Minneapolis-St. Paul, US

In their ten years together, Tonic Sol-fa has established itself not only as the most in-demand vocal group in the Midwest, but also as one of the most successful independent acts in America. The four members Mark McGowan, Greg Bannwarth, Shaun Johnson, and Jared Dove have overseen and operated the business of Tonic Sol-fa by themselves, and you could say they gained their current consumer popularity the old fashioned way: they earned it. Tonic Sol-fa had to overcome a number of obstacles, including an "unspoken" apprehension to a cappella acts by individuals in the music industry. Still, the group persevered, recording and manufacturing its own records, selling them to a growing legion of fans via the internet and in the lobby of the theaters where they performed.

By early 2006, Tonic Sol-fa had already sold over 1,000,000 copies of three traditional pop records and two Christmas collections. None of these had real distribution to any retail stores. The group has also toured extensively throughout the US and abroad, first building its financial base with a steady list of private, corporate shows that led eventually to numerous tours of theaters and small arenas.

Now, with the release of the group's first national CD, "Boston To Beijing," and their first public television special "Christmas" Tonic Sol-fa is positioned to become one of the few pure vocal acts to cross over to mainstream audiences as a truly unique and innovative contemporary music act.

"As we have moved away from doing covers and are now focusing more on original music, our goal is to step out and break away from everyone who is doing traditional a cappella material," says Shaun Johnson. And while the group has looked to acts like The Nylons, Take 6, and others, Tonic Sol-fa plans to take this music in a different direction, creating their own niche both commercially and artistically.