KELSEYVILLE — K-Town arrived back in Lake County on Monday following what members of the local hip-hop group believe was a positive audition for “America”s Got Talent” last weekend.
“It was a great experience,” Taj Dedrick said of the trip to Anaheim. “We had a lot of fun. It made us appreciate Lake County a lot more, that”s for sure, because L.A. life is just hectic.”
Group members Taj and Jay Dedrick and Cody Morlan, along with the Dedricks” mother and stepfather, drove down to southern California last Thursday.
They spent part of that Friday touring the area, including a visit to Hollywood Boulevard, before preparing late into the night for the next day”s audition at the Anaheim Convention Center.
“Saturday was just intense,” Morlan said.
They remembered waking up around 3 a.m. that day and getting to the audition site at 5 a.m. with lots of performers already there.
“It”s the biggest building I”ve ever seen,” Taj said of the convention center.
“Or been in,” Jay added.
K-Town and their supporters waited in line for more than seven hours before the group finally got the call.
Taj said they auditioned in front of three producers and a cameraman. They picked one of their newest songs, “No Tomorrow,” to perform.
Morlan called it the “quickest 90 seconds” of his life.
“We did the best we could do. Nothing went wrong. Everything was smooth,” he said.
Taj added that he felt confident K-Town “might have a shot” after the producers told the group, “great job,” and one of them applauded.
“They really enjoyed us I believe. I have a good feeling about it,” he said.
The show”s representatives won”t let performers who are advancing know about their fate until January or February, according to Taj, who said the next step would be auditioning for the celebrity judges.
No matter what the panel”s final decision ends up being, K-Town will always be encouraged by its performance, according to Morlan.
“It makes us want to do what we do more. It makes us not want to quit. It makes us think we can achieve our goals,” he said.
The audition left the group members exhausted Saturday afternoon.
“We felt it was really late and it was only 1 o”clock,” Jay said.
They had planned on staying in Anaheim until Tuesday but were too tired and anxious to return home.
“I”ve never missed Kelseyville so much in my life,” Morlan said.
“L.A. is a great place if you”re there for like a couple days,” Taj added.
The K-Town caravan began driving up the state on Sunday and stayed overnight in Morgan Hill before arriving in Lake County on Monday.
After spending a few days taking it easy, the group members are now gearing up for another big show: a 50-minute set Friday at the Soper-Reese Community Theatre in Lakeport as part of “Third Friday Live.”
Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the show starts at 7 p.m. with K-Town as the second act, Taj said.
The group will also celebrate the release of its latest album, “The Three Stooges.”
Morlan said he”s looking forward to “hometown support” at tonight”s concert.
K-Town is grateful for all the help it has received from the community, the members said.
“Without Lake County supporting us, we probably wouldn”t be where we”re at because everybody just has our back and we appreciate it so much,” Taj said.
Local residents raised almost $4,000 to go toward the group”s expenses to and from Anaheim.
“It definitely made us go through our trip without any worries. We could eat dinner; we didn”t have to worry about hotels or breaking down,” Morlan said.
K-Town plans on showing its appreciation on Friday.
“We pretty much want to say ”thank you” to everybody because it wasn”t just a handful of people, it was everybody,” Taj said.
He added that the group”s Lake County following is comprised of fans of all ages and demographics.
“It”s really funny when this community is such a blues and classic rock scenery for music and to have a hip-hop group come from here, having so much support and doing what we”re doing, that”s a really big thing,” Taj said.
