A cappella group to sing at New Student Orientation

by Lindsie Taylor
Scroll Staff

photo courtesy LDS Church

Formerly known as The Trenchcoats, The Coats have gained a nation-wide fame through touring the college circuit, releasing seven CDs and performing with such artists as The Beach Boys, Jewel and The Nylons.

“The Coats were one of the original [a cappella] groups to get really famous. They were one of the first to get everyone excited about a cappella,” Ryan Hodges, a coordinator on the New Student Orientation Team, said.

Appearing at New Student Orientation Saturday, The Coats will be making their fourth performance appearance at Ricks/BYU-Idaho. Held in the Hart Auditorium, the concert will start at 6:30 p.m. and will be followed by a student-sponsored dance. Tickets cost $3 for students and $5 for non-students.

The group’s synergy started in 1987 at the University of Washington in Seattle. Meager beginnings of impromptu performances, a gig at a gas station’s grand opening, and junior high and high school concerts, many of which took place outdoors, made it necessary for them to wear heavy trenchcoats — thus their original name.

Tight harmonies and a four-voice chemistry combined to make The Coats a group people have loved over the years.

Founder and baritone Doug Wisness combined with members Kerry Dahlen, bass; Jamie Dieveney, tenor; and Joe Mele, high tenor, when he first formed the group. Keith Anderson became high tenor when Mele left the group in 1994.

Their repertoire includes everything from 1950s doo-wop to jazz, country, rap and rock. The Coats’ recordings span a whole decade with It Turns Me On (1992), Your Joy (1994), Exposed (1996), Are You Up? (1996), When I’m With You (2000), On Christmas Time (2000) and The Coats Collection (2000).

“These guys can sing! There’s hardly an off note anywhere on the album, and the balance is flawless even on the live tracks.

“On almost every song, I found myself nodding along to a pretty straightforward vanilla arrangement, out of which would suddenly jump a brilliant, thrilling, crazy jazz chord that just blew me away or a ridiculously high tenor I solo line that just gave me goose bumps,” Chris Miller, a reviewer for The Recorded A Cappella Review Board, said.

Although members of this all-male quartet have made it big in the music scene, they have had their difficulties. With their former name, The Trenchcoats, problems arose for the group after the shootings at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo.

Mistakenly associated with the Trenchcoat Mafia by national media, including ABC’s “20/20” and CNN, The Coats’ Web site, www.trenchcoats.com, received so many hits that within hours of the announcement, the site crashed.

Loaded down with hate mail, the group decided to drop their trademark name and style to be called The Coats. This change removed any association with the atrocity related to the shootings.

The NSO Team booked The Coats in October for their performance at BYU-I this week, and is excited for them to come, Hodges said.

A local a cappella group, Pop Rocks, will open the concert for The Coats. Members of the Pop Rocks include Ryan Hodges, Alan Lindsay, Kent Porter, Dave Geddes, Shaun Heier and Jared Heath.

The orientation for new students focuses on welcoming students to the school, NSO Adviser Allen Jones said. The Coats were chosen for their great ability to entertain the students.

“It’s for the students. It’s all about them,” Jones said.

All material posted on Scroll eNews is property of BYU-Idaho Scroll.
Contact scrollinternet@byui.edu with comments or problems.