Artist of the Week: The Academy is

Here's the deal, this Thursday, wait is Thursday the 6th? Yes, this Thursday I'll have the privilege of watching this week's artist live in concert. It is the first of two shows that the band is having at the House of Blues. Tickets are still available right here, if you're interested. Any who, having seen them live before, I know the band will put on a great show. But before we get to that, if you haven't already, lets learn a little bit about them. The band originated from a suburb of Chicago, IL known as Hoffman Estates. In 2003, William Beckett(Vocals) and Michael Carden(Guitar) decided to start a band, so they added Adam T. Siska(Bass), Adrian LaTrace Jr(Guitar) and Mike DelPrincipe(Drums) to the group. The band then went into the studio and recorded their debut EP The Academy. After hearing a couple of the songs, Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy immediately signed them to his label Fueled by Ramen. In 2004 the band started recording their first album under their new label. After they finished the album and went on a tour, the band went through a line up change with Tom Conrad, replacing LaTrace and Andy Mrotek replaced DelPrincipe. Then on February 8 2005, the band released Almost Here. The album would spawn three great singles in "Checkmarks", "The Phrase That Pays" and "Slow Down". In October 0f 2006, the band had announced that they had parted ways with Tom Conrad, and would be replaced by Michael Guy Chislett. Following this, the band started working on their next album and on April 3, 2007 the band released Santi. The album would spawn three more great singles in "We've Got a Big Mess on Our Hands", "Neighbors" and "Everything We Had." Most recently, the band had been working on their third studio album titled Fast Times at Barrington High.

The album was released in August of this year and would sell over 35,000 copies in the first week alone. Most of that success can be attributed to the album's first single "About a Girl" which is one of the bands favorite songs they have ever written. After listening to the album over and over again for the last couple of months, I can't wait for the concert. That being said, this week's artist is The Academy is with their video About a Girl, enjoy.