Vocal Point 2006 ICCA World Champions

Vocal Point 2006 ICCA World Champions

Winning the ICCA World Chamionship as a member of Vocal Point was one of the greatest musical highlights of my life. Much of what I do today is because of that fateful night, performing in the Lincoln Center in New York City.

Our winning set was a movie-related theme consisting of: "THX Sound Effect," the "20th Century Fox Theme" that led right into "Spider Man" (lead vocal by Dan Cahoon). An original gospel ballad titled "He Is Born" was lead by the vocals of Ryan Innes. Finally the set finished with a powerhouse rendition of "Sing Sing Sing."

To compete in this competition,Vocal Point first had to qualify. We did this by winning first place in both the quarterfinals and semifinal competition rounds. 

The group consisted of: Buck Mangum, David Anderson, Jimmy Dunn, Josh Rich, Ricky Parkinson, Ryan Innes, J.J. Haines, Dan Cahoon, and Jordan Keith. James Stevens was the director and arranged many of the groups vocals that year.

Some of my favorite memories of that year include:

Performing in New York. Everyone kept saying there was something different about our group. (Hint- we were clean shaven, well dressed, used appropriate language, and sang songs that were uplifting and inspirational). The other groups had lots of guys with wild hair, disheveled clothes, and sang songs with mature themes. I think the part of our set that set us apart from the other 7 groups was the ballad "He Is Born." We chose to testify of the birth of Christ and let the music speak for itself. Even though we drew the undesired, first performing slot, we were still remembered long at the end of the competition because of that moment. I'll never forget stepping out into our "flying V" formation as Ryan Innes sang "Hallelujah" and the lights, the crowd, the sound- everything was just perfect. A perfect musical performing moment in history.

When the winners were announced everyone went crazy! BYU won! We were finally able to attend this competition because it was the first time it was not held on a Sunday.

When it was all over, we were asked to sing an encore. We chose to sing the hymns "It Is Well." It was another perfect musical moment in history. The spirit was strong that night. It was cool that the other groups were singing Cold Play and pop hits, but the spiritual hymns stood out in everyone's memories.

I'll never forget gathering together in front of the Lincoln Center and taking these "Grand Champion" shots.

I'd like to think that this was a huge leap for Vocal Point in helping the group get to being the household name it is today. If only we had Youtube video productions back then. . .  Just a few years too early. :)




Wives, parents and family were there for moral support as well as alumni members.

Much of our success goes to this guy, James Stevens. He was an incredible coach and mentor throughout the entire process!

Afterward, it was late but we were starving. We decided to have dinner at TGIF in Time Square.

One of my favorite memories was singing "Superstitious" for the waiters and the entire restaurant.

Their minds were blown. Especially by Jimmy Dunn's amazing beat boxing skills. 

Here we are gathering in Grand Central Station in New York City, just coming into town to give our all to this competition.




We loved going out into the city and performing on the street!





 


We traveled and toured a lot throughout the year and had to sign many autographs. It was fun playing up the celebrity lifestyle. 

Coming into New Haven, Connecticut. We spent some time there and in Boston performing for small crowds. Lots of fun.


We were asked to perform the next fall at the BYU Homecoming Spectacular. We reunited one more time to perform are award winning set. 

We also sang "It Is Well" in the Spectacular

My son, Jaxon was due during that performance, and I had to keep running back and forth between the Spectacular production practices and performance while Ari was in labor.

It was great to come back to this though. . .



Vocal Point also came out to see the new baby, and we had an incredible moment. We sang "He Is Born" to Jaxon in the hospital room when he was just hours old. It was the first music he ever heard.

Recording the award winning Nonstop album at James Steven's house:

"Ghoti" or David Anderson

asdfa

 Josh Rich

Ryan Innes

Dan Cahoon

J.J. Haines

Jordan Keith

Recording is tough work. . .apparently

James Stevens mixing away

We traveled to Alaska. . .

 

San Francisco

Golden Gate

I think this shot was at Berkeley

Palo Alto (Stanford University)