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
Group Director | Mezzo Soprano

Caroline is thrilled to be a part of the Eight Tracks for many years now! A local from Lexington, Massachusetts, 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 is passionate about voice and resonance, and works as a pediatric speech language pathologist in a private clinic. She has special experience in pediatric voice disorders and gender affirming voice therapy for teens and adults.

Benjamin Chang
Baritone II & Vocal Percussion

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 in Assay Development at Mercy BioAnalytics, a company focused on early-stage cancer detection.

Jackson Machesky
Tenor II

Jackson is currently (suffering as) a first-year law student at Northeastern School of Law, drowning in pages of case law when he’d much rather be drowning in pages of sheet music. Understandably, he’s incredibly excited to be joining the Eight Tracks! Moving from sunny Southern California to the considerably-less-sunny Boston in 2018, Jackson sang his way through Boston University while pursuing a Political Science degree, joining the Boston University Dear Abbeys and serving as their co-music director. In his thirty minutes of free-time every year, Jackson likes to write songs about the characters he and his friends play in their Dungeons and Dragons campaign.

Emma Roney
Soprano

Emma grew up in central New Jersey, and throughout her childhood loved to sing in and out of school, and participated in tons of theater. She moved to Boston in 2018 and became a part of the Boston College Dynamics, serving as President her senior year. She works at the Robsham Theater Arts Center as a graduate assistant and is finishing up her Master's in Higher Education at Boston College. In her free time, she enjoys reading, playing Animal Crossing, and spin classes! She is so so happy to be singing with the Eight Tracks! You can take a girl out of a cappella, but you can't take the a cappella out of the girl.

Mark Heath

Gig Manager | Baritone I

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
Assistant Music Director | Tenor I

Stephen started his musical journey in the church at the age of 5. Throughout his youth he led praise bands, performed in operas and musicals, and placed in classical competitions, eventually graduating from Jacksonville University with a BFA in Musical Theatre. In 2014, after spending a few years performing in local theaters, he relocated to Boston where he currently lives with his cat Rorschach Bartholomeow Fitz and works as a Senior Category Associate at Wayfair. He would like to thank his Eight Tracks family for being such an important and loving pillar of his community throughout his ongoing journey.

Merilla Michael

Music Director | Alto

Merilla has loved being a part of The Eight Tracks over the last couple of years. Growing up, she sang in church and school choirs in Maine and has played piano since she was 5. She joined Enchanted a Cappella at Tufts University and, before moving back to Boston in late 2020, was part of a post-collegiate group in Maine called Northern Pitch. She works at Tome Biosciences as an Associate Scientist. Fall-themed scented candles, The Lord of the Rings marathons, and funky statement earrings are a few of her favorite things.

Charles Zheng
Bass

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.