you gotta live it big time

"Beautiful Christmas" (Acoustic) 2020 on Instagram 12.24.2020

2020-12-31T04:46:59Z

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A post shared by Big Time Rush (@bigtimerush)

"Worldwide" (Acoustic) 2020 on Instagram 6.16.2020

2020-08-15T21:08:51Z

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These challenging times around the world have made us want to connect with all of you so much. They have also made us want to stay connected with each other. We got inspired to record and sing together again seeing how many smiles our check in video created weeks back. We spent some time recently recording one of our favorite songs (safely apart) and wanted to share it with you all as our small way of saying thank you. We are sending love to all of you WORLDWIDE. Please take care of yourselves, take care of each other, pls take care of all of your fellow neighbors. We’ll be thinking about you...

A post shared by Big Time Rush (@bigtimerush) on Jun 16, 2020 at 9:22am PDT

A Message from Big Time Rush

2020-08-15T20:52:19Z

*Peeks in* Anyone still around?

Big Time Rush posted a short video on twitter on April 20, 2020.

A Message From Big Time Rush pic.twitter.com/3cba95mWlW
— Big Time Rush (@bigtimerush) April 20, 2020

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Billboard Chart Positions for September 27, 2014.

2014-09-18T19:37:25Z

Billboard 200: The week's top-selling albums across all genres, ranked by sales data as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan.

Independent Albums: The week's top-selling albums across all genres, sold via independent distribution, including those fulfilled via major branch distributors. Titles are ranked by sales data as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan.

Kendall Schmidt's profile for "A Capitol Fourth" at PBS.

2014-06-26T03:01:41Z

Heffron Drive - /ˈhef- frahn/ /drīv/

1. A band founded by Kendall Schmidt
2. An electronic pop band hailing from Burbank, California.
3. Passion.

What began in 2008 as a passion project in a bedroom studio in Burbank, California has now become a whirlwind endeavor, with energetic and dedicated fans across the globe. Kendall Schmidt, 23, is the founder of the adored electro-pop band Heffron Drive.

Schmidt’s passion for music began when he was just a child. As a youngster, he would often recite whole songs after hearing them just once on the radio. Ever the singer, he soon wanted to broaden his musical horizons. Initially he tried playing the violin and drums, but neither instrument seemed to fit. One day, however, Schmidt borrowed his brother’s guitar, and, from that point forward, he was hooked. He taught himself how to play guitar and eventually released a number of covers on YouTube, which garnered his first fans.

The initial encounter between Schmidt and Dustin Belt, a future Heffron Drive member, occurred at a screening for Schmidt’s brother’s movie in Los Angeles, California. The two became instant friends; learning that each was a musician, had been born in the same hospital in Wichita, Kansas, and currently lived on the same street in Burbank, California. The street, no surprise, was Heffron Drive. With money he earned from an acting gig, Schmidt purchased some recording gear, and the two friends embarked on a musical journey, knowing only to trust their ears and passion for music. When the question of what to name the newly formed band arose, Heffron Drive was the perfect fit. The band started uploading songs to the then popular Myspace, and, soon thereafter, received an overwhelming amount of interest. The internet was buzzing about the new band’s unique music, and it wasn’t uncommon to find the play counter hovering around 20,000 plays on any given day.

Around mid-2009, soon after the release of Heffron Drive’s music, Schmidt was asked to become the lead singer of the band Big Time Rush. He accepted, and BTR rapidly became a global phenomenon, with tens of millions of fans across the globe, millions of records and tickets sold and performances across three continents. Not wanting Heffron Drive to fall apart during his BTR success, Schmidt helped secure Belt as a tour guitarist for the group. Although extremely busy, the two still found time to create music for Heffron Drive.

With constant forward momentum, Heffron Drive is now preparing a full-scale launch into the world of irresistible electro-pop music. Combining infectious melodies, unforgettable hooks and beamingly beautiful lyrics, Heffron Drive promises to bring that lovable, relatable, missing piece of the puzzle to today’s music scene.

“Life, love, and Heffron Drive” - Heffron Drive

"A Capitol Fourth" commercial.

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Kendall Schmidt of Big Time Rush to Play "A Capitol Fourth" With Heffron Drive | @ARTISTdirect

2014-06-17T23:59:41Z

Tue 17 Jun 2014

Got Fourth of July plans? Now you do and that's to watch the PBS holiday special, since Big Time Rush and Heffron Drive member Kendall Schmidt has been asked to play PBS' A Capitol Fourth, America's Independence Day Celebration, with Heffron Drive.

So tune in or DVR that shit.

The 90-minute concert will be broadcast live from the West Lawn of the United States Capitol, with hundreds of thousands in attendance and millions more at home on PBS.

