UMBC Mamas Boys Celebrate Five-Year Anniversary
When they entered UMBC as freshmen, Jordan Hadfield ’07 and James “Jeeves” Murphy ’08 were searching for the right singing group. Both had performed in a cappella groups in high school and wanted to strengthen their backgrounds in singing. But there wasn’t a group on UMBC’s campus.
Meanwhile, in the basement of Potomac Hall, freshmen Ray Remesch ’08 and former student Chett Miller ’07 were also discussing the possibility of starting up an a cappella group. Remesch had been in his high school choir along with a few rock bands and Miller was interested in contemporary a cappella.
Through instant messaging, the two duos found one another and decided to go to lunch together. Just like that, a singing group was born on campus.
“In the beginning, we solicited everywhere,” said Hadfield. “We met singer Joe Garifo ‘09 when he was coming down to do his laundry.”
In the beginning, the Mama’s Boys (whose name was almost “Fetch”), was more focused on entertaining than singing. Hadfield said they were intentional about entertaining and being humorous.
“We were really better entertainers than vocalists,” said Hadfield. “We were really proud of it though because we were authentic.”
Things seemed to move quickly for the Mama’s Boys during their first year on campus. They played several shows and were embraced by UMBC audiences. By the end of the spring semester, they were recognized as an official student group.
In the past five years, the Mama’s Boys has grown into a strong vocal community. Auditions are more competitive, and the group sings regularly at events. They’ve played shows in Scituate, Massachusetts; New York, New York; Ocean City, Maryland; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, including many others. Their rigorous practice schedule (three times a week for two hours) and commitment to performance has led to popularity on- and off-campus. They now play four large seasonal shows on campus along with a myriad of smaller events. They’ve even inspired some other groups on campus to start their own singing groups: the Cleftomaniacs, the Stilettos and Taal-Capella, a newly-formed male Indian group.
“We invite each other to performances and collaborate on songs with each other,” said Steve Gilmore ’09, music director. “Our audiences love it.”
From the start, the group has valued their friendship with one another as much as singing.
“I’ve made a great group of friends,” said Gilmore, “and not just in the group but through the members and their outside friends.”
In honor of their five-year anniversary, the Mama’s Boys will perform a founder’s day celebration and luau on Saturday, May 9, 6 p.m., in the Engineering building, Lecture Hall 5. They will play a mix of new and old music, and the Cleftomanics and Stilettos will also perform. The event will be in the Engineering building, Lecture Hall 5.
For more information, visit www.umbcmamasboys.org.
To watch videos of the UMBC Mama’s Boys, visit www.youtube.com/user/umbcmamasboys.
(5/1/09)
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