The Mates have started blogging!

The Tufts Amalgamates have started a blog!

This blog will be a place where you can find stories, musings, and other information from both current and past group members. If you're a fan of collegiate a cappella, and have always wondered what kinds of shenanigans the 'Mates get into when we go on gigs, then this is the place for you. For our first entry though, we thought we might give you a little bit of history:

The Amalgamates, Tufts University's oldest co-ed a cappella group, was formed in 1984. The group's formation came about when a group of singers from the Beelzebubs and Jackson Jills, Tufts' then-only all-male and all-female a cappella groups, respectively, decided they wanted to sing with people of the other gender, and start a co-ed group. The 'Mates started by singing SATB arrangements of classics, but quickly moved on to writing their own arrangements of contemporary pop and rock songs.

Their respected status in the a cappella community was solidified with their 1996 release of Hat Sale, Get Mama! with their track "Man In The Mirror," a cover of a song by Michael Jackson. The disc, and its closing track, were widely regarded as one of the best releases ever to come out of the collegiate a cappella scene. From the RARB.org (Recorded A Cappella Review Board) web site:

"The word "perfect" comes to mind. This is a top notch arrangement with a truly professional sound."

Subsequent releases, such as Grandma's Camper (1998), Juice (2000), Bamboo (2002), Stopping For Breakfast (2004), and Baggage Claim (2006) have each garnered excellent reviews from RARB, and have all landed tracks on the Best Of College A Cappella (BOCA) Compilations of the years following their respective years. As well, they have all been nominated for Collgiate A Cappella Recording Awards (CARAs) in various categories (Best Mixed Collegiate Album, Best Mixed Collegiate Solo, etc.), and have won many of them. The 'Mates are currently recording and mixing their eleventh album, Prime, which is to be released at a CD Release party on the Tufts University campus on November 14th.

The 'Mates are currently still singing, and are well into the 160's in their number of past and present members. To see and hear more about the Amalgamates, you can visit their site at www.amalgamates.org.

--Alex Green, Publicity Manager, current group A'10