Heffron Drive will share the stage with Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Frankie Valli; multi-platinum recording artist and actress Jordin Sparks; country music superstar Sara Evans; Grammy Award-winning music legend Patti LaBelle; five-time Grammy Award-winning singer and songwriter Michael McDonald; five-time Tony Award nominee and Broadway star Kelli O'Hara; five-time Academy Award-winning composer John Williams and the National Symphony Orchestra under the direction of top pops conductor Jack Everly. The event will be hosted by two-time Emmy Award-winning television personality Tom Bergeron of Dancing with the Stars, on which Schmidt's BTR bandmate James Maslow competed this season! He was a favorite, but sadly, did not win!

Schmidt has something very special planned to honor the enormity of the event – Heffron Drive will perform alongside The National Symphony Orchestra in the presentation of "Parallel" for a once in a lifetime experience.

"It is an incredible honor to be asked to play A Capitol Fourth," Schmidt says. "The timing feels kismet as I embark on a new journey of my own with Heffron Drive, and I wanted to put together something extra special to commemorate the occasion. I have always wanted to perform with a symphony, and a hallmark event such as this is the perfect setting for something so grand. I hope everyone enjoys listening to the arrangement as much as I enjoyed creating it!"

A Capitol Fourth has become the nation's biggest birthday party and the highest-rated show on PBS. This past year's broadcast was No. 1 in PBS primetime for the second consecutive year.

What are you doing on the Fourth, which is coming up quick? How will you celebrate America's birthday?

—Maggie Pannacione
06.17.14

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James Maslow on the DWTS Finale: I Think Its Going to Be Close Between Amy, Meryl, and Candace

2014-05-25T18:50:51Z

Another one from @ParadeMagazine http://t.co/BdxoXrISwO Thanks guys!
— James Maslow (@jamesmaslow) May 20, 2014

By JAMES MASLOW

Performing the tango and freestyle
This week was pretty stressful, I’m not going to lie. It was hard to not only do two dances, but two dances with the level of technicality and difficulty we put into them. They were two of my favorite performances throughout the entire season. I think the tango was one of the strongest ballroom dances I did all season and the freestyle was insane. I landed every crazy trick that I wanted to attempt and was nervous about attempting. We envisioned this huge, gigantic, crazy performance and we did it, so I’m incredibly proud.

At the end of the day, whether I went home weeks ago, last night, or even if it was today, as long as I was proud of the performances I did I think that’s the most important thing. Nobody’s going to remember the scores, yes, they might remember the mirror ball win, but aside from that, they’re going to remember the best, most memorable dances. So I wanted the freestyle to do something different, something nobody had ever done before on the show, and I think we did that.

Saying Goodbye
I’m still dancing tonight, so it’s a much better feeling to go last night [than earlier in the season], I’m still a part of it and doing everything with the final four. It’s a good place to be, having said that though, I was a little surprised that we didn’t move on to the top three. But you know what? I’m ok with it. I’m competitive, so of course I’m a little let down—I would have liked the opportunity to continue to compete today and really have a chance for that mirror ball. The way I look at it, I would have rather liked to win or go out exactly as I did: on top with people still rooting for me. Things happen for a reason.

I think that it’s going to be close [between the final three]. It’s proof, with me leaving that it’s not necessarily going to be about the best dancer or the best performances as much as a combination of that and who the people at home are rooting for and pulling for. It’s hard to say who’s going to win at this point. I’m not going to throw my weight behind anybody.

Working with Peta all season
I think my favorite thing about Peta was the level of competitiveness that she had. I was surprised to be matched with a partner that was as competitive as I was. I think the competitiveness drove us to do as well as we did and it’s fantastic to have a partner you become that good of friends with as well. I’m not sure if that’s normal or not, I’m sure other people have become good friends with their partners, but Peta and I have something pretty special.

For the send-off package, they probably asked her that question for about two hours before they got that sound bite! You know, I’m not counting [dating Peta after the show] out. She’s an amazing girl and the biggest reason we haven’t blatantly said one way or the other is that I’m a private person and she is becoming more of a private person. We’ve given a lot of our personal lives to the audience and to our fans and there’s certain things you need to keep to yourself. My relationships throughout my life are one of the things I’m going to keep private from the world. It has nothing to do with hiding it from fans or being embarrassed or not being proud, I just need to retain a little bit of privacy for my life. She’s fantastic, we may date, we may not, I don’t even have a definitive answer for you now, but I think it’s fair to ask that we keep that stuff to ourselves.

And now time for your questions from Twitter:

@MegLew75 asks: What are your plans after #DWTS? Vacation or do you have another project coming up?
I’m trying to do both! I have so many things that I’m working on that I’m so excited for. The first one, I’m filming a recurring role on a Sony Crackle project called Sequestered and I haven’t been able to talk about it until recently. It’s coming out in the fall and I’m very excited about it. Jesse Bradford is the lead and there’s some other amazing actors in it. I think it’s going to be a fantastic show and I’m looking forward to it. I’m also working with some fantastic new songwriters on some new music. I’m not going to rush to put something out, but it will be in the relatively near future.

