It's one thing for people to find your song catchy, but it means so much more when they embrace it because it resonates with them emotionally. A greater compliment couldn't be bestowed upon the Calling's Alex Band, who bases his musical preferences on the same criteria.

"Especially in light of everything that's happened in New York in September, people are really listening to the words of ['Wherever You Will Go'] and thinking [about them]," Band said. "A lot of people are saying how much they're moved by it, which is really important to me, because that's what music is about. That's why I'm not really into heavy rock music, you know, screaming stuff. I like emotional music."

"Wherever You Will Go," about the loss of a loved one, is the first single off the Calling's debut album, Camino Palmero, which was released in July. The track recently took off — helped, no doubt, by its prominence in commercials for the film "Kate & Leopold" — and is a now top 10 single, while the album will move up 33 spots to #66 on next week's Billboard 200 albums chart with more than 269,000 copies sold to date, according to SoundScan.

Band, 19, and guitarist Aaron Kamin, 24, met when Kamin was dating Band's sister, and the pair formed the Calling's core about five years ago. The two played around the local Los Angeles scene with a band called Generation Gap that lived up to its name by featuring a 58-year-old drummer and 40-year-old bassist the guys found through the classifieds. The Gap was quick to dissolve, but Kamin and Band persevered on their musical mission.

The group's big break came when Ron Fair, then senior vice president of A&R at RCA Records, moved next door to the Bands, and the plan to get signed was hatched.

"We knew that was our in," Band said. "We drove that guy completely insane, and he finally signed us."

The two friends inked a deal nearly five years ago, based solely on a bunch of demos. They tracked Camino Palmero, named for the lucky road where the Bands resided, in the summer of 2000 with the help of locals Billy Mohler (bass), Nate Wood (drums) and Sean Woolstenhulme (guitar), brother of Lifehouse drummer Rick. Even though the group's debut LP wasn't yet available, the Calling was featured in the 2000 movie "Coyote Ugly" performing, you guessed it, "Wherever You Will Go."

The charmed nature of the Calling's path to success hasn't been lost on them. "That's the reason the band is called the Calling," Band said. "We knew this was our calling to be doing this, and things have fallen in such weird ways. It's been the most untypical evolution of a band, yet we're still here. We've made it."

After touring with Lifehouse and Michelle Branch and playing a slew of radio festivals toward the end of last year, the Calling will hit the road again, beginning with two radio shows in January and a full tour that is scheduled to start in mid-February.

The Calling tour dates, according to RCA Records (additional dates are expected):

  • 1/10 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Roxy (Star Radio Show)
  • 1/25 - Las Vegas, NV @ KIIS Radio Show
  • 2/14 - Phoenix, AZ @ Bash on Ash
  • 2/17 - Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theatre
  • 2/18 - Boulder, CO @ Tulagi
  • 2/20 - Minneapolis, MN @ Ascot Room @ Quest Club
  • 2/21 - Chicago, IL @ Park West
  • 2/22 - Indianapolis, IN @ Emerson Theatre
  • 2/23 - St. Louis, MO @ The Galaxy
  • 2/24 - Lawrence, KS @ The Bottleneck
  • 2/26 - Dallas, TX @ Trees
  • 2/27 - Houston, TX @ Engine Room
  • 3/1 - New Orleans, LA @ Parish @ House of Blues
  • 3/2 - Birmingham, AL @ Five Points Music Hall
  • 3/3 - Atlanta, GA @ Cotton Club