Wood Dale band takes 2nd in CBS battle

Last September, musicians Adam Cieslak, Michael Murphy, Dennis Mitchell, Artie Woods and B.J. Radigan were making "cookie-cutter music" in different bands.On Thursday, the local indie rockers -- now collectively known as After Never -- fell just short of winning a national battle of the bands competition.The Wood Dale-based group's music video for "Late Night Alibi" finished second in the "Living Room ... Live! Battle of the Bands" contest hosted by CBS' "The Early Show."Support from online voters propelled the video into the final round of the contest.But in the end, After Never finished second to Atlanta-based rockers Midnight Clear. The Georgia band will perform live on Monday's show.After Never guitarist Adam Cieslak said he and his band-mates had hoped to experience a New York autumn."It's been an awesome adventure," Cieslak said after learning the results. "But this certainly was not the way we wanted it all to end."Despite losing out on the chance to perform live for a national audience, band members hope they've gotten enough exposure during the last six weeks to generate some calls from record labels."I'm confident all we need is some time with a label to showcase our stuff," Cieslak said. "Right now, they've only heard one of our songs every week. But we could win them over if they got to hear our whole set."In the meantime, After Never will focus on performing live. The band also is working to record its first album."We need to remember that we got this far in under a year," Cieslak said. "So we're going to keep that momentum rolling and keep pushing forward."