“I went out to dinner with my parents yesterday and noticed an ad for a battle of the bands. The winner plays in London. I think we should do it. Thoughts?” asked bassist Shaun O’Loughlin at a regularly scheduled practice. “It couldn’t hurt right?” replied front man, Chris Ferrara. Looking back, entering the 2010 Hard Rock Café’s Ambassadors of Rock competition was the greatest decision Boston-based band Kingston 530 could have made. The band went on to win their region and represented Boston on the national level, finishing among the Top 3. Ferrara relives the excitement. “The dream had finally become a reality for us; this was something we were meant to do. People – not just people, but celebrity judges Stevie Van Zandt and Barry Goudreau – liked our music. Barry told Shauno’s mom that he was ‘very impressed’. I mean, that’s awesome!” Not three months later, the band took home another title winning Boston Music Spotlight’s Battle of the Bands on Friday, and then opened for the Gin Blossoms on Saturday, Sept 11th. Over the course of the next year, the band shared stages with Scott Stapp, Edwin McCain and Howie Day, and headlined Curt and Shonda Schilling’s charity event. With such a buzz being created so quickly, K530 realized they needed a tangible product to distribute among the masses. After forming in 2004 as the acoustic duo of Ferrara and rhythm guitarist, Kevin Sullivan, the release of the aptly named LP, “Long Time Coming,” is certainly something the boys can be proud of. “This means everything to me. It’s a life shift. I was on course to be a plumber, to not play music, and then we formed this band. And my life changed,” Sullivan explains with a wise-beyond-his-years air about him. Their songs are created from life experiences, both personal and from others, with lyrics that are meant to connect with the listener on all levels. These are real people making real music. The band’s style can best be described as the following – The Foo Fighters knocked up the Barenaked Ladies and their kid listened to Santana with the Dave Matthews Band at Rob Thomas’s house. Safe to say, this is a band with such an eclectic mix of musical backgrounds that their end result is a fun, refreshing sound with catchy melodies laid over crunchy, yet smooth, guitar licks laid by electric guitarist, Ben Caccia. Kingston 530’s infectiously energetic live shows have been leaving audiences smiling from New Hampshire to New York, and with the addition of new comer drummer, Mike Dawley, the boys of K530 are building on the buzz that dubbed them “one of the top bands to watch in 2011” by Boston Music Spotlight. “We all do the 9 to 5 grind. Each guy busts his hump so that, come sundown, we can help people forget about theirs for a little while,” Ferrara says. “When someone tells me how they connected to our songs or how much fun they had at our show – that’s how I know this is something we need to be doing. It’s not a music thing. That’s a life thing.”