From the Engage Kingsport blog

When:	Back to Calendar » March 22, 2012 @ 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
Where:	Sevier Middle School Auditorium 1200 Wateree St Kingsport,TN 37660 USA	View Full-Size Map » ✔ Add to Calendar Add to Google Calendar
Cost:	$12
Contact:	Cultural Arts Division, Parks and Recreation 423-392-8417 en

Kingsport Cultural Arts Division of Parks and Recreation presents “Ball in the House” in concert on Thursday, March 22 at 7:00 PM.  All tickets are $12.  Concert will be at the Sevier Middle School Auditorium, 1200 East Wateree Street in Kingsport, Tennessee.  Students from John Sevier Chorus will join with Ball in the House to perform ‘Superstition’.  Tickets are available by calling 423-392-8417 or on-line www.EngageKingsport.com

Ball in the House

Following in the path of classic harmony groups like Boyz II Men, The Temptations, and Take 6, with a mix of the classic and the contemporary, the five-member vocal band Ball in the House brilliantly blends a wide range of influences, from classic R&B to pop, hip-hop & gospel. With their extensive tour schedule (averaging 250 dates a year), Ball in the House reaches millions and is arguably one of the hardest working, most successful indie bands today. They have performed with such artists as The Beach Boys, Gladys Knight, The Jonas Brothers, Jessica Simpson, Fantasia, Blondie, The Temptations, Smokey Robinson, KC & The Sunshine Band, Kool & the Gang, and numerous others. All a cappella, but a sound that will astound and amaze you. 5 Guys, 5 Voices, THATS IT… A review from the Boston Globe put it very succinctly – “Ball in the House has everything you would expect to find in a successful pop/rock band….the one thing it doesn’t have is instruments.”

ABOUT “BALL IN THE HOUSE”:

Ryan Chappelle

I come to Ball in the House from Lincoln, Nebraska, where I have been singing and performing for a number of years. After discovering my love for singing at an early age, music was always a big part of my education. I auditioned and was accepted into select choirs throughout my middle and high school years. It was in high school that I started my first a cappella group with three friends. This group was put together for a school talent show and went on to release a CD before graduation. It was this involvement that led to a music scholarship to Peru State College in Peru, Nebraska where I participated in many specialized performing choirs and had a lead in the college musical. During these years, I was also taking classes in music theory and history, as well as performing with various semi-pro acts around the Lincoln area. I graduated in 2003 with a degree in business marketing from Peru State College.
After college, I joined Lincoln’s premier a cappella group, No Better Cause, and toured venues, including schools and performing arts centers, throughout the Midwest.
After I saw an audition notice for Ball in the House on an a cappella web site. I flew to Boston, met with the guys, and got the callback a few weeks later. I made the move to Boston where I have since been touring and performing all over the nation with Ball in the House.

Jon J Ryan

I grew up in Boston, but was never much into music as a kid. It all changed for me back in 5th grade, when I met Dave at the Boston Boys Choir School. We studied music pretty intensely, learning to sight read, singing every day in church and other venues, and also learning to play the recorder, piano, and hand bells. Later in high school, I discovered the magic of keyboards and drum machines and took up bass as well.
At Skidmore College, the small school setting allowed me tons of musical experience outside the classroom as I majored in music inside the classroom. This is where I got the a cappella bug in a group there (Bandersnatchers), in addition to playing in a band, piano accompanying, singing in chorus, and instrumental and vocal arranging. After graduating with music honors, I sang in various a cappella groups, including the Vineyard Sound, while teaching elementary music and piano lessons. I continued to arrange vocal music, both for my own groups, as well as others.
I had always loved rhythm, even more than singing, but never really knew much about beatboxing until I saw Andrew Chaikin perform with the House Jacks. With his amazing performance as inspiration and wanting to perform full time myself, I started Ball in the House and worked on beatboxing until I could go for an entire show. Now here we are

and I’m blessed with being able to do this for a living.

Dave Guisti

I was born and raised in Dorchester, Massachusetts, and my love for music started in the first grade. I was in the play Pinocchio, where I sang my first solo, “I Got No Strings.” I was hooked.
I attended the Boston Boys Choir from 5th to 8th grade where we sang in church everyday. We also took piano lessons and learned music theory. That is when I first met Jon J. We both grew up in Dorchester and often traveled to and from the choir school together on the M.B.T.A.
After performing in many musicals during my junior and senior years of High School, I attended Berklee College of Music. I was a vocal performance major.
I went on to be the musical director at St. Ambrose Parrish in Dorchester, MA. There, I was cantor, director of a children’s choir, and performed with the Spanish choir. My time there was one of the best times of my life. I met up with Jon shortly after being at St. Ambrose, and the rest is history. I have been with Ball in the House for many years now. I am still very passionate about what we do. Through our outreach with students, we are able to share all that we have learned throughout our lives with them. Hopefully inspiring them to perform. To see that music is cool. You don’t have to choose between sports and the arts. You can get involved in both. I try to tell students that music is such a positive way to express yourself. No matter where you are from, how you look, and what your personal beliefs are, music is a beautiful universal language. I am so honored to be part of Ball in the House . My bandmates and I are very lucky guys.

Craig Range

I come from a very tight knit family from Long Island, NY. My mother was the driving force behind my music at a young age. I was singing harmonies by age 4. My first solo was the lead in “Ain’t No Woman Like the One I’ve Got” when I was in kindergarten. I sang in my grade and high school choirs and jumped between choir and band in high school, playing the trumpet in band. I was very focused on athletics in high school playing soccer, basketball, baseball and tennis. My #12 from basketball was retired and my banner hangs on the gym wall today! It wasn’t until college that I realized my musical talent.
I got a full scholarship to Rollins College in Winter Park, FL, where I received my B.A. in music with an emphasis on voice. I performed in many ensembles such as the Full Chorus, Chamber Choir and Jazz Vocal ensembles and was taught by such teachers as John Sinclair, Chuck Archard and Michelle Amato.
After college, I taught myself how to play guitar and started writing my own songs. It was then that I decided to move to Los Angeles to pursue a solo music career. I played many solo shows and others with a few different bands that I put together. I continued to write as many songs as I could, perfecting my craft. In 2007, GoDigital Media Group signed me to a distribution deal and I created my first full length album called VISUALIZE. They put my album on iTunes as well as 8 other online sites. As L.A. became more and more saturated with artists, I decided to take my chances back East as I headed to Boston to start some new musical endeavors as a larger fish in a smaller pond. I started teaching for a company called Jammin’ With You based out of Newton, MA, and I sang lead with the B Street Bombers, a band that has rocked Boston for over 30 years. After 8 months in my new city, I found the members of Ball in the House! The rest is history…((((POSITIVE ENERGY))))

Patrick McCarthy

I come to Ball in the House from the “front lines” of the classroom. I taught chorus and music classes for 10 years in the Maine public school system. During that time I also served two churches as organist/pianist/choir director/band leader and directed two semi-professional choirs, the Boy Singers of Maine’s senior group, the “Lower Octave,” and the “Gorham Community Chorus.” In addition, I maintained a private voice/piano studio as well.
I’ve always been captivated by sound and began singing and playing the piano in church at an early age. Though my musical path has led me many places – the human voice has always been the one medium I constantly returned to. My first a cappella experience was singing with the Maine Steiners in Orono, Maine. After my college years were over, I went on to found three separate semi-pro a cappella groups. I am excited to continue along this path with the boys of Ball in the House.