@MissSAADELOVE asks: Describe your DWTS journey in three words.
Exciting, exhausting, and I’m going to hyphenate these last three: well-worth-it.

"Dancing With the Stars" Finals and Finale.

2014-05-24T22:45:23Z

Big Time Rush Lost Audio! | JoJo Wright on KIIS FM

2014-05-17T17:03:48Z

.@JoJoWright found some lost @BigTimeRush audio from an interview a while back! Check it out! http://t.co/w3yTn6ZOt3
— 102.7 KIIS-FM (@1027KIISFM) May 17, 2014

Heffron Drive's "Parallel" WHBQ radio station's Hot Pick!

2014-05-17T03:08:45Z

James Maslow on Making it to the DWTS Finals: Meryl Davis Is My Biggest Competition

2014-05-15T05:30:51Z

Thanks @ParadeMagazine for this week's blog! Remember to write in #ParadeAsksJames to get your questions answered! http://t.co/GD9UvBjeP5
— James Maslow (@jamesmaslow) May 13, 2014

MAY 13, 2014 – 3:57 PM

Paying tribute to Michael Jackson
I’ve been in jeopardy the past two weeks, so knowing I was safe and knowing I was going to the finals just made doing the dances easier and a lot more enjoyable. I was nervous because at the beginning of the day I could barely walk. I had bad food poisoning the night before and I knew I would tough it out as best I could. When you’re sick, you’re sick. I was nervous about performing, especially the Michael Jackson number because I really wanted to do that song justice.

It was one of the biggest honors in my life to perform a brand-new Michael Jackson song. I think I was more nervous doing the cha cha [than the rumba] because I didn’t want to screw it up. It was a big honor, but it was also a lot of pressure, I think I did well. I know I’m the hardest person on myself, and I know there are a couple things I would have liked to hit harder and stronger, but I think it turned out well and I’m proud of this dance.

It was very nice to get another perfect score. I was ecstatic. I think it just gave me more motivation and confidence to keep going and believe in myself in terms of being a real competitor in these finals.

Saying goodbye to Charlie White
I was surprised that Candace and I were both safe and that these three amazing dancers were standing there in the red light. It was a relief too because I’ve been there and it’s not fun. It shows that this show is a combination of the score and the fan vote. I think there’s something to be said of Candace and myself, that we’re continuing to get better each week. I see that in her and I’d like to think I’m taking the judges’ advice, working harder, and getting more dance experience under my belt each week.

I was bummed and I know Peta was bummed [that Charlie was eliminated]. Sharna was probably Peta’s favorite dancer of the whole bunch. They’re all friends and those two are very close. I think it’s fair to say that Charlie has been the most supportive competitor, not just to me, but to everybody. I know he’s enjoyed the whole experience. We’ve had great conversation and every time before I’m about to perform, he’s always got the same positive energy and smile. He’s the kind of competitor I like to be around.

Making it to the finals!
We’re both really excited. Peta is ecstatic because it’s only the second time she’s been in the finals. The only other time was in her second season with Donald [Driver] and she won it. So it’s a familiar feeling for her, but she’s also that much more nervous. I’ve literally put blood, sweat, and tears into this competition and making it all 10 weeks is rewarding. We’re going to give it everything we’ve got because at this point there’s just no turning back.

Being in these finals is such an honor for me because everyone is so talented. I think Amy has a huge advantage being paired with Derek. He’s very creative with her and making what they do incredibly sharp. Meryl is an incredibly strong dancer and has the technique as an ice skater that’s obviously transitioned well to the dance floor with her and Maks. And Candace has constantly been progressing, and I think America loves seeing that. It’s really hard to say who the biggest competitor is, I guess Meryl, just in terms of dance ability.

Now time for some of your questions from Twitter!

@awbutem asks: Who was your favorite guest judge?
Kenny Ortega is pretty awesome. He’s choreographed and directed some incredibly big films — Footloose is a personal favorite of mine — and he’s somebody I’d like to work with in the future. And having Ricky [Martin] come on was pretty cool. He’s a musical icon, so just to have him sit there and give criticism and critiques… he knows what he’s talking about because he’s done it.

@MisseeKay: You’re safe! How did you celebrate last night?
By going home and going to sleep so I could feel better! It’s only really resonating with me this morning that I’m in the finals. Last night I was ready for some solid food and sleep. I’m sorry to disappoint. Peta and I are going to celebrate in terms of being happy, but there’s no slacking off. There’s not too much time for celebration at the moment—hopefully we can celebrate in a week with the mirror ball trophy.

@ChryssyChrys101 asks: What is your favorite dance so far?
Frozen is always going to be one of my favorites. Contemporary allowed me to use movements I was really comfortable with — it was such a great song and turned out to be such a great dance. And watching back the rumba from last night, I actually liked it more than I thought I would.

