SIX APPEAL: THE HISTORY
Six Appeal began as many a cappella groups do: for fun.
On December 10th, 2006, six freshman choir nerds gathered in an empty classroom at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota. Many of the members were already singing multiple hours each day for their coursework but were eager to apply their classical skills to a wider range of musical styles. These young students formed an ensemble of their very own with music they wrote themselves during late evenings when everyone else had gone home. As the group's confidence and repertoire grew, they began performing across campus at talent shows, open mic nights, and yes, the girls’ dorms.
Eventually they began opening for various artists performing on campus. Concordia’s activities administrator Paul Wraalstad noticed the closing talent gap between Six Appeal and the groups they shared the stage with, so he suggested that perhaps there was a future for the a cappella group after graduation. When the founding members graduated in 2010, Jordan convinced Michael and a few other members that the pursuit of music would be the more rewarding alternative to getting a "real job," and together they chose Minneapolis as the new home base for the band.
During the first 18 years of its existence, Six Appeal has traveled to nearly every state in the USA, completed performances numbering in the thousands, logged over a million miles in a tour van, and traveled the globe on multiple international tours. They have performed with Kenny Loggins on his PBS Soundstage Special, appearing with Michael McDonald, Thundercat, and David Foster, among others. The band has performed with Andy Grammar, opened for Jay Leno, Louis Anderson, Foreigner, Foghat, and countless others.
Six Appeal has been the featured entertainment on Disney and Cunard cruise lines throughout the Caribbean, Alaska, Canada, the Atlantic, and the Mediterranean. They have toured China, Russia, and Europe, and are the only back-to-back Grand Prize Champions of the world’s largest a cappella competition. They sang the National Anthem for the Sugar Bowl on ESPN, and are National Harmony Sweepstakes Champions. The group has become featured performers at the Vanity Fair Oscars Party in Hollywood, entertaining the celebrity elite for multiple years.
Six Appeal looks forward to what the future may hold for their unique brand of a cappella entertainment.
In 2019, a couple positions in the band opened up, as two members left to pursue other priorities. Six Appeal leapt at the opportunity to reinvent their sound, so for the first time since their inception, the band incorporated women’s voices into their lineup. Mel and Virginia joined, adding their talents, skills, personality, and vision to the band. With a wider vocal range, the group remodeled and expanded their repertoire, broadening the scope and scale of their performance.
In 2020, touring was paused for a spell. During that time, Six Appeal produced a multitude of digital content, creating an array of music videos, recorded music, and social media content. This would be their most digitally prolific era to date. After the lockdown, Six Appeal resumed touring, and welcomed Jeff as their dynamic and energetic Bass, furthering the band’s versatility, range, and charm.
Thus began an era of Six Appeal called “The Ramen Years”. A few of the collegiate members bowed out during the transition, so the group went looking for like-minded a cappella performers interested in touring professionally. At that time, Berko was already directing his own vocal group in Minneapolis, so it was a quick and inevitable partnership once the boys met. Six Appeal went from a few handfuls of gigs in its first professional season to more than 200 tour dates the next year, prompting the members to quit their side jobs and move in together in the same six-bedroom house.
Beginning in 2011 (let’s call it the “Journeyman Phase”), the band hit the road non-stop performing at colleges, high schools, performing arts centers, theaters, corporate functions, fundraising galas, fairs, festivals, cruises, proposals, weddings, funerals (yes, a funeral), and everything in between.
