Connect the Dots

Talking with Adam Blair about his newly indoctrinated rock-star status is like witnessing a baseball-card addict walk into the World Series locker room.

Though I couldn't actually see him traipsing Hollywood two days before he played VH1's Grammy party with suburban electro-popsters Dot Dot Dot, I clearly imagined Blair's mascara-lined eyes still wide with shock and disbelief. His voice gave it away. He sounded like a kid in Willy Wonka's candy land.

"The band has only been together for 10 months," he says incredulously, all giggles and launching into stories about high-profile shows, meeting Barack Obama and a chance Neil Patrick Harris sighting. "This is very, very, very strange."

Mere weeks ago, Dot Dot Dot stood on Hollywood's "Next Great American Band" stage as the last full-on rock band of the competition, four bands away from winning it all.

The fact that they didn't take the final prize seems arbitrary; they ultimately kicked the DIY rock-game's butt. Since leaving the show in December, the band -- singer Blair, who hails from Libertyville, guitarists Rose and Michael, bassist Little Lisa and drummer Stephan - has fallen into an indie rocker's daydream.

They played Sundance's music stage, showcased for Universal Records, chatted with various labels, played a few shows back home and signed up for the VH1 "Save the Music" party. And there's more yet to come.

"It's been a different world lately," Blair sighs.

A different world, indeed. Compared to Blair's local roots as a former member of the cover band the Fabulous Janes, Dot Dot Dot's leap to stardom landed them on a completely different planet.

Nearly a year ago, Blair approached Rose and Little Lisa of fellow cover act Catfight (former band of "American Idol" contestant Gina Glocksen) about joining the remaining Janes cast to form a cohesive, original pop act. "I've always had the biggest crush on Little Lisa and Rose," he says. "I begged them!"

Eventual TV auditions popped up a few months down the road last fall, but the band clicked immediately. "Once we all got into the room, we looked at each other and it was weird: Me, Lisa and Rose were dressed very similar," Blair laughs.

The fivesome actually played upwards of 83 shows between the time the band got together and when they arrived for "American Band" shooting in L.A.

Of course, constant local touring wasn't really a stretch for this cover-band conglomerate, which had played hundreds of shows in each band's separate heyday.

The true testament of their compatibility, though, happened when they successfully slipped out of their cover regimen and launched into the slick, synth-rocked anthems from Blair's personal songbook.

That's when reality television called. Blair twice scoffed at the idea of "Idol"-esque tryouts, first when he saw initial ads for the show and second when Michael suggested that Dot Dot Dot apply.

Even when the show's producers solicited the band's audition via their MySpace page (Blair's manager tipped off producers to Dot Dot Dot's music), Blair almost accidentally deleted them. "I am an idiot," he says now. "I forgot to check it."

The next thing they knew, Dot Dot Dot was being shipped straight to Hollywood and had landed on the Fox network's yacht at 5 a.m., en route to their first on-camera performance. A close-up of Blair's early-morning eyeliner proves he tends to prefer the dark. "The last time I was up this early," he said into the camera, "I was going to bed."

You can't help but feel excited for Blair, the ball of energy that he is, for making it this far.

He's genuinely dumbfounded by the scope of Dot Dot Dot's success and is full of stories about newfound loyalists and how sincerely pleased he feels to experience it all with his band mates. (His friends, by the way, were flying into California the day after I talked to Blair, and he sounded more excited about seeing them than he did about playing the Grammy party.)

Side note to ladies who dig the punk-glam look: Blair is single -- and shy. Blair calls Dot Dot Dot's Valentine's Day show at Chicago City Limits the "lonely hearts" show for singles. But be warned, you'll need to go to him. "They have to make the first move," he laughs. "I'm terrible."

Despite his introverted stance with girls, Blair turns his front-man moves to flirt onstage, much to notability of scene heavyweights. Not long ago, Good Charlotte's Benji Madden complimented Blair's singing and said he'd been rooting for Dot Dot Dot on TV. And one of the higher-ups from Universal told the band that their self-titled debut album, which started as a rush job to prepare themselves for the show, is full of hits.

Though they're tied to the "American Band" label for a few more months, Dot Dot Dot anxiously awaits label solidification and a brand new follow-up album.

Looking back on it all, Blair says that the Fabulous Janes feel like two worlds away. When I ask about goals for the band's future, he muses over label opportunities and high-end showcase, and says: "Sure. Yeah, that sounds wonderful.

"I live by the theme of no expectation, so there's no letdown," he says. "I think I go into everything just having a good time. Kind of like a birthday or New Year's Eve."

Or a reality TV show.

Upcoming shows

Feb. 14: Chicago City Limits, Schaumburg; $10 at door

Feb. 29: John Barleycorn grand opening, Schaumburg; free