Straight No Chaser Kicks Off Holiday Season with 'Text Me Merry Christmas ft. Kristen Bell

Atlantic Records recording group Straight No Chaser has unwrapped details of their festive new holiday single. "Text Me Merry Christmas (Feat. Kristen Bell)" is available now at all DSPs via a newly released version of their hit EP, "UNDER THE INFLUENCE: HOLIDAY EDITION" (see http://smarturl.it/UTIHolidayEdition).

A lyric video for the song premiered yesterday via RyanSeacrest.com, and is now available via the band's YouTube channel, https://www.youtube.com/user/sncmusic. In its first day online, the video garnered more than half a million views and was one of the top five videos on YouTube.

"The infectious song is filled with millennial slang and will fill you with merriment and joy," Buzzfeed said of the new track. Mashable called the song "a modern-day classic" and The Hollywood Reporter said, "Move over 'Baby It's Cold Outside,' there's a new holiday duet in town...'Text Me Merry Christmas'...is the perfect song for our technologically-dependent selves."

"Text Me Merry Christmas was so much fun to record," said Bell. "The lyrics are smart and creative, and musically it was a blast to sing a cappella with Straight No Chaser. I'm excited to be a part of what could be a Christmas classic for our current generation."

"We wanted a Christmas song that spoke to how informal communication has become," said Randy Stine of Straight No Chaser. "As soon as we heard the first demo it was apparent that it had to be a duet...the only voice we heard singing this was Kristen Bell, and she nailed every note and delivered the lyrics with the perfect comedic tone. We were hanging on her every word...when we weren't looking at our phones."

Emmy and Grammy Award winning writers David Javerbaum and Adam Schlesinger wrote "Text Me Merry Christmas." Javerbaum is a former writer and executive producer of "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" and Schlesinger, his frequent collaborator, is best known for his work with the band Fountains of Wayne.

Straight No Chaser will rejoice in the release of "Text Me Merry Christmas" by performing live on NBC's TODAY. The appearance is slated for the 9am hour on Friday, December 5th (check local listings).

Straight No Chaser is currently traveling the US on their biggest headline tour to date. "The Happy Hour Tour" continues through the year, culminating with a New Year's Eve spectacular at San Diego's San Diego Civic Theatre on December 31st and a visit to Hawaii, set for January 3rd at Honolulu's Hawai'i Theatre (see itinerary below). Full details including ticket information can be found at www.sncmusic.com/tour.

As if a massive 59-city, 67-show US tour weren't enough, "The Happy Hour Tour" is set to resume in late January 2015 for an eagerly awaited European leg. The epic trek will see Straight No Chaser performing 21 shows in 14 countries, among them Russia, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Czech Republic, Austria, Italy, Holland, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Ireland, and the United Kingdom.

Straight No Chaser's fourth full-length release, 2013's "UNDER THE INFLUENCE" saw the renowned vocal group reimagining a selection of their all time favorite songs alongside many of the superstar artists and undisputed music icons that made them famous. Produced by Mark Kibble (a founding member of the legendary a cappella group Take 6 and one of Straight No Chaser's primary influences), the album included unprecedented collaborations with some of popular music's best and brightest including Phil Collins, Stevie Wonder, Elton John, Dolly Parton, Rob Thomas, Seal, Sara Bareilles, and Jason Mraz as Straight No Chaser put their distinctive and inimitable spin on songs known and loved the world over.

Long beloved for their trademark takes on Yuletide favorites, Straight No Chaser celebrated Christmas 2013 with an all-new cache of Christmas classics, titled "UNDER THE INFLUENCE: HOLIDAY EDITION." Among the EP's highlights were renditions of "White Christmas (Feat. Cee Lo Green)" and "Merry Christmas Baby (Feat. Otis Redding)," alongside new versions of standards like "Amazing Grace." The EP further included a timeless rendition of Paul McCartney's classic "Wonderful Christmastime" featuring vocals by McCartney himself. "Text Me Merry Christmas" will be a new addition to the EP starting today.

