Jeffrey Thomas Thacher (born December 23, 1967) is an American musician, best known as a member of the vocal group

Rockapella Rockapella is an American a cappella musical group formed in 1986 in New York City. The group's name is a portmanteau of "rock" and "a cappella". Rockapella sings original vocal music and a cappella versions of other songs. Over time, their sound ...

. A professional

vocal percussion Vocal percussion is the art of creating sounds with one's mouth that approximate, imitate, or otherwise serve the same purpose as a percussion instrument, whether in a group of singers, an instrumental ensemble, or solo. In Western music Recent ...

ist and singer who emerged on the early contemporary

a cappella Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...

scene in 1991, Jeff Thacher co-founded the Boston-based

group

Five O'Clock Shadow A beard is the hair that grows on the jaw, chin, upper lip, lower lip, cheeks, and neck of humans and some non-human animals. In humans, beards are most commonly seen on pubescent or adult males, though women have been observed with beards ...

(aka FOCS) that year and went on to join

in 1993 as their full-time mouth-drummer.

Biography

Thacher was a 1990 graduate of

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music () is a Private university, private music college in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern Music of the United ...

's Music Production & Engineering program, and afterward spent several years in television & radio production when not performing In 1991 Thacher performed as a tenor in

, when Rockapella was looking to add human-made drum sounds to their live shows. Thacher's first concert with the group was on May 15, 1993, at the Berklee Performance Center, after which he began touring internationally with Rockapella, making his first CD appearance with them on the song "Big Wet Rag" from the Carmen Sandiego soundtrack sequel ''Carmen Sandiego: Out Of This World'' (1993). The first album to feature Jeff's distinctive sound throughout was Rockapella's first all-originals album, ''

Vocobeat ''Vocobeat'' is the fourth studio album by the a cappella group Rockapella. It is their first all original album and marks the first full-time CD debut of Jeff Thacher as the group's vocal percussionist. This album is also the first to include ...

'' (1994), for the Japanese market. Rockapella were still a quartet during their television stint on Carmen Sandiego until the fifth and final season of the show (1995) when Thacher appeared with them for that season. As the mid-1990s progressed, the terms "organic" and "imitative" began to be used to describe contrasting a cappella vocal percussion styles, with Thacher as the most prominent progenitor of the "organic" approach, combining blatantly literal replication of drums with sounds that didn't seek to duplicate, but rather fill the role of a drum or percussive instrument. Thacher was also the first vocal percussionist to employ a throat microphone (aka "throat mic") using electronic guitar pickups adhered to the larynx area of the throat (see

piezoelectric sensor A piezoelectric sensor is a device that uses the piezoelectric effect to measure changes in pressure, acceleration, temperature, strain, or force by converting them to an electrical charge. The prefix ''piezo-'' is Greek for 'press' or 'squeeze ...

). The technique allowed intentional throat grunting sounds to be heard more effectively in live shows and on recordings (1997). He became the first such artist to be professionally endorsed by a guitar pickup company (

Seymour Duncan Seymour Duncan is an American company best known for manufacturing guitar and Bass (guitar), bass Pickup (music technology), pickups. They also manufacture effects pedals which are designed and assembled in United States. Guitarist and luthier ...

, from 1998 to present, now D-TAR).

Performer Discography

Domestic releases

International releases

Compilations

Unaffiliated releases

Miscellaneous releases

Solo/Other CDs As Guest Performer

References

External links

Official Facebook artist page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thacher, Jeff Living people American male musicians American beatboxers 1967 births Rockapella members