I’m really grateful to have such a dedicated fan base. To me, it just means the world. I know I can count on them to be there for me whether it’s something as specific as voting and keeping me in this competition or tuning in to my solo projects in the future. It’s just nice to know that they’ve stuck with me since the beginning, they’re still here, and supportive. I just want to say thank you.

Have any questions for me? Leave them in the comments section or tweet them #ParadeAsksJames and I’ll answer some of them in next week’s blog. Don’t forget to vote for #TeamJeta until 8 p.m. ET tonight online at ABC.com & Facebook! One celebrity will be sent home on next Monday’s show and the final three will advance to Tuesday’s show to decide the winner.

"Dancing With the Stars" Week 9.

2014-05-15T05:21:57Z

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James Maslow's DWTS Blog: 'I Want to Get to the Finals So We Can Do Our Freestyle'

2014-05-07T06:59:04Z

Thanks again @ParadeMagazine! #ParadeAsksJames to ask me a question in next week's blog! http://t.co/Pk7JeWGP5z
— James Maslow (@jamesmaslow) May 7, 2014

MAY 6, 2014 – 6:52 PM

Performing Two Dances
I didn’t know if I was going to like the Viennese waltz to begin with, but I think it’s one of my favorite dances. It was just graceful and felt timeless to me. Of all the dances that I’ve learned, it seemed the most knightly and a dance that I could dance at a wedding. And it did come a little easier than some other dances for whatever reason. It seemed to work for me.

Last week’s rehearsals were good. I think the package tried to play it up to be a really difficult week, but frankly, it wasn’t a more difficult week than the week before, in fact, it was maybe a little easier because I not only enjoyed our waltz, but also our jive with Amy and Derek. It was a lot of fun. And it was nice to see the guys from Big Time Rush. I really respect those guys, they’re like my family, and to have them come and support me and just have them be goofing around like we would on tour was a comfortable feeling.

That jive, I watched it back after the performance and it’s one of the cleanest dances I’ve ever done. I think that’s partially because we did keep some of the choreography simple. We did what looked good on Amy and on me and just attacked it and hit it. Since we were able to figure out the choreography relatively quickly, we were actually able to practice the dance more than I was able to practice my last team dance. And it was a nice difference from last time when we got the lowest team score. I didn’t know what to expect, but it’s nice to stand in front of the judges and get the positive feedback and comments.

Being in Jeopardy and Saying Goodbye to Danica and Val
I was sort of expecting to be in jeopardy because I was in the bottom of the leader board last week. Since I expected to be there, I didn’t think much about it by the time I was performing. Peta was definitely more nervous than me, and that’s not to say I wasn’t nervous at all—I definitely was—but she has a very tough time of hiding her facial expressions. I think partially because she was so nervous, it kind of forced me to be the stronger person in the situation. It helped me kind of laugh it off and smile a little bit.

I never had much time to converse with Danica. She was always very sweet, in fact, it turns out my old neighbor is her brother-in-law. It’s a strange family connection, but beyond that, she was really focused, and I’ve got to say, Val is the most enjoyable male performer to watch. All of them are talented, so at this point it’s completely subjective, but to me, he has the strongest lines and hits the strongest moves. I’m going to be bummed. I loved the choreography he put together.

Looking Ahead to the Next Two Weeks
There’s more pressure because there’s more dances to learn and the judges are going to be harder, so in that sense it’s going to be more stressful, but I just have to remember to have fun. I signed up for this to enjoy it and I’ve enjoyed almost every step along the way. I don’t want to let that stress take away from the experience and if we do that, I think it’s going to help us perform our best.

We’ve made it to the semifinals, which is amazing, so I just want to get through next week and get to the finals so we can do our freestyle. I now have a goal to get to the point where I’m doing a freestyle because I think that’s really a place where I can step up and impress the audience. I want to pull out any and every trick that I can use, so that might be some of the hip hop choreography that I’m more comfortable doing, it might be some flips I haven’t done yet on the show, whatever is unique that I can do that would help separate me from the other dances.

And now time for some of your questions from Facebook and Twitter:

@EricSaadeRu asks: What did you like the most about the duel dance with Amy and Derek?
First of all, I actually really enjoyed our song. It’s a song I wasn’t familiar with, but now I’m a fan. I also loved just how fun it was to work with Amy, it was a new challenge. With Peta, it’s hard enough for me to learn a dance from a professional dancer, but it almost took the pressure off because neither one of us is a professional dancer. Instead of having a dancer to try and match, we were both like, ‘you know what? We’re just going to have fun.’ And because of that it turned into the closest I’ve experienced of what it’s like to dance with another normal person.

