A disgruntled office worker dreaming of life as a cowboy, the expanding universe and 50 ways to save the planet were just a few subjects of the original songs sung by a cappella group The Chromatics Saturday night.
Half of the group are scientists from NASA and have made their name writing quirky, original songs about space and science. The group performs a unique brand of music that group member Padi Boyd described as ‘‘Weird Al meets Albert Einstein.”
The group has been together since 1995, though members have changed, and has released five albums, the most recent of which was ‘‘Committed” in 2007.
‘‘The six of us are like a family and a team,” Boyd, of Greenbelt, said. ‘‘We think along the same lines. We go well beyond vocal harmony. It’s great to have five other people so in step with each other musically.”
A crowd of more than 70 people packed into the back room at Greenbelt’s New Deal Café Saturday. The Chromatics opened with the 1980’s hit ‘‘Love Shack,” which was soon followed by an original song about physics and then a song about Galileo.
Judy Stubblefield of Bowie had always meant to make a trip to the New Deal Café and after hearing some songs from the Chromatics on her computer, decided it was time.
‘‘They were really good,” Stubblefield said. ‘‘I’ll be coming back.”
As a Goddard employee, Michael Chesnes of Laurel, enjoyed listening to music about space and the universe.
‘‘It’s a lot of fun,” Chesnes said. ‘‘I don’t normally get to hear songs about the things I am interested in.”
None of the group members have had professional music training and none had sung in an a cappella group before. Though the group started as a collection of NASA employees, today, only Karen and Alan Smale of Crofton and Boyd work there. The rest, however, have technical jobs and all looked forward to the artistic outlet that singing provides.
‘‘Singing is a way to balance the technical part of life with something 100 percent creative,” Boyd said. ‘‘In all, the members of the group are technically savvy and have a creative side, so music was an outlet for us to take a break from thinking.”
The concert offered a brief look at the up-and-coming version of the New Deal Café, which opened Wednesday, under new manager Karim Kmaiha. Many hoped the strong showing at the concert would foreshadow a positive outlook for the café.
‘‘Certainly as a Greenbelt resident for a long time, the New Deal Cafe is important to me personally,” Boyd said. ‘‘It’s an unusual space that allows local musicians to bring music to the community. It is very exciting that it is coming back to life.”
The group was happy to lend its support to the community and loved the local audience.
‘‘People know our music and request us and it’s always fun to sing upon request,” Nixon said. ‘‘They know when to laugh. It’s fun to look out and see someone’s face you recognize singing the words to the original music. We like to support the community.”
The group practices about once a week in addition to holding several day-long retreats every once in a while to write music. John Meyer of Westminster, Alan Smale and Boyd are the main songwriters, but all members contribute to writing songs.
The group is currently working on astronomy songs to celebrate the International Year of Astronomy 2009, which marks the 400th anniversary of the first astronomical observations by Galileo. Padi has written a song called ‘‘On the Shoulders of Giants,” in honor of Galileo.
Donations were accepted at the door and benefitted the Friends of the New Deal Café.
E-mail Kristi Tousignant at ktousignant@gazette.net.
