My Life as a Fiddlehead
It seems as if our story was written in reverse. My mother simply entered an iPhone-taped video of a few college buddies jamming together into a local competition — without our consent I might add. The next thing I knew, we were performing in front of Howie Mandel, Piers Morgan, Sharon Osbourne, and thousands more at the Fox Theater. There was no long, uphill battle to arrive at that moment. If it were a movie, there would be no montage of us tirelessly practicing behind an 80s rock ballad. It was meant to be.
Our run on America’s Got Talent lasted a few months — four episodes total. At this point, we could hardly call ourselves a band. We were accustomed to wearing clothes handpicked by the wardrobe department, moving around onstage precisely as choreographed, and ultimately playing songs chosen by the producers. It ended after being voted off in the semi-finals, brought back for a wild card round, and voted off again. We were first beaten by a dance troupe and then by a team of jump-ropers. Mr. Piers Morgan, beloved by all, even called us a “weird little band.”
After the show, we decided that we wanted to pursue music. We had the national publicity but not much else. Coming from different musical backgrounds, we had no original material and would struggle with a twenty minute set.We didn’t know who we were, and that’s where the fun began. Were we just that good? Probably not. We were able to adapt to the absurd situations thrown our way. Five semi-strangers came together at the right time to create something unique. Over the next few years, we enjoyed some success and met some incredible people — including personal heroes — along the way. The highlight of our story was opening for Tim McGraw at the Grand Ole Opry House.
It was never easy. In fact, I now understand why your favorite bands breakup: different personalities, timetables, goals, desires, and the ever-present uncertainty of the future. But as I looked out over an audience and saw just one person (that wasn’t my mom) singing along to a tune that we composed, it made the trip worthwhile.
Originally published at fitzco.com on November 16, 2014.