@LoveLaughLogan asks: You danced the Viennese waltz better than most of the people over here in Vienna. Was it difficult for you?
Aww, that’s very sweet. I don’t know what to say. I try and give my best each time and the one frustrating comment I keep getting from the judges, I think it was Len, is to have straight legs. As far as I know, the entire dance is bent knees and throughout the entire dance I’m thinking to bend my knees, so it was a strange comment, but beyond that I need to work on a couple things, but I think it came naturally. I really enjoyed it.

Week 8 of "Dancing With the Stars".

2014-05-07T06:51:45Z

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Webheads: Coming Soon! | Nick Videos

2014-05-06T19:10:16Z

We've got a brand new game show premiering on June 2 and @thecarlospena will be hosting it! http://t.co/VuAUzM94hp #webheads
— Nickelodeon (@NickelodeonTV) May 6, 2014

James' "DWTS" weeks 6 & 7 blog entries.

2014-05-05T06:25:38Z

"Stress Is Definitely Building"

APRIL 22, 2014 – 1:21 PM

Getting a 35 out of 40 on our quickstep
I was very pleased with our quickstep, and if you haven’t had a chance to vote, you have until 8 p.m. ET tonight to cast your votes at ABC.com & Facebook. It was really difficult for me to get it, and not only did I get it, but I think we performed it really well. Rehearsals were more frustrating than they normally are because instead of just getting the moves, having fun, and goofing off like we usually do, we spent a lot of the time going over the same thing. The style of dance wasn’t something that just naturally resonated with my body, and figuring that out alone took several days. It just limited our time.

I think the judges were a little harsh this week. I would never want to say I deserved something more than I got because they’re the professionals, but the one thing that even I noticed was they commented about having bent knees. I talked to Peta about this and she specifically told me to have bent knees and it’s not her fault—the quickstep has bent knees. So we were focused on body contact and they didn’t say anything about that, so it’s a win in my book.

Of course, there was more pressure on us this week after getting a perfect score last week, and frankly, I worked my butt off on our quickstep last night. It’s a great dance, and it’s got to have drama and a certain effect, but it’s OK because it gives me more room to grow for the rest of the competition.

The competition is getting stiff
I was pretty sad to see Drew [Carey] go. I’ve enjoyed having Drew around. He’s such a positive guy, he’s got a great energy, and thankfully, he and I have had some really cool conversations. I’ve enjoyed having him around and he better show up to my wrap party because I’m probably going to throw a party for the cast. I think Drew and I are going to stay friends, and we both ride motorcylces, so hopefully we will be able to ride together soon.

Stress is definitely building throughout the competition. Everybody’s nice, but at the same time, everybody wants to win. We’re getting longer and more difficult songs and dances. It’s inevitable that stress is going to build. It’s crazy, especially since there are only two dudes left [myself and Charlie White]. I looked around during the elimination and we’re almost at half the group we started with, so it’s sad. The competition is fun, but it’s sad to see people you like get eliminated.

Looking forward to Latin night and performing two dances
Salsa was fun, so hopefully we can make this team dance more of that vibe. We have samba next week. I’m hoping that I get it! I might be filming something as well, so I’m really juggling a lot of balls these days. Dancing With the Stars is my priority, but if the scheduling works — then that would be fun!

Now for some of your questions from Twitter:

@Rusher12345678 asks: What’s your favorite dance you’ve learned so far?
Contemporary. I don’t think it’s so much a learned dance as much as a movement that was fun, but salsa has been my favorite that I’ve learned stylistically.

@jamazingjames asks: It’s party anthem week. What’s the most memorable party you’ve ever been to?
The most memorable party I’ve ever been to, strangely enough, was the one I threw last year about this time. I’m on a roll for throwing one big party a year and it was great. It was a wrap party for my show. I had so many friends—about 250 people between my friends and their friends. We made it frat-themed, so it was just fun and we had a good time. Even the people that you would have thought were sticklers had fun.

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"It's Getting Really Competitive"

APRIL 29, 2014 – 5:14 PM

Rehearsing and performing our sexy samba
I thought that choreography-wise our samba was pretty tight, and in terms of learning technique, it was the best I had done it all week. I’m happy with it, but a little disappointed in my scores because I thought we did a good job. It’s frustrating. I work every week to improve and I think I am improving, and Len continues to give me the same critique, which is technique. But if he had seen how I looked at the beginning of the week not knowing any of these dances, he would have been pretty impressed.

I’ve seen mostly positive comments, but some people said it might have been a little too sexy last night, but producers wanted us to take it to a place where it was so sexy it was almost controversial. Ultimately, it worked well with the night’s theme—if I didn’t take off my shirt, for example, I would have been the only guy that didn’t.

My chemistry with Peta does come naturally. We work well together and have become really good friends and the longer we do this the easier it is to perform dances. You get to know somebody on a certain level when you work with them, but beyond that, it’s nice to know them on a personal level — especially with the intimate dances that we’re doing. We’ve made a point of spending time with each other outside of rehearsal as well.

