The six vocalists, noted for their rock-solid leads and harmonies, will appear in a day of programs and performances at Nantucket Public Schools on May 21, followed by a free public concert on Friday, May 22 at 7 pm in Nantucket Dreamland Film & Performing Arts Center, 17 South Water Street.
National television audiences know Five O’Clock Shadow for its notable appearances on NBC’s “America’s Got Talent,” on VHI’s “Breakthrough,” and om the NFL’s “Hall of Fame Halftime Show Headliners.” On concert stages, Five O’Clock Shadow has fronted for Aaron Neville, James Brown, Patty LaBelle, The Boston Pops, Kool and the Gang, and Edwin McCain.
Five O’Clock Shadow blurs the lines between traditional a cappella singing and contemporary mainstream music. The six musicians use mouth percussion, real-time digital processing and innovative musical arrangements to create rock music-style harmonies and rhythms that also mimic instrumental accompaniment.
Born and raised on Nantucket, Caleb Whelden attended Nantucket public schools. He graduated in 1999 from Nantucket High School, where he performed with the school’s well-known vocal group The Naturals. After high school, Whelden sang in The Cobbletones, the popular Nantucket all-male singing group that performs at many local events, off-island commercial venues, and can still be heard singing on lower Main Street during the summer season.
Whelden graduated Ithaca College with an emphasis on vocal music education, after singing for four years as part of the all-male a cappella group Ithacapella. He first auditioned and won a spot in 2003 in Five O’Clock Shadow, which he has been part of through that group’s two-year hiatus and other changes. Whelden also launched the singing groups Slapdash Graduate and Blueprint. Along with singing in Five O’Clock Shadow, in 2010 Whelden joined Overboard, which is among well-known vocal groups in the United States and for which he is also the group’s director and musical arranger.
Tickets to the Dreamland performance are free, but to ensure admission, advance reservations are recommended, available under CONCERTS at NantucketDreamland.org or by calling the Dreamland box office at 508-325-4822.
The visit of Five O’Clock Shadow to Nantucket Public Schools and its public concert are made possible through a grant to Nantucket Arts Council by Nantucket Golf Club Foundation.
