How much do you know about James Taylor/jackson Browne?
Before you head out for the James Taylor and Jackson Browne concert Dec. 11 at Nationwide Arena, test your knowledge of the two singer-songwriters, who have been crooning and strumming since the 1960s.
Whether you have a full collection of carefully preserved vinyl or you just nod along approvingly when you hear “Fountain of Sorrow” on oldies radio, or you’ve always thought Carly Simon gave Taylor a bad rap, or you think that Browne’s political songs are underrated, you’re likely to find something to stump you here. (Or if not, even better, something to stump your concert companions.)
Give it a try. margaretquamme@hotmail.com
hood friends and high school choir chums in their hometown of Arlington, Texas — are still making music together.
“Singing together for so long, since we were kids, we just naturally started to emulate each other, and this blend happened,” Hoying said.
As a professional performing entity, Pentatonix traces its roots to the trio pooling their vocal gifts to do a cover of Lady Gaga's “Telephone.”
“One of my friend's brother posted it online and it did well online,” Hoying said. “That was kind of the first taste of, ‘Oh, we have something special.'”
Then, in 2011, the group — which had grown to five members including Olusola as well as former member Avi Kaplan — found themselves winning week after week on NBC'S a cappella competition show “The Sing-off.”
“We ended up winning the show,” Hoying said. “Then we were going viral on Youtube, and it was kind of this whirlwind that spiraled into us touring and growing. And we're still doing it 10 years later.”
Until the pandemic began, Pentatonix toured “nonstop,” Hoying said.
“It was our whole life,” he said. “And then, because of COVID, we stopped for over a year and a half.”
Not that the group was idle during that time.
“We didn't get to spend time physically together, but we did a lot of Zoom meetings,” Hoying said. “We did release an at-home EP.”
And in time, they got together to record their new Christmas album — their sixth overall — “Evergreen.”
“There are some different types of songs (on the new album),” Hoying said. “There are some more intimate moments that are just a little folkier and bluegrass-y. We have a Joni Mitchell cover; we have ‘I Saw Three Ships' that has a lot of stomps and claps. It was a really organic, raw sound that we did for this album.”
As part of the show on Dec. 12, selections from “Evergreen” will be performed along with a host of other holiday standards.
“You'll hear all the ones people love: ‘Mary, Did You Know?,' ‘Hallelujah,'” Hoying said. “It's our biggest show and our longest set list.”
For his part, Hoying still can't get over that big audiences show up to hear five voices.
“It is wild,” he said. “We have our thing that we do, and it can fill an arena.”
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