Latest News
June 13, 2013
Vineyard Sound: A Day in the Life
A lot of our fans, friends, and family are often fascinated that the 10 members of the Vineyard Sound all live together in a house each summer. In fact, we often leave people in disbelief in just describing our living situation: (my Parents’ response upon telling them of my new summer job) “What do you mean you’re living with 10 college guys in a house on Martha’s Vineyard? How is… how does… what?”
Its about time we try to clear some of that up. We’re gonna take you behind the scenes to check out some of the different summer lifestyles of members in the group.
How does life function in a house of 10 singin dudes? What goes down when they’re not singin? Lets find out.
Keepin the Place Clean
Now in its 21st year, the Vineyard Sound has received a fair amount of knowledge and insight from members of yore on how to maintain the house. Here’s an explanation from our House Manager, Ethan, on how we maintain cleanliness and sanity in a packed house!
Ethan Tischler
We at the Vineyard Sound are proud to announce that yes indeed, all ten of us successfully live in a single house for the entire summer. As you might imagine, such a large group of young men requires an intricate system of cleaning to keep our living space shiny clean: the Chore Board.
Crafted at the start of every summer, the Board is a chart that divides the summer into 13 weeks, splits the group into teams of two, and assigns each team a chore for each week, such as: kitchen, floors, rooms, outside, etc.
By staying on top of our individual tasks, and contributing to the cleaning efforts as a whole, we live a spotlessly harmonious lifestyle. As our House Manager, Ethan makes sure that everyone diligently follows the chore board (and especially that the Rookies do their dishes!).
We Work Out
Singing and performing requires a ton of energy—in case ya haven’t seen how sweaty we are at the end of shows, it’s a lot of work! Plus, we gotta look good in our charmingly cheesy pastels.
A bunch of guys in the group have workout routines that we maintain throughout the week. From jogs around the neighborhood, to bike-rides to State Beach, or fitness hour on the porch, the VS boys know how to stay fit!
Lets find out how Ethan and Andy get their grunts on!
Ethan Underhill
The birds are singing as the sunlight awakens our fearless leader Ethan Underhill. Before he tends to emails, phone calls, and advertising campaigns, our Business Manager slips on some gym shorts and heads to the back porch for some early morning exercise.
For a few months now Underhill has started the day off right with fitness guru Shaun T’s program Insanity. With an emphasis on max interval training, Insanity pushes this VS chap to exercise strenuously for 4-5 minutes, rest, and then repeat the process. Underhill has seen and continues to see great results from the program. In addition, his excessive jumping and grunting so early in the morning serve as an unbeatable alarm clock for the rest of us!
Andy Rentschler
At times following the rigorous schedule of Insanity, Andy also enjoys exploring much of the neighborhood’s beauty through a variety of running routes. One of his favorite routes navigates part of the Long Point Wildlife Refuge–a beautiful area that all Vineyard travelers should check out! Upon returning to the house, Andy typically continues his workout with push ups and crunches, simple yet always effective exercises to keep in shape!
…and other Funtivities!
When it comes down to it, each member of the Vineyard Sound has their own way to unwind and take a break from the music. Some guys watch TV and play-videogames in their spare time (we’re still kids at heart), others read and surf the interwebs, and a bunch of us cook!
Perhaps ironic of an a capella group, almost everyone plays an instrument or two outside of singing, and there is always music to be heard in the house! A few guys in the group, Peter O, Cody, and Peter B, have regular jam sessions to decompress. Here are some of their thoughts on jamming, followed by an awesome video of a Radiohead cover!
Pete, Cody & Pete
In our first month out on the Vineyard, our days usually consist of at least three to six hours of rehearsal. Given the amount of time we spend singing, it might seem a little silly that some of us choose to relax by singing even more. But once our Music Director, Mike, calls rehearsal, a few of us will often break out our instruments and explore music in our most preferred medium: the jam session.
Three of our members in particular, Cody McDonnell, Peter Beiser and Peter Oundjian, have been gravitating towards the piano, guitar, and miscellaneous percussive instruments (such as the egg shaker!) almost every evening since VS’s arrival to the island. They cover a wide range of music: from heartfelt originals, to simple 90’s songs, as well as the Beatles and Radiohead, all are shared favorites between the three. These guys have all journeyed to the Vineyard Sound from their own musical backgrounds, including parental inspiration and projects throughout high school and college.
Recently we managed to catch one of these jams on video: an acoustic cover of “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi,” by Radiohead. See for yourself this shared love of music that spans outside of a capella, and of course, the fun of collaborating!
Vineyard Sound Cover of “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi,” by Radiohead
Well, that’s all we have for you for now, but keep checking back for more blog posts from the Vineyard Sound as the summer continues!
Hope your summer is off to a wonderful start,
~ The Vineyard Sound ~
June 12, 2013
The new album – The Keepers: 2012
While you can’t get it just yet, you can get excited by checking out what it will look like:
View Our 3D Artwork | Disc Makers.
You can see a track list and listen to a few clips here.
The Album should be on-island on June 20th and available at any show. It is also available in our webstore for pre-order starting today, and shipping on June 25th.
May 30, 2013
Welcome to Summer!!
Hellooo Martha’s Vineyard!
My name is Rob Roth, and I’m going to be in charge of the Vineyard Sound’s social media for this upcoming summer! We’re super stoked to get back out on the island, and I will be regularly updating you on our Facebook, Twitter, and Vineyard Sound website on the funnest happenings in the group.
Here are some new, exciting additions and developments you should expect to see as part of our platform for this summer:
Videos of the Group: Song of the Week, Jam Sessions of different members playing actual instruments together (what? they play real instruments?!)
High-Res photos: See what the group does when we’re out and about!
Blog posts from members of the group: Personal anecdotes from members of the Vineyard Sound ’13!
And much more!
We’ll be headin out to the island this weekend, so keep following us on the interwebs until then!
Event Schedule
- Edgartown
- Edgartown
- Edgartown
Twitter Feed
Tweets by @VineyardSoundSubscribe To VS
Click here to keep up with all VS info
VS Merchandise
Check out more at the Vineyard Sound Store
Make a Donation
As a registered not-for-profit organization, Vineyard Sound gratefully accepts donations.