For more, please visit www.sncmusic.com, www.facebook.com/StraightNoChaser, twitter.com/SNCmusic, and www.youtube.com/sncmusic.

(TOUR ATTACHED BELOW)

STRAIGHT NO CHASER
THE HAPPY HOUR TOUR 2014/2015

NOVEMBER
19		Portland, ME		Merrill Auditorium
20		Lowell, MA		Lowell Memorial Auditorium
21		Buffalo, NY		Shea's Performing Arts Center
22		Baltimore, MD		Meyerhoff Symphony Hall
23		Providence, RI		The VETS
28		Red Bank, NJ		Count Basie Theater
29		Uncasville, CT		Mohegan Sun Arena
30		Albany, NY		Palace Theatre
DECEMBER
2		Columbus, OH		Palace Theatre
3		Midland, MI		Midland Center for the Arts
4		Erie, PA		Warner Theatre
5		New York, NY		Beacon Theatre
6		Hershey, PA		Hershey Theatre (2 Shows)
7		Cleveland, OH		Palace Theatre (2 Shows)
9		Pittsburgh, PA		Benedum Center
10		Champaign, IL		Virginia Theater
11		St Louis, MO		Fox Theater
12		Detroit, MI		Masonic Temple
13		Cincinnati, OH		Proctor & Gamble Hall at Aronoff Center
14		Chicago, IL		Chicago Theater (2 Shows)
16		Fort Wayne, IN		Embassy Theater
17		Richmond, KY		EKU Center for the Arts
18		Bloomington, IN		IU Auditorium
19		Muncie, IN		Emens Auditorium
20		Evansville, IN		The Centre
21		Indianapolis, IN		Murat Theater at Old National Centre (2 Shows)
22		Indianapolis, IN		Murat Theater at Old National Centre (2 Shows)
26		Seattle, WA		Paramount Theatre
27		Portland, OR		The Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall
28		San Francisco, CA		Davies Symphony Hall
29		Thousand Oaks, CA		Fred Kavli Theatre for the Performing Arts
30		Riverside, CA		Fox Riverside Performing Arts Center
31		San Diego, CA		San Diego Civic Theatre
JANUARY
3		Honolulu, HI		Hawai'i Theatre
28		London, United Kingdom		London A Cappella Festival at Cadogan Hall
30		Birmingham, United Kingdom Town Hall
31		Gateshead, United Kingdom		Sage 2
FEBRUARY
1		Edinburgh, Scotland		Queen's Hall
2		Dublin, Ireland		Vicar Street
3		Manchester, United Kingdom		Lowry Quays Theatre
5		Hamburg, Germany		Fabrik
6		Aalborg, Denmark		Musikkens Hus
7		Stockholm, Sweden		Maximteatern
9		Helsinki, Finland		Savoy Theatre
11		Berlin, Germany		Heimathafen
12		Prague, Czech Republic		Lucerna Music Bar
13		Vienna, Austria		Porgy & Bess
16		Assago, Italy		Teatro Della Luna
18		Amsterdam, Netherlands		De Meervaart
20		Antwerp, Belgium		Arenberg Theatre
21		Dusseldorf, Germany		Savoy Theater
22		Munich, Germany		Freiheiz
23		Paris, France		La Cigale
24		Zurich, Switzerland		Kaufleuten
26		Moscow, Russia		Crocus City Hall
APRIL
2		Beaver Creek, CO		Vilar Performing Arts Center*
3		Pueblo, CO		Memorial Hall Theatre*
4		Ft. Collins, CO		The Lincoln Center (2 shows)*
7		Madison, WI		Overture Center*
8		Topeka, KS		Topeka Performing Arts Center*
9		Kalamazoo, MI		State Theatre
10		Kohler, WI		Kohler Memorial Theatre
12		Lafayette, IN		Long Center for the Performing Arts (2 shows)*

* On-sale Friday, Nov. 21 at 10 AM local time.

For more, please see www.sncmusic.com/tour

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