TSF performs approximately 150 concerts each year across 48 states to a combined audience of 250,000+.
The guys have released 6 CDs, sold 1,000,000+ albums and have toured nationally/internationally for 12 years.
Tonic Sol-fa independently produces an annual, sold-out 20 city holiday tour in the Midwest as well as spring and summer concert tours throughout the U.S.
National appearances include: Newsweek and MediaStyle magazines, NBC’s Today Show, A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor, Steve & DC (nationally syndicated radio show) and many others.
Corporate sponsorships have included: Bose, Schwan’s, General Mills, Tastefully Simple, Herberger’s and
Wenger Corporation.
Tonic Sol-fa’s own public television Christmas special will air from 2008 to 2010 across the U.S.
In 2008, Tonic Sol-fa’s public television holiday special will be distributed/aired worldwide.
Philanthropic efforts include: contributions to breast cancer research for every pre-ordered copy of “Boston to Beijing,” radio drive appearances for Gillette Children’s Hospital, Music in the Schools Fundraisers and Master Classes, American Red Cross Disaster Relief and numerous other charities as noted on PlasticSanta.org, the non-profit arm of Tonic Sol-fa.
Tonic Sol-fa has shared the stage with Jay Leno, Jeff Foxworthy, Garrison Keillor, Lonestar, Montgomery Gentry, Shawn Colvin, Weird Al Yankovic, Bryan White, Neal McCoy, Nestor Torres, Bobcat Goldthwait and Jerry Springer among others.
Tonic Sol-fa’s original songs, arrangements and albums have won numerous contemporary a cappella awards for best pop album, gospel song and Christmas original, have been featured on television and in movies and have garnered positive national reviews.
TSF’s original holiday song “Sno” was featured on the “12 Dogs of Christmas” (the most popular Christmas video sold at Wal-Mart in 2005).
Tonic Sol-fa has entertained at hundreds of national corporate events including: Jostens, Tastefully Simple, Thrivent Financial, LifeTouch, 3M, Wal-Mart, Buick, Medtronic, and General Mills.
The guys have performed the Star Spangled Banner for national Republican and Democratic events, former presidents, the Minnesota Twins, the Chicago Bears, the NY Mets, the National 4th of July Celebration at Mount Rushmore, the Minnesota Timberwolves, Minnesota Lynx and the Saint Paul Saints to name a few.
They were voted NACA’s (National Association for Campus Activities) Contemporary Artist of the Year and have been nominated multiple times for NACA’s Entertainer of the Year (most popular group in America on the college circuit).
TSF was inducted into the Midwest Music Hall of Fame in 1997.
Tonic Sol-fa was voted by Campus Activities Magazine as “One of the top five ‘MUST SEE’ groups in America.”
The New York Times described Tonic Sol-fa’s sound as “A vocal kaleidoscope…unique to the human voice.”
Biography
In their twelve 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. In addition to substantial CD sales of its own independent releases (1,000,000 copies sold and counting), the group has toured extensively throughout the US and abroad, building their financial base with a steady list of festivals and private shows that eventually led to sold-out tours of theaters and small arenas.
Tonic Sol-fa began at St. John’s University with Mark McGowan, who sings baritone, and lead vocalist Shaun Johnson, while both were attending in the mid 1990s. Shortly after forming, the two auditioned for a local entertainment agency which helped jump-start the group’s performance and appearance schedule. Tenor, Greg Bannwarth, and bass, Jared Dove, joined soon after, completing the group. Together the quartet reached national prominence with appearances on NBC’s Today Show and in Newsweek magazine. They shared the stage with a number of recognizable performers including Jay Leno, Jeff Foxworthy and Lonestar, among others, and were recently part of Garrison Keillor’s 30th anniversary celebration of A Prairie Home Companion.
From the group’s onset, the four members of Tonic Sol-fa, with a small team of driven supporters, have overseen and operated the business of Tonic Sol-fa, growing a small business of a few thousand dollars into what is today a multi-million dollar limited liability company. The group had to overcome a number of obstacles, including an unspoken apprehension to a cappella acts by individuals in the music industry and having a name that was anything but catchy (a system of naming the notes of the scale, usually do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti, developed to teach singing). Still, the group persevered, recording and manufacturing its own records and selling them to a growing legion of fans via the Internet, in the lobby of the theaters where they performed, and through a growing national distribution. One could say they gained their current consumer popularity the old fashioned way; they earned it.
At present, Tonic Sol-fa just released their sixth album, entitled “On Top of the World” on the heels of their previous projects (Christmas [DVD], Boston to Beijing, By Request, Red Vinyl, Sugarue, Front Row [video], and Style,). The recordings contain only four indelible voices and occasional percussion. This outstanding blend has resulted in multiple Contemporary Acappella Recording Awards, NACA entertainer of the year nominations, considerable national press, and has landed their music on the best-selling seasonal DVD at Wal-Mart, The 12 Dogs of Christmas.
Further, Tonic Sol-fa released their first television holiday special in 2007, which aired over 1800 times in forty-seven states and Canada. The television special will be shown through 2010, and in 2008 will be distributed worldwide, continuing to spread their unique sound to an ever-increasing following.
Tonic Sol-fa continues to tour, record, and conscientiously run their business in the only way familiar to them –differently.
