Chad Dawson is a hometown champ here in CT, so it was great to share the ring with him. Gary Shaw (the promoter) even said after the win that I may be their good luck charm!

Here are some pictures from the evening.

We’re back from Chicago and had an absolutely awesome time at The Next American Star National Finals. The band and I only had three days in Chicago, but managed to get to Uno’s, scarf down an Italian beef sandwich at Portillo’s, check out the Art Institute, and get around Chicago marathon traffic.

Oh, and we also rocked a street festival in the freezing cold.

We arrived in Chicago to rain on Friday morning, but that night headed over to the Crimson Lounge at the Hotel Sax, a very cool Chicago music-themed hotel. We met all of the competing bands and the Next American Star staff, and got to hear everyone play a short acoustic set, then headed over to Pete Wentz’s Angels and Kings for the after-party. It was a great way to kick off the festivities.

Saturday was the final performance at Clark/Belmont Street Fest, complete with headliner Vanilla Ice (he played at our finals at the Fillmore NYC, and once again brought the house down). My set was early in the day so I could play for the kids from the Starlight Children foundation– they made our day as much as we made theirs. The temperature was already dropping fast at 1:30– my nose was so red that you could tie me to the front of the sleigh. Despite the cold, and the wind, we played an awesome set that I felt really great about. We opened with Trust Me (as usual) and debuted a new song, Waste My Time; I’m in the middle of recording it right now and can’t wait for you all to hear it. We also made it on the local ABC 6 o’clock news! Anyone have any footage?

I could barely feel my hands when I got off stage, and I ended up going into the clothing store near the stage about 3 times to buy more layers as it got colder while waiting for Ice’s set (anyone else see the irony here?). My band also did an incredible job playing without any feeling left in their hands or faces… the crowd was into it, so that kept us warm enough.

We had Sunday free– it was a tad warmer– so we got some sight-seeing in and capped off the weekend with some late night blues at Kingston Mines before we headed home early Monday morning (thank you, Delta, for getting our instruments back and forth safely). I’ve put some photos up from the weekend, and will have some video up soon.

I want to send a big “thank you” to the entire TNAS staff for all of their hard work in making the weekend so much fun. We can’t wait to be back in Chicago.

Don’t forget that voting is open through October 31st, so we still need your votes to be The Next American Star!

View a slideshow here.

On Sunday, the band and I had a great final rehearsal at The Space with the help of my buddy Travis Bell from Adorea Studios. We were able to work out the final kinks and left feeling really confident about the show on Saturday…until I got the forecast! Now, I know Chicago can be cold in October, but the weather forecasters are saying it could snow! Hopefully the bad weather will stay away from the Street Fest on Saturday, and from our flight home Monday morning.

For those of you in the Chicago area, we’ll be playing a kick-off show at the Crimson Lounge in the Hotel Sax Chicago on Friday night, and playing at the Clark/Belmont Street Fest on Saturday at 1:30. The street fest goes on all day and all night, so come for our set, and stay for Vanilla Ice! Don’t forget, we still need everyone’s votes to win the competition, and voting has been extended through Halloween, so head over to The Next American Star to register and start giving us your supervotes once a day.

I’ll keep you updated from my twitter!

Check out the article here and leave a comment with your thoughts.

I got to stay on the field for batting practice, where I met a lot of the players and coaches– including David Wright! Jerry Manuel (manager) told me that my anthem would set the tone for the game, so, no pressure. I didn’t give them the win, but it was a great game; and hopefully David is okay (we’re on a first name basis now).

After the game, I got a private tour of the control room, where the magic happens. Thanks again to the entire Mets staff for making the day so enjoyable. We’ll be getting a video of the anthem soon.

Click on the thumbnails below to view images from the day. Or watch a fullscreen slideshow by clicking here.

I NEED YOUR HELP TO BE THE NEXT AMERICAN STAR!

You may have noticed that the band and I are playing at the Fillmore @ Irving Plaza on July 1st, and I want to fill you in on the details of the show.

I’ve been selected by fans at TheNextAmericanStar.com as an Eastern Regional Finalist, which means I move on to the finals, which will take place at the Irving Plaza show in New York City. I’ll be competing against 5 other bands for the top spot and the title of “The Next American Star” of the East Coast. Voting takes place that night, so we need to get everyone out to support me and the band! The show is also going to be videotaped, so let’s pack the place! The winner moves on to the national finals later this year.

And yes, as some of you have noticed, Vanilla Ice will be making a special appearance. You know…”ice, ice, baby”. So this is definitely going to be a party!

The show is 16+ and tickets are only $16.50 in advance, and only $11 if you get them as a 4-pack. So gather up some friends and come help us be The Next American Star! School’s out, so it may be a Wednesday night, but that’s no excuse to not hop on the train and head into the great NYC for an awesome show.

Click here for tickets

Click here to visit the facebook invite

Hope to see you at the show!
Amanda

This past Friday, the band and I had a great show opening up for The Click Five at my favorite home local venue, The Space. There was a line out the door over an hour before doors opened, and when 7PM hit, a sea of girls in Converse rushed to the front of the stage.

At first I figured all the girls in the front were there to hold their place for The Click Five’s set, but when we started playing, all the cameras went up and I could feel the energy from the crowd. We had one of our best sets in a while, and played a bunch of new songs I’ve been recording for the new album. We kicked it off with “Trust Me” (video coming soon!) and also introduced a brand new song called “Say Goodbye” which I’ll be finishing up next week in the studio (video from the studio coming soon, too!)

I’d like to thank all the fans that came up after the show— you guys were awesome! If you’re one of the people who I took a photo with, post a comment here so I can get in touch with you and add the image in the photo section.

Kyle, Ben, Joe, Joey and Ethan from the Click Five were incredibly nice and put on an amazing show.

Check out some great pictures taken by Amy Bourget of Superfan Photography