The House Jacks is a professional a cappella quintet from San Francisco, founded in 1991 by Deke Sharon.
The House Jacks describe themselves as a "rock band without instruments", their live shows typically include not only singing but also vocally imitating instruments such as trumpets, guitars, harmonicas and strings as well as taking audience-requests for songs and rendering them in musical styles unlike the original versions.
The group primarily performs original material (unlike most contemporary a cappella groups who focus on cover songs) and is considered the first professional a cappella group to have a dedicated vocal percussionist.
The group routinely tours the United States, Europe and Asia, has recorded numerous jingles and has garnered numerous recording and community awards (see below). The group was signed to Tommy Boy records (then a part of Warner Brothers) from 1994-1997, and Artilier Records (Germany) from 2000-2005.
They can be heard in the background music on NBC's The Sing-Off in the opening video, commercial transitions and elimination sequences. They have also created comedic bits and jingles for the radio personalities Mancow Muller and Rick Dees.
The group performed at the 53rd Monterey Jazz Festival on September 17, 2010. and have performed on stages from Carnegie Hall to the Gewandhaus.
They performed the Monday Night Football Theme "Are You Ready For Some Football" with Hank Williams, Jr. for the 2011 season.
Rolling Stone wrote about their inclusion in Ford automobiles, demoing the twelve speaker Sony sound system
Their version of "Since U Been Gone" was adapted for the audition scene in Pitch Perfect (Deke Sharon was on site music director, arranger and vocal producer for the film, as well as "Male Voice #1")
Member changes The original group of seven members met while singing in collegiate groups on the East Coast (Tufts Beelzebubs, Brown Jabberwocks, UNC Clef Hangers, The Dartmouth Aires) and relocated to San Francisco to begin the group in September 1991. Past members include Kid Beyond, Rob Penn, Garth Kravits, Bert Bacco, Wes Carroll, and Antonio Medrano.
Band Lineups Present Colin Egan Tracy LJ Robertson Austin Willacy Grayson Villanueva Gregory Fletcher
2017-Unknown Mark Joseph: vocals John Pointer: vocals, Beatboxing, instrument mimicry Nick Girard: Vocal percussion, vocals, vocal bass Austin Willacy: vocals Gregory Fletcher: vocal bass, vocals
2015-2017 Nick Girard: Vocal percussion, vocals, vocal bass Matt Sallee: vocal bass, vocals Mark Joseph: vocals John Pointer: vocals, Beatboxing, instrument mimicry Austin Willacy: vocals
2012-2015 Deke Sharon: vocals, instrument mimicry Austin Willacy: vocals John Pointer: vocals, beatboxing, instrument mimicry Elliot Robinson: vocal bass, vocals Nick Girard: vocal percussion, vocals, vocal bass
2010-2012 Deke Sharon: vocals, instrument mimicry Austin Willacy: vocals Roopak Ahuja: vocal, instrument mimicry Troy Horne: vocal bass, vocals Jake Moulton: vocal percussion, beatboxing, instrument mimicry
2008-2010 Deke Sharon: vocals, instrument mimicry Austin Willacy: vocals Roopak Ahuja: vocal, instrument mimicry Antonio Medrano: vocal bass, vocals Jake Moulton: vocal percussion, beatboxing, instrument mimicry
2006-2008 Deke Sharon: vocals, instrument mimicry Austin Willacy: vocals Roopak Ahuja: vocal, instrument mimicry Antonio Medrano: vocal bass, vocals Wes Carroll: vocal percussion, vocals
1998-2006 Deke Sharon: vocals, instrument mimicry Austin Willacy: vocals Garth Kravits: vocals Bert Bacco: vocal bass, vocals Wes Carroll: vocal percussion, vocals
1993-1998 Deke Sharon: vocals, instrument mimicry Rob Penn: vocals Austin Willacy: vocals Tristan Bishop: vocals Bert Bacco: vocal bass, vocals Andrew Chaikin: vocal percussion
1992-1993 Deke Sharon: vocals, instrument mimicry Rob Penn: vocals Tristan Bishop: vocals Bert Bacco: vocal bass, vocals Andrew Chaikin: vocal percussion Marty Mahoney: vocals
1991-1992 Deke Sharon: vocals, instrument mimicry Rob Penn: vocals Tristan Bishop: vocals Bert Bacco: vocal bass, vocals Andrew Chaikin: vocal percussion Marty Mahoney: vocals Brannon Wiles: vocals
Timeline
Discography Date Title Notes 1991 Sing Naked Seven tracks, debut demo of original and cover songs. 1994 Naked Noise Ten tracks, debut album, original songs. 1997 Funkwich Twelve tracks, original songs. 2001 Drive Seventeen tracks, live album of original songs recording during European tour. 2003 Unbroken Ten tracks of original material modeled after Queen's A Night at the Opera 2005 Fitchy & Grikko Twelve tracks, original songs. 2006 Get Down Mr. President! Fifteen tracks, live album of original songs and covers. 2009 Good Things Nineteen tracks, "best-of" album featuring tracks from their previous six studio albums. 2010 Level Twelve tracks of original material. 2012 Blackjack Twenty one tracks of unreleased original material (album cuts, demos, jingles, sound cues for The Sing Off, etc). 2014 Pollen Ten tracks of original material, each with a guest a cappella group from different countries around the world
Awards Contemporary A Cappella Recording Awards (CARAs) 2004 Best Pop/Rock Album: Unbroken Best Best Pop/Rock Original Song: "Good Things" from Unbroken 2006 Best Original Song: "This Man's Pride" from "Fitchy & Grikko" 2007 Runner Up, Best Pop/Rock Album: Get Down Mr. President!! 2011 Best Pop/Rock Album: Level Best Pop/Rock Original Song: "Red Dress" from Level Best Professional Original Song: "You Were Everything" from Level 2015 Best Pop/Rock Album: Pollen Best Original Song by a Professional Group: "Talk2Me" from Pollen Runner Up: Best Pop/Rock Song: "As It Falls Apart" from Pollen Runner Up: Best HipHop/R&B Song: "Talk2Me" from Pollen A Cappella Community Awards (ACAs) 2010 Favorite Vocal Percussionist: Jake Moulton Favorite Songwriter: Austin Willacy Favorite Arranger: Deke Sharon Favorite Moment: Jake Moulton's turntables from House Jacks SoJam performance 2011 Favorite Professional Album: Level Favorite Male Vocalist: Roopak Ahuja (runner up) Favorite Vocal Percussionist: Jake Moulton Favorite Songwriter: Austin Willacy Favorite Song That Doesn't Sound A Cappella: "You Were Everything" from Level Favorite Original Song: "Red Dress" from Level Favorite Album Art: Level
Footnotes
External links
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