Boston based singer Mia Boostrom follows up her 2009 debut CD “Lately” with two new tracks distributed by Rawkstars Records.  “City Lights” and “Easy” are now available via iTunes or your favorite digital retailer.

You may recognize Mia from her successful run on NBC’s America’s Got Talent, or from [...]]]>  

Mia Boostrom Singles

Boston based singer Mia Boostrom follows up her 2009 debut CD “Lately” with two new tracks distributed by Rawkstars Records.  “City Lights” and “Easy” are now available via iTunes or your favorite digital retailer.

You may recognize Mia from her successful run on NBC’s America’s Got Talent, or from her recent stint as spokeswoman for Torrid Fashions.

First and foremost, Mia is best known for her musical prowess and other-worldly singing voice, both of which are clearly displayed on these new songs.   Recorded during the fall of 2010, Mia delivers her strongest, most mature material to date.

“We wanted to help Mia build on her past successes and the recording studio is where she really shines.” says Jonathan Jacobs, founder of Rawkstars, Inc. who co-produced and financed Mia’s first CD.

Once again, a portion of the proceeds from the digital sales of this material will benefit Rawkstars; a Boston based nonprofit offering free instruments, lessons and music education programs for kids.

“Mia is a great example of what is possible when kids have the support to pursue music and the arts.  She is immensely talented, and a powerful role model that kids and music fans of all ages can look up to.”

This week Mia Boostrom returned to school, and the usual back-to-school conversation: What did you do this summer?

While many of the 16-year-old girl’s classmates [...]]]> 09/05/2009 01:00 AM EDT By Bryan Rourke
Journal Staff Writer

Mia Boostrom as she looked in her appearance on America’s Got Talent. 

This week Mia Boostrom returned to school, and the usual back-to-school conversation: What did you do this summer?

While many of the 16-year-old girl’s classmates were watching TV, she was performing on it — again.

For the second consecutive summer, Boostrom, a junior at Dighton-Rehoboth Regional High School, rose through the ranks of tens of thousands of contestants nationwide and advanced to the semifinal pool of people on the NBC show America’s Got Talent.

“It’s kind of surreal. Now I’m back to real reality. I was in TV reality. I spent my summer as a celebrity. Now I’m in math class and I’m hoping for my next big break.”

Boostrom wasn’t given a big break. She made one, singing. Perhaps you heard her and saw her two weeks ago when she appeared on the show for the last time this year, and sang “Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen.

“You blew me away,” said Sharon Osborne, one of the show’s three judges. “It was perfectly sung, great emotion.”

“You looked beautiful,” said David Hasselhoff, another judge. “And I’m proud to say we’ve been a part of your transformation.”

Everyone remembered Boostrom from last year, when she made it to the show’s top 80 performers before being voted off. And everyone remarked how much she improved.That wasn’t a coincidence. It was work, but also a labor of love.

“This is what I want to do,” Boostrom says.

And she does it with a vengeance. Boostrom’s been taking voice lessons for five years, and been performing at open-mic nights the last three years, with increasing frequency, in Raynham, Fall River, Warren and Providence, wherever there’s an audience and microphone, be it a school night or not.

“I believe in her,” says Niña Boostrom, Mia’s mother. “She should go for her dreams. What else is there in life?”

A year ago, Mia Boostrom’s dreams were dashed when she was sent home.

“It was heartbreaking,” Boostrom says. “But I knew I couldn’t give up.”

Experience told her that. When Boostrom was 9 years old, she began singing in talent shows, and recalls a particular annual competition in Taunton that she never won, but should have.

“Every year I would go out there and every year I would lose to a model who looked better than I did in a gown but who didn’t sing as well.”

Welcome to show biz.

“It gave me a bigger perspective on things. I may not have the look America wants, but I can sing.”

Singing was Boostrom’s solace against the self-doubts of adolescence, when she felt unattractive and overweight.

“I was the first one among my friends to have hips.”

Last year when Boostrom began the audition process for the show and went to New York, along with 5,000 other people, she had the flu.

