Best to Burn is an A Cappella band from Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 2013, they continue to please audiences today. They have 2 female and 4 male singers.
Incredible voices, talented, funny and very entertaining is how I would describe the group. I saw them for the fourth time, the other night, and they never disappoint. I happened to see their first show ever, before they had come up with their name, Best to Burn. They were looking for a name that would make reference to their extensive experience in collegiate and post-graduate a cappella, their interest in social drinking, and their individual ages.
Borrowing a quote from Sir Francis Bacon was the answer. “Age appears to be be best in four things: old wood best to burn, old wine best to drink, old friends to trust, and old authors to read.”
In 2013 Kate Pientka after her time in the all-female vocal group Octave sparked an interest in creating a smaller, mixed-gender a cappella band. She hosted several jam sessions to gauge interest and talent and invited Carl Christie (bass), John Hendrix (tenor) and
Christy Fennessy (first soprano/alto) to form a group. Benjy Rose (percussion) came on board soon after. The band took more time to find the right baritone, eventually bringing in Jacob Shreckengost in 2014.
Kelly Howard (mezzo soprano/alto) joined in 2021. I’m a fan of the Atlanta group Octave which Christy and Kelly sang in also. This talented group writes a lot of songs and creatively covers songs like Bones (Maren Morris),
Believer and It’s Time (Imagine Dragons), Love Runs Out (OneRepublic), My Songs Know What You Did In the Dark (Fall Out Boy), River (Bishop Briggs), Madness (Muse), Say My Name (Peking Duk), Bang (AJR), Shape of You (Ed Sheeran), Shut up and Dance (Walk the Moon), Stitches (Shawn Mendes), Wait For It (Hamilton) and Til the Casket Drops (ZZ Ward). Benjy Rose is the best beat box (to simulate the sounds and rhythms of percussion instruments or a drum machine by using the mouth and voice) I’ve ever heard. I’m impressed every time I hear him. Best to Burn has a great website where you can discover their next gig, learn more about them or book them for a performance. Check it out!
