Fun.

Have you ever watched an artist or a band grow and evolve? I've watched it happen numerous times as a fan of all kinds of music. For example John Mayer, when he first came out with the song "No Such Thing" I was in high school and in that song he sang about running through the halls of his high school. As a fan, it was as if I grew with John Mayer. As I got older and matured, his music was doing the same thing album after album. The same thing happened with the band Fun.

When I first became a fan of the musician Nate Ruess he was the lead singer in a small band called The Format circa 2001. Some of my friends and I would drive hours to see them perform live, because their tour lineup was so limited. As the years went on, they added more and more cities to their tour as their music became more popular. It was one of those bands that I found and loved from the beginning, and was with them every step of the way. In 2008 the band announced on their blog that they weren't going to make another album. As a huge fan I was deeply saddened by the news. I had just seen them play in my hometown not long before that and got a chance to talk to Nate and he said "we're doing big things", hence my confusion when they broke up.

Fast-forward just a few months. Nate and a few others created a new band, Fun. I instantly knew that was what he meant when he said he was doing big things. So as a fan, of course I started following this newly formed band. At first I was hesitant because the music was a bit different than what they had been creating in The Format, but I knew it was headed in the right direction. Did you watch the Super Bowl this year? If you did, I'm sure you remember hearing a song called "We Are Young" during the Chevy commercial. That was Fun. featuring Janelle Monae. After that commercial, that song was everywhere. It's on the radio just about every five minutes, in stores, dance clubs, you name it that song has everyone singing along. My mind was blown. I watched a small band for years go unnoticed, change their name, label, and style, and get connected with the right people at the right time to place their song perfectly. I watched the MTV Movie Awards last night and the opening music act was Fun. Yet again, my mind was blown. After their performance I was sitting there thinking back over the last few years and how far they've come since I've been a fan. I thought about how that one commercial made them huge, and then something else happened as I was watching TV. The next commercial break came on and I saw, well I should say heard, a new Bing commercial. I have recently discovered a newly formed folk band called The Lumineers, and have been playing their song "Ho Hey" on repeat ever since. There it was, "Ho Hey" playing on TV. I had the same feeling I had when I first saw the commercial playing Fun's music, and pictured The Lumineers opening up for an MTV award show next year. I love when bands break through and make it big, and I love being that fan from the get go, growing with them every step of the way.

Since I'm sure you've all heard Fun's song "We Are Young", I'll leave you with The Lumineers' song "Ho Hey". I hope you enjoy it, you just might hear it the next time you turn on your TV!