'Stuck in the Middle' Sticks to Its Goals

Author: Richard Lawless

One would be hard-pressed to spend one's four-year tenure at Middlebury College without witnessing an a cappella group perform.
In fact, Middlebury has so many of these groups that entering First-years might have a bit of trouble remembering them all.
So let's go through a quick crash course in Middlebury a cappella.
There is the Dissipated Eight (D8), Middlebury College's most prestigious all-male group; the Mischords, Middlebury's only all-female group; the Bobolinks and Mamajamas, both co-ed; PGR (short for People Get Ready), a Christian group; the Mountain Ayres, Middlebury's madrigal group; the running, singing choir Mchakamchaka; and last, but certainly not least, we have Middlebury's newest addition to the a cappella family, the all-male Stuck in the Middle (SIM).
Stuck in the Middle (named after the Stealers Wheel song, but used in numerous other contexts) formed in March of 2002 by a group of friends at a meeting in Battell Basement.
The founding members of the group included first tenors Keith Case '04.5 and Jake Nicholson '05, second tenors Jason Lockhart '05 and Dave Wright '05, first bass Kris Sukanich '05 and second bass Kris Burfitt '05.
At first the mentality of the group was casual -- members would bring in arrangements and the group would play around with them and sing just for fun.
Over the course of the following month, SIM grew in numbers, adding tenor Thorin Schriber '05 and bass Tony Belanger '05, giving performing for the first time last April, when they opened for the Bobolinks. At that show, the group performed their first three songs -- Ben Harper's "Steal My Kisses," Lenny Kravitz's "Again" and the Jackson Five's "I Want You Back."
With three songs, two new members and one concert under its belt, things seemed to be going pretty well for SIM.
But then came the fall of 2002. The 2002-2003 academic year kicked off on a positive note for SIM. Auditions yielded four new members, including basses Conor Sheldon '05.5 and Tristram Arscott '06.
However, things got worse before they got better. Aside from a few performances during the fall, the group lagged in activity.
As the semester proceeded, various members, including newly added first-years, dropped out due to academic or scheduling conflicts.
By Winter Term, SIM hit a professional low point. The group was not progressing with its repertoire, heated dining hall confrontations flared and members quit due to dissatisfaction with SIM's lack of direction.
But just as things looked like they wouldn't get any better, founding member Dave Wright '05 managed to salvage the group, bringing them together once again in perfect harmony -- literally -- with a startling arrangement of Simon & Garfunkel's "The Sounds of Silence."
The group began to take itself seriously again and began work on its organization's Constitution, which is currently in the process of being approved by the College.
Additionally, SIM focused on its administration, appointing officers and setting protocol for approving and arranging songs.
Admittedly, this new dedication resulted in the exit of another member, leaving the group with nine members.
Sheldon, whose gregarious and dynamic personality filled the missing void when group motivator and founding member Case went abroad, provided another saving grace for the SIM family.
With Sheldon, SIM found both a new burst of energy and a competent concert booker. Sheldon arranged SIM's performance at this year's February orientation as well as at an upcoming gig in March at Brown University.
SIM will open for Brown's nationally-acclaimed, award-winning Chattertocks, a group that has been in existence longer than the D8.
Sheldon, formerly in the Mamajamas and currently the SIM's social director, is thrilled to be a part of SIM. He said he is optimistic about the group's future.
The beginning of second semester proved fruitful for SIM, as it added three new members to its lineup: tenor Tony Piacenza '06.5, and basses Jon Larson '06 and Jono Newton '06.5.
According to Lockhart, the group's business director," things are "progressing rapidly." The group has an upcoming show at The Grille.
In addition, a future performance at Wesleyan University with the all-female group, the Cardinal Sinners, is in the works.
The group, hard at work with new material such as Nickel Creek's "This Side" and Jimmy Eat World's "Sweetness," has created a Web site at http://community.middlebury.edu/~kburfitt/.
Though a new a cappella group might be seen as a threat to certain established groups, Lockhart, who shares a room with a member of the D8, insists that Middlebury's other a cappella groups have only supported SIM.
The Bobolinks were a great help in allowing SIM to open for them, giving the group its first chance to perform. Likewise, the Mischords even let SIM use their table at the recent activities fair.
The D8 have encouraged SIM's constitution, despite the administration's concern that another a cappella group could "dilute the talent pool."
But one SIM concert will convince anyone that the Middlebury College talent pool has not been watered down.
It's safe to say that SIM is on a roll right now, and from the way things are shaping up, its members could be looking forward to a very rewarding career here at Middlebury.