Pop emo outfit Rookie of the Year started as a solo acoustic project in the style of Dashboard Confessional, but quickly turned into a proper band by their second album. Rookie of the Year began in 2004 when Fayetteville, NC, native Ryan Dunson wrote and recorded the solo album Having to Let Go. After the album's initial self-released run, Dunson signed to the indie One Eleven Records, which reissued Having to Let Go with new cover art. In the meantime, Dunson assembled a full-band lineup of Rookie of the Year for touring purposes, backing his own vocals and acoustic guitar with Mike Kamerman on electric guitar, Pat Murphy on bass, and T.J. Holt on drums. The new and improved Rookie of the Year debuted in the spring of 2006 with The Goodnight Moon, which also featured new guitarist Brandon Schade. The newly expanded five-piece joined the summer 2006 edition of the Vans Warped Tour following the album's release.
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In the summer of 2008, The Getaways began strumming tunes and singing their hearts out in the local scene with hopes of making something of their music. This band embedded their distinctive synth-laden melodies into the very minds of fans and friends over the years. Now in 2012, this group of Maryland-based rockers have accomplished and achieved quite a lot, with no intention of slowing down. Between directly supporting and sharing bills with acts such as We The Kings, Motion City Soundtrack, Mayday Parade, Cartel, Allstar Weekend, and Family Force 5, the band has toured the east coast with Just Surrender, Spark The Rescue, This Century, The After Party, Floral Terrace and My Arcadia. The band's debut EP, "As The City Sleeps", was produced by Kory Gable (Senses Fail, The Dangerous Summer, Mercy Mercedes) at Pin Up Recording. The record documents the very synth-rock foundation the band built on for their second, more rhythmic release, "The Boldest Thought", which busted out of the gates more than a year later. Between the two releases, The Getaways have been featured in Substream Magazine, on Baltimore's 98 Rock (97.9 FM) radio station, and even signed a licensing deal with ESPN to have four songs off the first record featured during both the 2010 Lacrosse season and the 2011 College Baseball season. This, included with the band's inclusion on the Maryland date of the 2010 Vans Warped Tour, only foreshadows things to come for The Getaways in the future.
