About the Eight Tracks

The Eight Tracks is an award-winning eight-member a cappella group based in Boston/Cambridge/Somerville. We mostly sing well-known songs from the ‘60’s through today that audiences will instantly know and love. But we make a point of flipping songs on their heads in our arrangements and making them sound totally unique for the eight specific voices in our group. We pride ourselves on our strong musicianship since each singer is on their own individual voice part.

But it’s not all work! We always make time for fun, too. We’re a friendly bunch of 20-and-30-somethings from all different professions with all different musical backgrounds and this group is a family for the eight of us. So, we make a point to stay involved and know what’s going on in each other’s lives. Scroll down to get to know each of us!

Meet the Singers

Caroline Carreras

Caroline is so excited to be a part of the Eight Tracks! She started singing when she was only two years old. Little did she know she would sing in many choruses, a high school a cappella group called Guacamole, and then become the musical director of the Bates College Crosstones. Caroline also loves to do theatre and film, and dreams of moving to New York one day to pursue it more professionally. While she is not singing, she works as a preschool teacher at a Montessori school and loves being around kiddos!

Benjamin Chang

Ben, a local from Acton, Massachusetts, began singing at the tender age of 13 when he joined choir and founded a couple a cappella groups in an attempt to impress a girl (this is a true story). At the University at Buffalo, he was a member of the Buffalo Chips and took up vocal percussion, much to the chagrin of his friends and roommates. After a few years doing improv and other live theater, he returned to the world of a cappella. In his spare time, he watches movies, tries to exercise, and reorganizes his board game collection. Putting his college degree to use, he works as a Scientist at Quanterix, a company focused on ultra-sensitive biomarker detection.

Ben Chang The Eight Tracks Boston A Cappella

Laurence Diao

Laurence grew up in a small province in the Philippines where he first learned English through singing "Go The Distance" from Hercules. After moving to the United States in 2015 for college, Laurence joined the UNC Achordants, an all-male a cappella group, where he sang Tenor 1 (and provided the dramatic flair during concerts). Laurence also enjoys doing calisthenics, playing Pokemon, and exploring his Filipino-American identity. As a remote finance analyst, he can often be spotted walking around his Watertown neighborhood at noon.

Skylar Hamblen

Skylar has been singing her entire life in various choirs and musical theater and is thrilled to be a part of The Eight Tracks. She is from MA but recently moved from LA where she was living for ten years and attended undergrad at CalArts studying acting. Now pursuing her Masters degree at Emerson College to become a Speech-Language Pathologist she hopes to incorporate her love of music, the arts, speech, and Reiki energy healing all in one place some day.

Mark Heath

Mark’s childhood in a one-stoplight hometown in rural Western New York meant joining every choir, campfire sing-along, and backyard re-enactment of Disney Channel Original Movies possible. In college, Mark was a member of the Harvard Glee Club before joining the Harvard Callbacks, an all-gender a cappella group that exposed him to arranging and vocal percussion. Beyond singing, Mark loves playing with his pup (Elliott), listening to true crime podcasts, and surviving HIIT workouts. Once a high school teacher, Mark now works as a consultant supporting urban public school districts with strategic resource allocation.

Stephen Michael Johns

Stephen started his musical journey at the young age of 5 singing for church. He graduated from Jacksonville University with a degree in Music Theatre, and spent a few years performing at various theaters in Jacksonville and St. Augustine, Florida. He moved to Boston in 2014, currently works as a buyer for Newbury Comics, and is a loving cat dad to Rorschach Bartholomeow. He would like to thank his Eight Tracks family for being an important and loving pillar in his young adult life.

Stephen Johns The Eight Tracks Boston A Cappella

Merilla Michael

Merilla is so excited to join The Eight Tracks! She sang in church and school choirs growing up in Maine and has played piano since she was 5. She joined Enchanted a Cappella at Tufts and most recently was part of a post-collegiate group in Maine called Northern Pitch. She is a huge Taylor Swift fan and will talk about her for hours if you let her. She moved from Maine to Boston last year to work as an Associate Scientist at Biogen. Fall-themed scented candles, The Lord of the Rings marathons, and funky earrings are a few of her favorite things.

Charles Zheng

Charles is a software engineer who secretly wishes he could make music his day job and still pay the bills. He grew up in New York City, where he sang in choir and played piano. His intro to a cappella came in 2014 when he moved to Boston and joined the Northeastern Downbeats. During his time there, he served as music director for 3 years, arranged multiple ICCA competition sets, and won Outstanding Arrangement 3 separate times. Post-graduation, he now lives with his cat Sophia and is very excited to be a part of The Eight Tracks! When he is not singing, you can find him playing disc golf or at various all-you-can-eat restaurants around Boston.

Our Story and About Our Founders

Michela Booker

Rebecca (Becka for short) and Michela grew up in Salem, New Hampshire and met in high school chorus class where they shared their love for singing and became best friends.

After graduating high school, Becka attended Boston University and sang with Chordially Yours, an all-female a cappella group, and went on to co-found Common Sound, a Boston-based semi-professional a cappella group, in 2008. Meanwhile, Michela was on the other side of the city studying at Berklee College of Music and later the Boston Conservatory. She later moved to Providence, Rhode Island where she co-founded Songs for the Rhode.

In the summer of 2013, Michela moved back to Somerville, where she and Becka got lunch at Diesel Cafe and discussed the potential of singing together once again. Together they laid the foundation for what would become a small, close-knit group made up of strong individual singers with a high level of musicianship. The first iteration of the group sang together for the first time in September 2013 and named themselves the Eight Tracks.

During their time with the Eight Tracks, Michela sang mezzo-soprano, served as the music director and Emerita music director, and arranged for the group; Becka sang alto and served as the group director and finance manager.

After six years of music and friendship with the Eight Tracks, Becka and Michela retired from the group in September 2019. One of their goals when starting the group was to create a group that lived on beyond its initial incarnation. Today, the Eight Tracks continue to strive for the same level of excellence and desire for musical achievement rooted in the group’s founding.