“I went into the audition with a box of tissues and a trash bag.”

Her father, Ken Boostrom went with her and marveled at the array of talent gathered in one place.

“We were in line with dog acts, belly dancers and transvestite singers.”

The judges liked Mia Boostrom’s medley of six songs, which she accompanied on piano and guitar, and invited her back the next week for a televised performance audition before a theater audience of 4,000, where she sang “Let’s Stay Together” by Al Green. Then they invited her to Las Vegas, where she sang Alicia Keyes’ “If I Ain’t Got You,” and then sent her home.

“I don’t think I was ready. I wasn’t confident enough. I was tense.”

Yes, Ken Boostrom says, his daughter was tense. “I call it crunching.” Mia sang with her body drawn in and her head down, nervous and cautious.

When Mia Boostrom was eliminated from the competition, comments from more than 1,000 people on the show’s web site encouraged her to make a comeback. And so began her Rocky-like return, seeking out and singing open-mic nights at least once or twice a week.

“I got more confident and better stage presence.”

This past year when Boostrom began the audition process again, the show’s crew and staff recognized her.

“I felt I was kind of like a celebrity, but not.”

After singing “Free Falling” by Tom Petty in Boston, and “Georgia on My Mind” by Ray Charles in New York, Mia Boostrom went to Los Angeles and vied to make it to the field of 20. She sang “Hallelujah,” which judges Osborne and Hasselhoff liked. But one judge balked: Piers Morgan, who thought Boostrom was good, but not better than the best in the now-select field of performers.

“I thought you missed some notes, especially when you went high.”

So the America’s Got Talent finals on Sept. 16 will be without Boostrom, who at 16 is now old enough to audition for American Idol, and is thinking about that for next year. But at the moment, her mind is on school, sort of.

“The other kids in school say they want to graduate. Well, I want to graduate, too. But I also want a record deal.”

Now you can buy Mia Boostrom’s album “Lately” on Rhapsody.  Go ahead and get a real nice ring tone!

If you’re a teenage musician, chances are you have a few original songs that you play for friends and family, and maybe you score a gig here and there. If you’re lucky, you might even get a chance to record your material. Of course balancing high school, adolescence and artistic potential [...]]]>

If you’re a teenage musician, chances are you have a few original songs that you play for friends and family, and maybe you score a gig here and there. If you’re lucky, you might even get a chance to record your material. Of course balancing high school, adolescence and artistic potential all at once can become overwhelming at best. See entire article…

- How did you get interested in music in the first place?-
“I was born to play music. I was rocking out as a toddler and am continuing to follow my lifelong dream of being a famous musician.”

- How long have you been performing?-
“I [...]]]>

Mia Boostrom quarter finalist in Community Auditions Star of the Day 2010

Mia Boostrom
Hometown: North Dighton, MA

- How did you get interested in music in the first place?-
“I was born to play music. I was rocking out as a toddler and am continuing to follow my lifelong dream of being a famous musician.”

- How long have you been performing?-
“I have been performing since I was 10 years old.”

-Where have you performed?-
“I have performed at the Agganis Arena with David Foster, Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas, TD Bank North Garden, The Palms Resort and Casino, Mohegan Sun, The Dunkin Donuts Center, The Manhattan Center, Rick’s Music World, FIDM, and various open mics throughout Massachusetts”

- What kind of music do you enjoy most? Any favorite songs or performers?-
“My favorite genre is soft rock/soul. I love Jason Mraz, John Mayer, and Norah Jones. I like it because I focus on the vocals.”

-How would you describe yourself to someone who does not know you?-
“I am very spontaneous. I love to talk. Music is my life and soul! I love to travel.”

-Who would you say has most inspired you?-
“As a singer, John Mayer. As a songwriter, John Lennon.”

Today’s kids are challenged like never before, with pressures at school, stress in society and too often at home. Even the most capable child can end up traveling down a road of negativity and despair. Music can be the motivation that kids need to guide them towards a [...]]]>