The Rise and Fall of the Fallbacks

“You’ve heard of the Fallbacks?” its members ask, laughing incredulously. The newest addition to the a cappella circuit may well be modest: its members met while unsuccessfully auditioning for Harvard’s established a cappella groups last fall. Still, they were eager to continue singing, and thus the Fallbacks were born.

They’re serious about the effort, tongue-in-cheek name or not. The ensemble has already performed with the community service program MIHNUET, in a coffee house on Newbury Street, in Weld Hall on Freshmen Parents’ Weekend, a few times in the Straus Common Room and, yes, even on the T. They rehearse good, ol’ a cappella favorites three times a week and have additional “sectionals” for each voice part.

The group was originally intended as a bridge for its members to someday break into Harvard’s established a cappella groups. It hasn’t been smooth sailing for these rookies, though. The Independent, for example, dismissed the Fallbacks as merely for “students who are interested in music and didn’t quite fit into the established a cappella scene.” As group member Gavitt A. Woodard ’06 says, this made them seem like a “bunch of incompetents clapping in time.” But one needs only to walk down the stairs to an otherwise unassuming Straus C basement. There’s a piano, sheet music, a pitch-pipe and eight dedicated and talented singers. While the Fallbacks are all business in rehearsal, though, their interactions reveal a close-knit group. Fallback Maria A. May ’06 cites the group’s “good energy and tight friendship” as their biggest asset. Members even stuck around after an intense practice session to help Neil K. Mehta ’06 prepare his solo for the impending Krokodiloes audition before setting off to share a meal in Annenberg.

The singers admit that developing their sound has been difficult, as none have previously been involved in a cappella. No one really knew, for instance, how to organize a rehearsal. Catherine “Cathy” A. Cohn ’06 says that without a cappella experience, she sometimes doesn’t know her pitches. But still, “it’s really easy to just find a note that works,” she says.

The recent spring a cappella auditions caused what Mehta calls their “crisis moment,” and they began to feel uneasy about the group’s future. “We were worried things would fall apart,” Cohn says. “We got attached to each other!” Seven members auditioned for the Veritones, and each one made it to the second round. “I think that shows what the Fallbacks has done for us,” Woodard says.

Michael V. Tucci ’06, a bass and new member of the Veritones, assured his fellow members that, aside from his cheerleading and Veritones commitments, he will definitely still be singing with them this spring. “It wasn’t really the performance we wanted to get out of [the Fallbacks] in the first place,” he says, “but just the singing and fun.” Unfortunately, says Mehta, “The Fallbacks as a group are finished after our spring concert.” The last show is tentatively slated for just before spring break in the Straus Common Room. The group’s meteoric rise and fall may be finished with this farewell performance, but “these friendships will definitely last,” Gavitt says. “We will always just get together and sing.”