Being in jeopardy of going home and saying goodbye to NeNe Leakes
I was kind of shocked to see Charlie and myself in jeopardy. I was actually a little nervous. Charlie and I have had some of the highest scores throughout the season, I’m sure we weren’t the lowest scorers. I think they need to have some sort of drama. I’m hoping that I’m getting enough votes that they feel they can afford to put Charlie and myself in jeopardy and that people will still vote for us. I just don’t know. All I can hope is that being in jeopardy further encourages my fans and America to keep me on the show.

NeNe is really lovely. I’m sad to see her go because she’s got such a great personality. I really didn’t get to know her until this team dance. I guess on her show she plays a character because in real life she’s been nothing but sweet and hard working. We definitely had a great week together.

There’s only three weeks left, so now it’s getting really competitive. I hope everyone stays positive. Whether NeNe was on top or bottom, she never gloated and was just having fun with it. I think we all need to remember to be like that.

Two more dances next week
Next week we’re doing the Viennese waltz, which I’m really looking forward to. I think that Peta and I do well with dances like that. We’ve proven that we can do the sexy dances when we need to, but I think it’s going to be nice to have a change and to have a classic dance and a classy approach to how we do it. We’ve also got another group dance next week, but unfortunately I can’t share any details about it.

Wishing Amy Purdy Well
We reached out to Derek last night and he said it looks like Amy’s going to be ok, but they still don’t know what’s wrong. I think he’s being optimistic. I believe he saw her, but I don’t think they know exactly what it is yet. I don’t want to speak out of turn, but I’m praying that it’s nothing major and she will be ok.

Now for some of your questions from Twitter:

@biancaaddison asks: What’s the best and worst part of learning a new dance?
The worst part is the obvious frustrations that come with not only trying to get your body to move in a new way, but often in a way that is really different and counterproductive from all of the work you’ve previously learned. That was the tough thing with samba. I’ve done nothing but heel leads — where you step with your heel first on the ground — that’s how technical we get, and in samba your toe has to lead. As simple as it sounds, muscle memory is trying to do that every time, which is really difficult. But the best part is when you actually get through the whole dance and say “I can do this.”

@jornalist13 asks: What was your biggest challenge on Latin week?
First it was doing the hips and all of that, but I actually got comfortable with it and after that, the challenge was keeping my posture up while everything was a toe lead and pushing forward. You’re really bent in your leg for most of these movements and I naturally want to bend over. It’s like when you’re playing sports — when you sprint, you’re low to the ground, but this is different and you have to stay completely upright.

@MaytaCarrasco asks: How do you relax before the show?
There’s not much time to relax before the show. We do a full run-through before our guests in the audience arrive. After that, I go backstage, say hi to my dad and family, and in 30 minutes I need to be back to do the show. I try and chill in my trailer and read if I can take a moment to myself, but I try to think of it as work and say hi to everybody, then politely kick them out and spend some time with myself stretching in peace.

Have any questions for me? Leave them in the comments section or tweet them #ParadeAsksJames and I’ll answer some of them in next week’s blog.

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Week 6 and 7 episodes of "Dancing With the Stars".

2014-05-05T06:02:06Z

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Heffron Drive at 97.1 ZHT

2014-05-01T01:59:55Z

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ABC 'Dancing With the Stars' 2014 Cast & Partners: James Maslow Talks "Cute" Peta Murgatroyd

2014-05-01T01:39:21Z

It could be because of their rumored romance or because of their dancing talent; either way, team James Maslow and Peta Murgatroyd are getting a lot of attention on "Dancing with the Stars." Host Erin Andrews exacerbated this, and now she's the one with all eyes on her, although it's not always positive.

A couple of weeks ago Andrews brought Maslow and Murgatroyd's personal relationship to the cameras. The team has admitted to going on a few dates in the past, but many still wonder about the present. On stage, Andrews asked the team, "Can you tell us you're dating? I want a 'Dancing WIth the Stars' baby! You're so adorable." Maslow wasn't pleased.

"I like Erin on a personal level. On a professional level, she could be a little bit more creative," Maslow told "Today" after the episode. "We've expanded that whole Peta-and-James thing. I'm 23-years-old. I think Erin's going to have a baby long before I will."

Now, Andrews regrets the comment.

"It was bad on me," she told "Today" this week. "I was just making a statement. Peta's a really good friend. I was just being a girlie-girl fan of the show. I think that's what girls are [thinking] when they're watching."

Although the team insists they are not dating, Maslow does think fondly of his partner.

"I'm lucky because we get along very well as friends too," he told Parade. "Once we have a routine down and we finish our work, we'll go out and get a bite to eat. We have some mutual friends we hang out with ... [what distracts me is] Peta being silly, charming and cute. She'll get in her own little world, and that will distract me 'cause I'm just laughing about it ... We've kind of gathered some inside jokes through our group of friends that the producers and other friends have no idea what we're talking about, but she'll say something and it'll just have us laugh attack over."

