ABC’s hit drama “Grey’s Anatomy” currently is using “Ocean Wide” from The Afters’ sophomore record Never Going Back to OK in promotion for the show.
The Golden Globe-winning show rakes in around 14 million viewers a week in its fifth season and features a renowned cast including Patrick Dempsey and Katherine Heigl. This will add to the band’s already impressive list of TV exposure; Lifetime TV’s “Army Wives” used “Ocean Wide” as well in early August.
The Afters also recently signed an exclusive booking contract with the well-known William Morris Agency. Founded in 1898, the William Morris Agency has offices in New York, Beverly Hills, Nashville, London, Miami Beach and Shanghai and represents artists such as the Foo Fighters, Hootie & The Blowfish, Switchfoot and Whitney Houston.
“The Afters are poised to break out as major headliners in our industry, and with the added exposure and opportunities they have had that spill over to other formats beyond Christian Music, WMA and The Afters are a perfect fit,” says William Morris Agent Mark Claassen. “We are excited to be a part of the team!”
After spending weeks at No. 1 at the CHR format, the title track “Never Going Back To Ok” is currently impacting AC radio with stations like WFHM/Cleveland, WJQK/Grand Rapids, WMUZ/Detroit and KKSP/Little Rock recently adding the single.
“Never Going Back to Ok” entered the Billboard Top 200 at No. 41 and the Contemporary Christian SoundScan charts at No. 1, selling 15,856 units. In digital sales, the project entered at No. 1 for Christian SoundScan album and track sales plus hit as high as No. 14 on the iTunes® overall digital chart and No. 4 on their Digital Rock chart. “We Are the Sound” from the new record also was used in promotion for last season’s “American Idol” with the viral video for “MySpace Girl” being featured on E! News, Seventeen.com and TV Guide Channel’s Web site. Songs from “Never Going Back to OK” also were used on the Rachael Ray show, as well as on Dr. Phil.
Releasing their debut project “I Wish We All Could Win” in 2005, The Afters received top attention from their fans and media outlets. The Afters’ music has appeared on the networks of MTV, mtvU, ABC Family and E! News, as well as on HOT AC and VH-1 radio, along with outlets such as Billboard, BOP and Popstar. The MTV college network and mtvU have been strong supporters of the band as their music video for “Beautiful Love” was awarded with an mtvU Award for Best Streaming Video in 2005. The Afters were awarded the Dove Award for “New Artist of the Year” (2006), and has had more than 250,000 downloads to date. The foursome composed of Josh Havens, Matt Fuqua, Brad Wigg and Marc Dodd, met while working at Starbucks in Mesquite, Texas.
