“‘Could I get some kind of credentials before I give you my Social Security number?'” Ryan Riddle said over the phone Sunday night when he picked up to a mysterious caller soliciting his personal information. The caller claimed to be affiliated with the White House and would later conduct background checks on Riddle and other members of N.C . State’s all male a cappella group, Grains of Time.
One hour before President Obama stepped on stage to deliver his speech on Wednesday afternoon, Grains of Time entertained the audience of thousands at Reynolds Coliseum with their four part National Anthem. But before their appearance on stage, Grains of Time was invited by the White House in the form of a vague phone call.
“I don’t know who called… I don’t know how they got my number,” Riddle said. “…She wanted me to give me her personal information within an hour – social security number, birthday, everything.”
Riddle, a senior in mechanical engineering and member of Grains of Time, notified the rest of the group about the phone call and the opportunity to sing on Wednesday. According to Riddle, the caller would not directly say that President Obama was coming to campus, but instead referred to the president as “an important visitor.”
“We didn’t know what exactly we had to keep a secret. They just told us not to talk about it,” Riddle said.
Shortly after, background checks on Grains of Time members were conducted, practices ensued and the group stepped out Wednesday to welcome the president with the Star Spangled Banner. Although the group was given short notice and virtually no information, it managed to deliver a cohesive performance.
“Monday night, we got together and we all sang for the choir director at N.C . State to make sure everything would sound okay,” Matt Tucker, senior in biological sciences, said. “It was almost scary. We didn’t know, walking in, how everything was going to be. But once we got in there, it felt like [we were] singing for graduation. Everything just kind of flowed naturally.”
The large audience at Reynolds was not the typical size Grains of Time is accustomed to performing for. For John Witt, senior in environmental engineering and Grains of Time’s president, Wednesday afternoon was the third time the musical group came across an audience this large, following past performances for commencement ceremonies.
“It was about the same size as the audience we had at graduation,” Witt said. “Graduation’s the only time we get to perform in big audiences like that, so obviously it was really exciting. This is the first time in Grains’ history that something like this actually happened.”
With the tightness of security and strict regulations on how the day would run, Grains of Time members had to cut back on the amount of singers that would sing on stage. Original orders solicited only one singer for security reasons until group members pushed for three more singers to fulfill their four-part harmony.
“We got cut down from seven guys to four guys on the stage for security reasons [because of] how many people [were allowed to] get close to the president,” Riddle said. “The plan was originally having one singer. But [the National Anthem] was a four part song.”
Despite the limited amount of voice on stage, Witt felt the performance was still successful.
“Sometimes with less people, it’s a lot easier to lock everything in,” Witt said. “Even with four people, I think we did really good.”
Among other music and a cappella groups on campus, Grains of Time was the recommendation pushed by Chancellor Randy Woodson for White House representatives to choose.
“We feel really honored being recommended by the Chancellor to sing for the President,” Witt said.
The recommendation, however, was a pleasant, yet nerve wracking surprise for the group. After the phone call on Sunday night, Riddle and other members realized the weight of their invitation.
“I told the group, ‘Let’s not jeopardize this,'” Riddle said.
Jeopardizing their opportunity was far from what Grains of Time did Wednesday afternoon. After all that followed the Sunday- night phone call, the group found their place on stage to greet the president along with the rest of Reynolds Coliseum on Wednesday.
“We went out [yesterday] and sang and felt pretty good about it,” Tucker said.