"Apparently she liked what she heard and asked us to open a second show. Then she and her manager Kenny Laguna decided to sign us to her label, Blackheart Records."

Jett and Laguna then invited the Vacancies — composed of Crooked, guitarist Michael James, drummer Angelo Merndino and bassist Bo Bowersmith — to New York to start recording a new album.

"We learned a lot from it all," said Crooked. "We were a bit nervous flying to New York, but when they picked us up, it was so great. We landed and called them and once we got out of the airport, Joan was running down the sidewalk to meet us."

Crooked has nothing but good to say about the sessions. "What surprised us the most was how nice a person Joan was. She and Kenny produced the album, and they were great to work with. The band was confident with the material, but we knew we needed to get it in the right hands. And we did."

The Vacancies had an abundance of new music for the new album, which would

be titled "A Beat Missing or a Silence Added." "We had written so much. We had a lot of material. And with Joan and Kenny producing it, we knew it was going to be better than our first."

Since the album's release a few months ago, the band has been on the Vans Warped Tour and done a series of headlining gigs throughout the country and is already looking to the future and a new album. "Our contract was for one album, with an option to do a second," said Crooked. "Apparently Joan and Kenny liked working with us and were already planning the new album. We've sent them some demos, and they liked what they heard."