DANVILLE, IL (Chambana Today) – Ever since he was very young, 39-year-old Jared Yates has known that he wanted to sing and entertain others. It wasn’t long before he started singing at the local mall, doing karaoke, and performing in different public places at just 14 years old. It didn’t take long for the public to recognize his talents, and he began gaining lots of support.

In 2005, his aunt convinced him to audition for American Idol in St. Louis, where he made it through to the top 12 guys in season four. “I really didn’t know what to expect,” Yates said. “There were 20,000 people who auditioned in St. Louis and 200,000 total in the country.” He said his experience on the show gave him more confidence as he kept advancing through each round. “I thought this was really big and made me think of what the possibilities were.”

Fast forward to today, Yates has seen some amazing opportunities over the years, which have brought him to where he is now. After American Idol, he was signed to a record label that was a division of Sony BMG and worked with top producers, including some who have worked with Christina Aguilera and Chris Brown. Now, he not only fronts his own band of four other top musicians that he handpicked himself, but he also manages the group. “I had my eye on certain musicians that I’ve worked with in the past.”

The band, called Radio Ready, plays Top 40 cover songs and will be appearing at the Exit 210 Saloon, near Oakwood, on August 9th at 8:30 p.m. Admission is free and open to all ages.

“We will be playing songs from the 1950s to modern hits, to country, and we cover every demographic—pop, country, and even Spanish songs. There is something for everyone,” Yates said. He added that he has received a lot of positive feedback on their shows. “People keep talking about how much they like it because we are very high energy.” The show features interactivity with fans, who simply can’t get enough of this group of musicians from California.

Radio Ready first came into existence in 2021 after Yates worked in music production in the studio as well as in another Top 40 cover band. The owner of that group gifted him the rights to the band, telling him he could re-brand it or do what he wished. Yates decided to keep it as a cover/dance party band. Since then, the group—consisting of Yates, female singer Ariss, bass player Zach Andrews, drummer Daniel Jun, and guitarist Darin Sauvey—has been on tour, playing as the house band in Hillsborough, Oregon, where they perform two shows each night at the Washington County Fair and other fairs on the West Coast.

“We’ve been asked to do more public gigs, outside of playing at country clubs and corporate events, which is a great thing because it exposes us to more people,” Yates said. “It’s kind of funny because we’ve been drawing big crowds and have fans coming to our shows wearing our merch now, which is kind of rare for a cover band!”

Yates said the band is a tight-knit group that thinks of themselves as family. “We’re always together, and when we don’t have rehearsals, we get onstage and just kind of feed off each other. It’s such a blessing to have such talented people together, and I just can’t say enough about their talent and energy. I’m so proud of them!”

After hearing about the passing of Ozzy Osbourne, they decided to do a tribute that night. “We had about five hours before our next show, so we listened to ‘Crazy Train’ and didn’t really have much time to rehearse it, but we went out on stage and played it, and everyone loved it,” he said. It was like everyone in the band could read each other. “It was pretty hard to pull off, and I’m super proud of what we’ve all built.”