Andrews was also criticized for asking for Tony Dovolani last week "Do you want to just take my mic and do the job for me?" Some tabloids have taken this kind of criticism and turned it into negative press.

"I'm the idiot who buys these magazines and believes everything is true, but I quickly learned that those people have absolutely no sources," Andrews said. "The producers said [they] don't make comments about [stories], and we came out and said, 'This is absolutely wrong.'"

At least co-host Tom Bergeron is on her side.

"Erin's funny, quick, intelligent and gorgeous," he told "Today." "She's at her best when she's just having fun."

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TeenNick Top 10 - Kendal - 4-18-14

2014-05-01T01:30:26Z

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Who needs a record label? Not Kendall Schmidt and here's why

2014-05-01T01:27:26Z

Who needs a record label? Not Kendall Schmidt and here's why: http://t.co/pXTqAVHTYx @UpstartTeresa @HeffronDrive @ktothe5th @TheSchmidtIndo
— Upstart Business (@upstartbusiness) April 25, 2014

The UpTake: Kendall Schmidt, who rose to fame as a member of Nickelodeon’s Big Time Rush, is moving from his network boy band days into entrepreneurship. In doing so, he is using a Brooklyn company called TuneCore and flexing his own social media muscles to sell songs. Is this where music is headed?

Kendall Schmidt, who shot to fame as the boy bandleader in Nickelodeon's Big Time Rush, learned many things in his five years of doing the show. Among them: he didn’t enjoy being with a record label.

If you didn't watch it, Big Time Rush was a series about a group of Minnesota hockey that formed a boy band. The band, also called Big Time Rush, quickly took off, and the young men in it found themselves with one sneaker in Hollywood and the other in the music business as signed artists with Sony Music’s Columbia Records. After four seasons of comic misadventures, the show aired its finale last summer, capping off a real music industry business lesson for Schmidt, now 23.

“There were hundreds of decisions being made every day and from the start we wanted to be directly involved with those decisions,” Schmidt told me via an email Q and A about his record label deal. “The problem was, there were all kinds of things slipping through the cracks due to a lack of communication between all parties.”

When he formed his new band Heffron Drive with backup guitarist and fellow Big Time Rush player Dustin Belt, he weighed a record label deal but decided to go the independent route instead. That led him to Brooklyn, N.Y.-based company TuneCore, a nine-year-old firm that places the work of independent musicians on platforms such as iTunes, Spotify and Rhapsody and leaves the marketing and 100 percent of the music revenues to the artists. Heffron Drive's first song, titled “Parallel,” was released on iTunes on March 25.

“I get to be as creative as I want to be and activate all the knowledge and relationships I've been able to gather along the way,” Schmidt said.

The musician as upstart entrepreneur seems to be on the rise, even among big stars. Beyonce went straight to her fans with a new visual album on Facebook in December, and although it was released via a partnership with Columbia Records, her arrangement is suspected to be a joint venture versus a standard 20 percent royalty deal. She also very vocally manages herself and has her own company Parkwood Entertainment. Then there is renegade musician Amanda Palmer, who raised $1.2 million Kickstarter for her new album a few years ago after getting dumped by her label.

This maverick trend sits fine with Scott Ackerman, TuneCore’s chief operating officer, who said Schmidt’s team came to him. “He and his manager were shopping around, and Kendall really liked what he heard. We worked really hard for him to get the placements on iTunes, and he’s done extremely well in the social media world,” he said.

TuneCore is a software platform used mostly by independent artists who pay an annual fee that ranges from $9.99 for a single track to $49.99 for an entire album (it’s $29.99 for first-time artists). TuneCore collects and delivers all music revenues straight to artists, who get to keep all but 30 percent cut that the online music stores typically take. TuneCore makes money through those annual fees.

“The principal of it is enabling artists to be entrepreneurs and letting them be in charge of their own music,” said Ackerman. “Traditionally, the (music) publishing business has been a brick and mortar, paper business, and we’ve brought that online.”

TuneCore distributes music to streaming services such as Spotify and tracks down the royalties that writers are entitled to when their music is played in bars, retailers or restaurants, and royalties are collected by societies around the world, such as ASCAP, BMI, SESAC and SOCAN. Few independent artists even know these entities exist, let alone know how to get money from them, which is what labels would normally do, Ackerman says. It also recently launched a YouTube business to help artists monetize any music that gets played on the video platform.

In 2013, TuneCore collected $121.3 million on behalf of its artists, up 19 percent from 2012. The company, which two years ago expanded from its headquarters in Brooklyn to an office in Burbank, California, and operates international versions of its service, with TuneCore Japan its No. 2 market. Last week it announced that it brought in $34.1 million for its artists in the first quarter of 2014 alone via nearly 1.3 billion downloads and streams, a 75 percent increase over the same period in 2013.

