Video introduction to PowerPlay FYI and A Normal Life.

Here's a brief interview with PowerPlay FYI keyboardist, Ruben Agosto. It was recorded by Johnny Nevin (not seen) at All Over the Place Records (aotpr.com) during one of the CD mastering sessions for A Normal Life. Also not seen is, Dan Agosto. Dan and John were the mastering engineers who put the final sheen on the songs before sending them out for manufacturing. They also worked together on producing this video.

Profile: Peter Frank - Vocalist

Peter is the male lead vocalist in PowerPlay FYI. He can be heard on the band's soon to be released CD, A Normal Life. A recent review of the CD compares his voice to Robert Cray. Peter has also been compared to the likes of Luther Vandros and John Legend among others. Notably, during the 2010 - 2011 season of American Idol, Peter made it to Hollywood.

Following is a December 4, 2011 interview conducted by fellow bandmate, Ruben Agosto.

Ruben: So you went to Europe in 2010?

Peter: I sure did. I went to the Netherlands. I flew into Brussels and we drove four hours to Rotterdam and then drove to Middleburg. That's pretty much where we stayed. We toured from that location. We rehearsed in Middleburg at The Spot, this European band rehearsal place, and then we would tour all day - some bands had extra shows or would do radio interviews and would then drive back into Middleburg.

Ruben: I understand you did some stuff with Duffy or appeared with her.

Peter: Yes. Duffy was part of the tour as well. She was there for the Freedom of Music Festival. They call it the "Bevrijdings" festival in Dutch, which means freedom or liberty.

Ruben: You said something about Brian McNight too.

Peter: Yes. I was in Los Angeles last year [2010] in March. It was my Spring break at school and I went to visit some friends but I also brought a little crappy demo and some pictures and whatnot. A friend of mine was dancing at Hollywood Live and Brian McKnight happened to be the featured performer that night. He was hosting the week that I was there and basically he invited me back to sing at R&B Live the following week so I flew back to LA after being in Chicago for two days and auditioned for him one-on-one on a Tuesday and then he put me in the show on Wednesday and I performed the pre-show and post-show. It was a nice show. They shoot it in Hollywood on Sunset Boulevard.

Ruben: How about the Gospel tour you mentoned to me once - was it Washington?

Peter: I was touring with a Gospel artist by the name of Ricky Dillard and another Gospel artist by the name of Donald Lawrence. The day I came back from Europe, I went on tour with Ricky Dillard, Kurt Franklin and Yolanda Adams all at one time because they were using the same singers for many of the sets. There was this Mother's Day tour we had going for about a week and a half in the D.C. club area and, yeah, that's what we did. And we had to learn everybody's music. It was a real big headache. Don't know how I did it but...

Ruben: Then of course, you were in the Chicago Children's Choir. What was that like?

Peter: That would be a very short experience but it changed my life. I was in it from 2004 to 2005 but through this, they got me booked to sing - Luther Vandros had died in 2005, then I sang "With A Christmas Heart" by Luther Vandros at the Four Seasons and Laurence Fishburne was there and whatever happened between Laurence Fishburne and his people, they got in touch with Wyclef Jean who was coming to town and they said, "you should get this guy, he sings like Luther". Then he had me open the show with, "A House Is Not A Home" and "Redemption Song" so that was kind of cool.

Learn more about Peter and become a fan at his Reverb Nation page http://www.reverbnation.com/pfrankshow

CD Review: PowerPlay FYI - A Normal Life

Our debut original CD titled A Normal Life is complete. While the official release is a couple of months off, we've been selling it at live performances as a thank you to our loyal fans. Now the real work begins - generating some broad interest.

It's a very new world out there where Super Bowl commercials are available on the Internet weeks before game day to build some buzz. The net is also an amazing world stage where local bands like ours can look out across the globe and find who's listening. The high-tech effort is very much under way but good old fashion passing out CDs got the first result.

And so today we're excited to share the first published review of A Normal Life. It's written by Terry Flamm and posted February 22, 2012 on his Broken Hearted Toy music review blog. Take a look using the link below. Add a comment if you like and enjoy his many other great articles.

CD Review: PowerPlay FYI - A Normal Life