If anyone can get away with releasing an a capella album it's Ben Folds. The Nashville based pianoman stumbled across the idea on YouTube, where he found that college vocal groups had taken to covering his songs. And giving credit where credit is due, Folds invited 14 of these groups to appear on the record, entitled "Ben Folds Presents: University A Capella!" One of these is the Spartones from the University of North Carolina, where Folds was once a student himself.
The album will feature versions of some of Ben Folds' best songs including "Brick", "Magic", "Evaporated", "Fair", and "Army," intricately arranged for these vocal groups, while Folds himself recorded new a capella versions of "Boxing" and "Effington." Folds told Billboard.com that he was delighted to have his songs covered.
"I figure they're going to be covered by somebody important one day. So of course I was thrilled. I got to hear the songs actually take flight. These are the songs doing what they're supposed to do."
"Ben Folds Presents: University A Capella!" is due for release on April 28th.
Ben Folds is currently working on a collaboration with English writer Nick Hornby (High Fidelity, About A Boy, Fever Pitch), who'll be putting words to his tunes.