The catch of going with TuneCore? Without a label, artists must work hard to promote the music themselves, and Ackerman acknowledges that “some artists feel that they need the label, but many of our artists feel that they can that themselves through social media.”

In its history, it has worked with half a million mostly independent artists including Fleetwood Mac, Lindsay Stirling, and Ron Pope who in a piece he wrote for the Huffington Post about Spotify revealed that he collected $334,646 from Spotify (via TuneCore’s platform) between the time he launched on the service in September 2010 and November 2013 with more than 57 million plays.

For Schmidt, he’s confident in his social media footprint which includes 2.2 million followers on Twitter. Among the newer ones, he has discovered are Instagram (@kendallschmidt) and a new event discovery app called OverNear.

“For the last few years Twitter and Facebook have really been a great tool for promotion and overall communication with fans,” he says. “Recently, there are great new ways to stay in touch and inform people of events and concerts nearby them.”

'EXTRA' ASKS BIG TIME RUSH IF THEY WILL TOUR AGAIN

2014-05-01T01:14:31Z

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Tommy2net: Savannah Jayde

2014-05-01T01:12:25Z

New Hotline message from @ssavannahjaydee. Details about #MomsNightOut premiere w/ @ErinBethea @SammiHanratty1 http://t.co/YYrwXwB6w2
— Tommy2.Net (@Tommy2Net) April 30, 2014

Message Recorded: April 29, 2014
Topics Discussed: Savannah calls in after attending the Premiere of “Moms’ Night Out” and shares why she loved the film so much! She also reflects on her “Amazing Love” reunion with Erin Bethea, Sean Astin, and Sammi Hanratty. Plus, the latest news on her upcoming film “The Adventures of Mickey Matson and the Pirates Code.”
Stay up-to-date with Savannah Jayde online!
Facebook: Facebook.com/pages/Savannah-Jayde-official
Twitter: @SsavannahJaydee
YouTube: YouTube.com/SsavannahJaydee
Website: SavannahJayde.com

Click link above to listen!

Heffron Drive -- NEXT UP

2014-05-01T00:57:56Z

We're @1027KIISFM's #NextUp Artist of the Week! Watch the interview w/ @FreddyRivera + performance of "Parallel" http://t.co/4emlPTPYZR
— Kendall Schmidt (@HeffronDrive) April 30, 2014

WHO: Our Next Up Artist of the Week is Heffron Drive. Heffron drive consists of Kendall Schmidt, formerly of Big Time Rush and Dustin Bell.

Kendall and Dustin met at the Arclight in Hollywood long before Big Time Rush, which was on Nickelodean from 2009 - 2013. When they realized that they both had a lot in common, they decided to form Heffron Drive!

WHY: "Parallel," Heffron Drive's latest single, is a perfect mix of acoustic pop and electronic flare. Check out the exclusive performance of "Parallel" below and tell us what you think!

FUN FACT: The names Heffron Drive literally comes stems from the street they both grew up on. How cool is that?

SOUNDS LIKE: Big Time Rush meets OneRepublic.

Get to know Heffron Drive a little bit better in the exclusive interview with Freddy Rivera!

Watch here at our tumblr or at the link above.

Parallel performance

Carlos Pena Jr. Is Big Time RIPPED In This SeXXXay Shirtless Photo! See The 8-Pack Pic HERE!

2014-04-29T00:02:51Z

Ay dios mio!!!
Now THIS is how we like to start off a Friday!
That there ladies and gents is Carlos Pena Jr., one quarter of the band Big Time Rush! And he’d like to show you his BEYOND perfect bod!
Carlos was in his closet this week, posing in the mirror, when he decided those muscles were just too good not to share!
He snapped a shot for his Instagram in time for #FPF, or Fitness Photo Friday!
Shirtless pics have become a Friday tradition for Carlos! Just look at the others he snapped for #FPFs of the past (below)!
Physical fitness is clearly a must for the 24-year-old, who has also snapped shots of him and his wife Alexa Vega together after getting their pump on in the gym!
Carlos is so serious about staying in shape, he even tagged this photo:
“#muscleandfitness #cover #letsgo”

If Carlos wants the cover of Muscle and Fitness though, he’s going to have some competition from his own bandmate! Big Time Rush hottie and current Dancing With The Stars contestant James Maslow tweeted the magazine back in October, saying:

Hey @muscle_fitness when are you going to put me on the cover? #JamesonM&FCover #nofilter #morningworkout … http://t.co/9svlkxd4gt
— James Maslow (@jamesmaslow) October 29, 2013

K, these boys have srsly grown up to be dayum fine men!
Keep those post-gym selfies coming, guys!

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