Akon Calls His Mom, Plain White T's Call Delilah To Celebrate Grammy Nominations

Akon Calls His Mom, Plain White T's Call Delilah To Celebrate Grammy Nominations
'It's astounding and amazing and surreal,' first-time nominee Feist says of the experience.


There's the old saying about it being an honor just to be nominated. That saying no doubt holds true for the artists, composers and songwriters who landed nominations for the 50th annual Grammy Awards, but they'd also like to win.

"I had a couple of nominations last year, and I didn't win," laughed Ne-Yo, who picked up four Grammy nods on Thursday morning (December 6), including Best R&B Song for "Hate That I Love You" (featuring Rihanna) and Best R&B Vocal Performance for "Because of You." "And to get this many nominations this year, it's an honor for somebody to give you the recognition, of course, but it'd also be an honor if I win."

"Being recognized for doing something you truly love is an amazing thing, whether you win or lose," added Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine, up for two Grammys, including Best Pop Vocal Album. "I still really want to win though!"

If Ne-Yo does take home a golden gramophone or two on February 10, he said he plans to celebrate "with a lot of alcohol and a lot of friends and family."

And he wasn't the only artist planning to keep it within the fam. Akon, who received four Grammy nominations of his own, had a similar idea. "I'm calling my mom," he smiled. "She's probably going to scream, 'cause she's always said, 'You know what, you're gonna win.' "

Of course, both of those guys are certified hitmakers — and practically old pros at the Grammy game. For a host of other acts, recognized by the Recording Academy is a completely new experience — and a complete surprise.

"I grew up watching the Grammys every year and always dreamed that some day I would be there," said Tom Higgenson, frontman of Plain White T's — who scored a pair of nods, including Song of the Year, for their massive hit "Hey There Delilah." "It's funny, but before I even started writing 'Hey There Delilah,' I joked with Delilah that the song I wrote for her would be the song that made the band successful and that she'd be my date for the Grammys. Looks like I'll have to give her a call."

"I don't know how we got here, but I ain't complainin'!" exclaimed Hayley Williams, fiery frontwoman of Best New Artist nominees Paramore. "2007 hasn't stopped getting better since it started."

And that enthusiasm wasn't just limited to wet-behind-the-ears newcomers. Take, for example, the Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl, who seemed positively giddy when he spoke about his band's five nominations — including one for Album of the Year.

"That's pretty huge. We never expected to get something like that," Grohl said. "You're always surprised when you're nominated at the Grammys, because this is the real deal, this is voted on by our peers, by people who really love and understand music. But Album of the Year ... man, I don't know. Maybe Rock Album, or maybe Rock Song, but ... not Album of the Year. Man."

Or Nelly Furtado, who got all prom queen when discussing her nomination for Best Pop Vocal Performance.

"The Grammy Awards are like the senior prom of the music business, only they happen every single year," she told MTV News. "Who wouldn't want to be invited to the prom? I was prom queen in high school, so I am thrilled and honored. "

And then there are those who decided to play it cool, despite probably having no idea they'd ever end 2007 with an armload of Grammy noms. Take, for example, Canadian chanteuse Feist, whose breakout hit "1234" earned her four nods — as many as Bruce Springsteen and Rihanna — including Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and a spot in the Best New Artist category. For her, it was just another day in the wilds of the Great White North, which meant shoveling snow and baking and a whole lot of gratitude.

"This news has hit me like the blizzard I'm in the middle of, up in the Canadian woods," she wrote in a statement to MTV News. "I haven't quite absorbed it yet, so I'm going to go shovel the walk and make an apple cobbler now. [It's] astounding and amazing and surreal. Thank you."

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Plain White T's Breaking News

Either the Plain White T's just had a fight before this interview, or the Chicago pop-punks like to joke around as much as their forefathers in Green Day and Blink-182.

"We actually quit the band just now," guitarist Tim Higgenson deadpanned, pointing to fellow guitarist Dave Tirio.

Given, however, that the band is flying sky-high at the moment — with its Hey There Delilah EP hitting stores Tuesday and the Warped Tour on its summer schedule — we're going to assume Higgenson was making a joke about the revolving lineup in the group's early days.

That's ancient history nowadays, as Tirio and Higgenson have solidified a lineup that meshes (and also includes guitarist Tim Lopez, bassist Mike Retondo and drummer De'Mar Hamilton).

"It's all right, we don't really talk or anything, we just play music," Lopez deadpanned again, this time correcting himself. "No, it's great. We love each other a little too much. We're a little too touchy-feely sometimes."

The Plain White T's — named because so many of Higgenson's favorite albums feature the artists wearing plain white T-shirts in their photographs — formed in Chicago in 1997 but didn't get serious until 1999, after Higgenson survived a serious car accident. "I was driving my friend back to college in the band van," the singer recalled. "I don't remember anything, but I guess someone cut me off, so I swerved, ended up flipping over the van, and I guess I was thrown out of the van into the grass median and the van kept rolling."

Higgenson woke up the next day in the hospital but had miraculously broken only a few vertebrae. Still, he was in a back brace for three months and had to learn to walk again.


Plain White T's Photos
"It was one of those life-changing things," he said. "And that was when I started writing songs that meant a little more to me. Instead of writing songs just to write songs, I was writing songs that were a little more personal and actually meant something to me. And I think that was a turning point for the band, as far as the way the songs went. And when I got more personal with the songs, they probably meant more to the people too."

Since then, the band has slowly climbed from unsigned local favorites to nationwide indie darlings and one of Fearless Records' premiere acts (alongside Sugarcult and Rock Kills Kid). Through relentless touring and online networking (Plain White T's have nearly 3 million plays on MySpace), the band has built such a devoted fanbase that when a tour van was broken into a few a years ago, fans came to the rescue.

