Any old musical group can put on a performance if they've got their instruments in hand, but it takes real talent to be able to put on a show with no instruments at all. That's where Orange Appeal takes the stage.

As Syracuse University's only all-male a cappella group, Orange Appeal delivers tight harmonies and uncanny arrangements of well-loved songs using only their voices. Guitars, keyboards, violins, and even sound effects are all done entirely vocally. Even the drums are imitated by a vocal percussionist, or VPer. These arrangements haven't come from any song book, though. All the group's arrangements are made by its members. They find a piece they like, listen to every musical detail, and the rewrite it entirely for voices. Even more impressive is that the group is entirely student-run. With no hiring out for music direction, publicity, or booking of performances, the group remains entirely self-sufficient.

It wasn't always that way, however. Surprisingly enough, when the group was originally founded in 1997, it was a subgroup of Syracuse University's Men's Glee Club. The group, however, soon decided that they would rather run themselves, and split off from the choir. After spending a few years rogue, completely independent of the university, they officially went back to being a registered student organization in the spring of 2004, this time, independent of the choir and seeming more like a boyband than any glee club.

Even with a stunning musical variety, ranging from the compelling, emotive "Somewhere" (from West Side Story), to the punchy, rock feel of The Cars' "Just What I Needed", Orange Appeal still somehow manages to keep the high standards of musical performance they've become known for. But it's not just their sound that sets Orange Appeal apart from so many other groups.

Orange Appeal's stage presentation is one that only 16 college guys could deliver. From ridiculous stage antics, to mid-concert costume changes, to mockumentary presentations between sets and the notorious tear-off pants incident of '02, you never know what to expect from this A.D.D. chorus.

Also, because of the unique medium of a cappella, Orange Appeal is never tied down when it comes to performing. No instruments mean that performances can keep up with the impromptu, go-with-the-flow attitude of the group. Performances have been known to pop up anywhere where members are gathered, from parties, to Marshall Street, and once even while on a Chapel Choir tour, a small group performed in an airport in Xian, China!

While overseas presentations may be a little far reaching for Orange Appeal's standard performances, it's still impressive how far they've come since their 1997 inception. They've come from a handful of guys in a practice room to performing with such groups as University of Buffalo's Buffalo Chips, SUNY Potsdam's A Sharps, and University of Rochester's award winning Midnight Ramblers. What's more, this year Orange Appeal will progress even further with their first ever acceptance into the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella, where they will compete with some of the best a cappella groups in the United States.

The group has two CDs available for purchase on their website, http://www.orangeappeal.net. The first is "Sense of Urgency," a studio album recorded in 2006. The second, Live, was recorded just last year and features smattering of - you guessed it - live-recorded tracks.

So with such progress already made, and with so many big events in their near future, there is no doubt that this group of 16 fun-loving Syracuse guys will continue to show the world just what "Orange Appeal" is all about. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.