Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/115080
���I was very passionate about music, and I���m forever thankful they allowed me to go out on a limb and do something different,��� he says. ���That was a turning point in my life. I consider myself lucky to have had the opportunities and experiences I had at CMU.��� Throughout college, Dost played in various local groups and found success with the band Anathallo. After playing many local gigs at venues including New Moon Records and the Broadway Theatre, the band started gaining some regional and national attention. Dost left Anathallo when it relocated to the Chicago area. The keyboard player remained in Michigan. Soon, front man Nate Ruess, former lead singer of The Format, contacted Dost to join him and guitarist Jack Antonoff to form a little band called fun. ���Can we call it a hit?��� The band���s debut album, ���Aim and Ignite,��� was released by Nettwerk in 2009, earning modest success. From there Dost says all that he, Ruess and Antonoff planned to do next was write songs that featured the type of music they like. They started scratching out song lyrics on the beach of Lake Michigan and at his parents��� house in Frankfort. Then came the song that changed everything. In 2012 the band released its album ���Some Nights,��� featuring the single ���We Are Young.��� Before long, Dost wouldn���t be able to go anywhere without hearing his music. First ���We Are Young��� was featured on ���Glee��� and a 2012 Super Bowl Chevrolet commercial. Soon it was hanging out for six consecutive weeks atop Billboard���s ���Hot 100��� and setting single sales records. The band earned six Grammy-award nominations and high-profile performances such as on ���Saturday Night Live��� and at President Barack Obama���s inauguration gala this January. Dost swears ���Some Nights��� wasn���t intended to be a commercial success. ���We knew we liked it, but we didn���t think anything big would happen,��� he says. ���When ���We Are Young��� hit No. 1, I remember us asking our manager several times, ���Can we call it a hit?������ Staying true to his roots Mark and Cheryl Dost couldn���t be more proud of their son and his continued success. ���Andrew is a gifted musician and a gifted writer, and he���s a very hard worker,��� Cheryl Dost says. ���We knew he���d be successful at whatever he did, but I don���t think we ever could have seen success of this nature.��� Around Frankfort, a town of less than 1,300 residents, Mark Dost says the community is embracing Andrew as its local rock star. But the reality that their son is an international sensation didn���t hit until he joined Andrew for a show in Los Angeles. ���Photographers were taking photos of Cheryl and me, and when I asked the photographers, ���Why?,��� they said, ���Because you are his parents,������ Mark Dost says. ���That���s when it hit us that, ���Wow, maybe he is a star.������ Andrew Dost is enjoying his fame, but keeping himself grounded. ���The most surprising thing about the music industry is the sheer amount of work that goes into it. When you grow up singing to your hairbrush in the mirror, you never think about the work,��� Dost says. ���But I absolutely love it. And the best part is hearing people singing the songs we wrote.��� ��� Party like their ROCK STAR More than 150 people sit silently anxious in Frankfort, Mich.���s, Garden Theater waiting for Faith Hill to announce the Song of the Year Grammy winner. Mark, ���79, and Cheryl (Kozan), ���78, Dost are strategically positioned in the front center row reserved just for them. and fun. were nominated for six Grammys. They joined Frankfort resident Amy Oberski to spearhead the Garden Theater event that served as a fundraiser for the Frankfort-Elberta Area Schools��� music programs, which Dost was involved in when he attended high school. It���s a huge night for the Dosts and an even bigger moment for their son Andrew, ���05, who is nominated along with his band, fun., for this top songwriting honor. ���We knew it would be great to host a watch party, and then we realized it was the perfect opportunity to highlight our district���s music programs,��� Hammon says of the event that raised nearly $5,000. ���And the Grammy goes to ������ Hill says as she opens the envelope. Five seemingly endless seconds pass before she triggers the Garden Theater-wide eruption of cheers and tears with the words, ���We��� Are��� Young.��� It was a proud moment for the Frankfort and CMU communities alike. Frankfort residents and CMU alumni Sue Hammon, ���96, and Arah Johnson, ���94, knew a hometown celebration was in order when Dost In addition to Frankfort, CMU students celebrated the alumni Grammy connection with a watch party ��� sponsored by the Honors Program, Office of Student Life and Alumni Association ��� in Bovee University Center. By night���s end fun. won two Grammys, Song of the Year and Best New Artist. And in Frankfort and Mount Pleasant, the occasional ���Fire up, Chips!��� found its way into conversations to celebrate the shared pride in the accomplishments of two-time Grammy winner Andrew Dost. ��� centralight spring ���13 27