Penn State graduate Paul Sabourin returns home with his a cappella group Da Vinci's Notebook (DVN) tomorrow night at 10 in the HUB Alumni Hall. Penn State groups The Pennharmonics and NOTA will open the show.

Sabourin, who was a member of the Dreamers of Phi Mu Alpha when he graduated in 1991, said he's very happy to see how the a cappella community has flourished since his days at University Park.

"It's great to see how it's grown," he said. "When I started, there were no [a capella] groups [at Penn State]. When I left, there were two. Those are now growing strong, and others have cropped up. It just sort of exploded right after I graduated."

Shortly after graduation, Sabourin joined an early incarnation of DVN, and has stuck with it ever since.

During his years with the group, he has written two award-winning songs and others, which have received radio play, including one single titled "Enormous Penis."

"It was our biggest hit, no pun intended," Sabourin said.

Counterculture enthusiasts may be interested to know that Da Vinci's Notebook has also written songs for the popular Web site www.homestarruner.com.

"We were huge fans of Homestar Runner and love it," he said. "A couple of years ago, before it got huge, I stalked them and tracked them down in Atlanta, and that was it."

Overall, Sabourin said he is proud of his career, highlighting performances at the Kennedy Center and the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival as some of the most memorable concerts.

One other memorable, although less proud, concert occurred this fall right at the Bryce Jordan Center when DVN opened for comiedian Tracy Morgan.

"No one knew we were going to be there," Sabourin said. "A bunch of drunk college guys didn't want to hear us singing and booed us. You haven't lived until you've been booed by about 6,000 people."

Chris Gibbons (senior-religious studies), director of NOTA, was in that show's audience and has a fonder memory of the experience.

"I saw them before Tracy Morgan," he said. "I thought they were great, and it's an honor to perform with them this weekend. It's a fantastic thing not just for NOTA, but for the a cappella community as a whole."

Both NOTA and The Pennharmonics have recently been busy completing new albums.

NOTA's will not be out until next semester, but The Pennharmonics are planning a CD release concert for May 1. The group's director, Sara Schonour (sophomore-architectural engineering), also looks at this week's concert as both an entertaining as well as a beneficial experience.

"I'm really excited because they're really funny, and it'll be fun to see all-guy a cappella," Schonour said. "It's always neat to perform with professionals and pick their brains afterward."

As for the future, Sabourin said Da Vinci's Notebook plans to cut back on touring starting around summertime, but assured that this weekend's show will be full of surprises.

"Part of the show, we'll take audience requests and give out stupid prizes," he said. "That's the best part because you never know what to expect. We pride ourselves on the fact that anything can and will happen."