the members throughout the year.