"We borrowed another band's equipment to play a show and we put out a little donation thing by our merchandise and we raised $100 just that night," Higgenson said. "So we set up a little P.O. box and we ended up getting a ton of cool cards and kids were drawing pictures of us. And this one girl sent us $20 that was her allowance for the month."

"Cheap parents, but generous kid," Lopez joked.

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"The cool thing was we got to go through them all and write thank-you notes to everybody," Tirio added. "So now when we see those kids at shows they come up and say, 'Oh, I sent you this when that happened.' It just brought everyone together."

Since then, the T's have been working with producer Johnny K (Disturbed, Simple Plan) on the follow-up to 2005's All That We Needed, due in September. They're releasing Hey There Delilah to tide fans over.

Plain White T's will take a break from recording this summer for half of the Warped Tour, their first time on the road with an actual tour bus.

"It gets hard in a van because you've got no place to cool off," Higgenson said.

"You're trekking your equipment across muddy fairgrounds, you don't get to sleep," Tirio said. "But they have showers, and food, so that gets you through it."

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Sara Bareilles with Plain White T's

Sara Bareilles	Plain White T's

Sara Bareilles, Plain White T's to perform Saturday at STAR Spring Concert – free!

The 2009 STAR Spring Concert, Saturday, May 9, will feature musical artists Sara Bareilles and the Plain White T's. The concert is free; tickets are not required. Concert goers will be admitted on a first-come, first-served basis.

Concert schedule:

• Sara Bareilles will perform at 7:30 p.m. in the Binz Refectory Parking Lot W on south campus. IDs will not be checked for this show.

• The Plain White T's show starts at 10 p.m. in Coughlan Field House. Students must show their UST student ID to enter the field house. One guest will be allowed per student ID (limited to the first 200 non-UST guests). Guests must bring a valid state ID.

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Before Day - Presents Enjoy the Show

Before Day Presents Enjoy the Show is a CD of contrasts, with opposing forces struggling to balance out the end result, but the more you listen, the more it becomes clear that the right side is winning.

The vocal styling on songs like "Smile" is too monotone, and the lyrics do not feel very inventive, but this is the exception to the rule. "Dream a Little" is a cute, bouncy and happy tune in the style of artists like Jason Mraz, with good storytelling; it also features a kazoo solo, which can only put a smile on your face.

There is also some good banjo picking on "Freer than Ever Before" – most of the songs maintain their roots without becoming too overly steeped in musical devices. My favorite was called "Melody," a pretty love song that sounds a little bit like the Plain White T's megahit, "Hey There Delilah."

This CD is diverse, changing it up when you least expect it, and the result is just fine with me.


From JC
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Plain White T's: a huge success

Media Credit: Jillian Bevacqua

Members of MAC and others with the Plain White T's.

The event here at the College was a stop on the Plain White T's full U.S. and Canada headlining tour with supporting acts Single File and Danger Radio. "This is a completely different show, it's not going to be the usual Plain White T's tour. We're doing things a little bit different this time," remarked lead singer Tom on the band's official website.

This "different" approach came in the form of what they band called a "three part harmony," which was not only a concert of three diverse and talented bands, but a three-act performance on the part of the Plain White T's. Their performance was split up with an acoustic section in the middle, during which the five band members sat along the edge of the stage to create a more intimate setting.

The Plain White T's clearly strove for this type of close relationship with their fans, as was seen not only in their performance but during a meet and greet that occurred in the hours before the concert. Members of the MAC Exec Board and Concert Planning Committee were able to meet the Plain White T's, get autographs, and take pictures with the band.

The student winners of WHMU's raffle for a chance to meet the band, Katie McNamara '12 and Sara Sultanak '09, were also present at the meet and greet and were given the opportunity to, with a few friends, get autographs and pictures as well.

After pictures were taken, the band headed back to their dressing room, which had been set up over the course of the weekend by the Hospitality branch of the Concert Committee, headed by Erica Langner, '11.

The rest of the committee was hard at work as well; set up for the concert had begun early that day. Patrick Fligge, '10, Production Manager, remarked after the successful event that "the concert production went very smoothly, and I enjoyed my experience working with the Plain White T's and their crew."

Andrew Horrow, '10, was head of Security. He also found the concert a success, and after a lot of preparation and hard work, expressed, "The set up was smooth this year and everyone behind the scenes did their jobs. Although it was an all day event due to the stages, lighting, sound, and band equipment coming in pieces their were no major problems. The concert was enjoyed by those who were in attendance. The crowd was well behaved and in bed by 11 p.m. after completing their homework for the next day."

As a whole, students, faculty, and local members of the community in attendance seemed to agree on the night's success. Ticket sales leading up to the concert, during which students could purchase tickets for only five dollars, estimated that roughly 700 people would be in attendance, but day-of ticket sales placed the total at roughly 900. Opening acts Single File and Danger Radio won over the crowd with fun and engaging numbers, and were greeted by numerous newfound fans at the merchandise table after the show. The Plain White T's, who went onstage around 8:30 to a roaring and energetic crowd, were enjoyed by hundreds of dancing students.

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Plain White T's Shirts and Hoodies for real!

Here are some t-shirts and hoodies with PWTs designs. The rainbow one is really cool and I'll definitely get that one soon. You guys better get your own plain white Ts now. ^_^

More designs? How to order?

CLICK HERE

PWTs will be at Hawaii

Plain White T's will be playing at Pipeline Cafe in Honolulu, Hawaii on May 14. Tickets can be purchased by clicking here: buy your tickets.