Interview with Gracie McNeely ’16, musical arranger for the Knightingales
Can you tell us a little bit about the history of the Knightingales?
Gracie: The Knightingales were founded in 1980 and were the first all-female a cappella group on campus. We’re not completely sure who exactly founded the group, but we had a Gale in 2012 who’s mom had been a Gale, which is super cool! There’s also an alum in Admissions who was a Gale, as well. Other than that, we don’t know too much about Gales history.
What is expected of the members of Knightingales?
Gracie: We meet for about five hours a week spread over Sunday, Monday, and Wednesday. Because we’re all really close friends, rehearsals are very casual, but when we need to really learn a song or solidify a tricky part of an arrangement, we’ll sort of say, “Hey, c’mon let’s focus.” What’s really nice and important, I think, is that we’re all pretty quick learners. We learned about three new songs within the first two weeks of the term, which is great because it gives us ample time to really develop the songs and make them stronger. But also, since we’re Carleton students, we understand how stressful things can get, so we’re kind of a support system, too. Like, need to cry at Gales? No problem. Need to vent? Vent away.
What is the biggest challenge the Knightingales have encountered?
Gracie: One of our Gale babies (the freshmen) has mono! Which is such a bummer because missing a show your freshman year stinks. But we totally understand that doing pretty much anything with mono is exhausting. This week we’ll be making sure her parts are covered in all of our songs, but like I said, we’re pretty quick learners, so we’re not too worried. We’ll just miss our freshman Gale! Other than that, we’ve had a pretty chill term. We sang with the Knights at Three Links, the assisted living center in Northfield which was so much fun. It’s really nice to sing off of campus. No other major problems, though, which is super nice!
What pieces are you performing? Who arranged them?
Gracie: We have a bunch of arrangers. Pretty much if you have a song in your mind that you want to arrange, we’ll sing it! This term, arrangers include Ella Fox ’15, Liza Davis ’16, and me, Gracie McNeely ’16. But what’s so great about our group is that the arrangements aren’t set in stone. So if something’s not working someone might say, “Hey, let’s try this,” and the arranger will be like, “Oh my God that’s brilliant yes.” It’s a very collaborative effort.
Current Knightingale repertoire:
Octahate by Rynn Weaver
Habits (Stay High) by Tove Lo
Speechless by Lady Gaga
Give Me Love by Ed Sheeran
All of Me by John Legend
Time Machine by Ingrid Michaelson
Red Light by Baby Queens
and Riptide by Vance Joy.
The Gales will be performing on Saturday, March 7th, at the Cave at 10:30pm. The Cave is accessible to all students. Visitors must be accompanied by a student and registered with security at the Cave entrance.
If you would like to learn more about the Knightingales or check up on their performances, check out the Carleton Knightingales Website (which also links to their Facebook and Instagram pages).