If Marshall fans continue to bring the excitement, Tonic Sol-fa will continue to come to town for the holidays.

Tonic Sol-fa is performing its holiday concert at 7:30 p.m. Thursday in the Schwan Community Center for the Performing Arts at Marshall High School.

Since 2002, the a cappella group has returned several times to Marshall. Shaun Johnson, Tonic Sol-fa's lead singer said the group carefully selects the venues for its holiday tour.

"We go back to ones we really like to do," Johnson said "Marshall has supported our music. I think we go back there solely for the people's support."

Johnson said Tonic Sol-fa performs in cities that are similar in size to Marshall, and sometimes, there will be excitement for a year or two, and then it becomes just routine.

"For some reason, that hasn't happened in Marshall," Johnson said.

Johnson said the group gets quite a few cities asking to be part of the tour mainly because of Tonic Sol-fa's PBS holiday special. The tour has gone to Kansas City to Chicago.

"We have quite a large arc," Johnson said.

Since Tonic Sol-fa started bringing its holiday shows to Marshall, the venue changed from the R/A facility at Southwest Minnesota State University to the Schwan Community Center for the Performing Arts. Johnson said it can be hard to sit on bleachers and folding chairs for a concert, so the switch was logical and easy to make.

"We did it for the acoustics and mostly for the comfort of people,"Johnson said.

Johnson said this year's holiday show will feature all brand-new songs, including a couple from Tonic Sol-fa's new album, "Just One of Those Days," which came out in August.

"Also, we have a new production," Johnson said. "It sort of reminds me of IKEA, a wintry IKEA."

The group has enjoyed a few successes this year, Johnson said, which includes a new PBS special coming out in January and having its song "SNO" downloaded 170,000 times.

"Which was cool for us as an independent musician," Johnson said.

Johnson said the group also continues to do a lot for charities, and this year, Tonic Sol-fa is focusing on "Going Red For Women," part of the American Heart Association campaign.

But mainly, Johnson said, the group is happy to get out and perform in front of an audience, especially Marshall.

"There's a lot of fans who look forward to seeing a show each year," Johnson said.