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Soul’d Out competes at ICHSA

The high school version of Pitch Perfect
Erin Lauthner performs Feel It Still at ICHSA. Soul'd Out members accompany her voice as she sings lead vocals.
Erin Lauthner performs Feel It Still at ICHSA. Soul’d Out members accompany her voice as she sings lead vocals.
Jake Young

A capella nerves built as Soul’d Out members not only tested themselves academically through finals week but tested themselves vocally, taking to fierce competition as they entered the International Championship of High School A Capella (ICHSA). 

Six months of preparation geared up to this moment. Erin Lauthner tells the story of how the group assembles their pieces: “We get together every morning at 7:30 for a 0 period, and we just rehearse an hour a day.”

Soul’d Out members give song suggestions, “and me, Maya Saunders and K-Bo end up deciding our set.” Saunders and Lauthner worked together to create the choreography that accompanies the vocals, 

“The group is also passionate about what we do, and we love it. So it’s really easy just to work with this fun-loving group of people who just wants to have fun and do what they love.” Lauthner expresses. 

Entering Sherwood High School many members had already been accustomed to the process, such as sophomore Axel Lauthner, who described his initial thoughts, saying, “We knew that what we’ve been working on is really cool and we were really proud of it, but we were also really curious and a little intimidated by the other groups because we don’t know what they’ve been working on.”

To boil it down to one word Axel Lauthner felt exhilarated. 

Watching each group perform “was super cool because we got to see what everything else has been working on.” A chance to feel the warmth and passion of other high school students interested in a capella. 

Chosen to go eighth out of nine high schools, Soul’d Out made their way to the stage. Taking first positions as the group began to sing. Soul’d Out’s set is comprised of three songs; Feel It Still (Portugal. The Man), Erase Me (Lizzy McAlpine), and Down to the Bottom (Dorothy). Each song features a soloist; Erin Lauthner, Sydney Cederberg, and Maya Saunders. 

Unfortunately, Soul’d Out did not place and continue to finals. However, Axel Lauthner describes it well. To get together as a group and perform is much more than what you place in a competition: “You know the whole time before [we performed] we were trying to make sure that everyone knew to have as much fun as possible.”