Miami University's Concert Board has been often recognized for its ability to bring major musical artists to campus before they hit big. Miami students were attendees at concerts such as O.A.R., Guster and All-American Rejects before the bands became household names.

The weekend before classes began in August, Miami played host to the band OneRepublic. The concert was held on Cook Field Aug. 17, as part of Miami's Welcome Back programming.

"We thought OneRepublic had a lot of potential and we really thought they could be one of the big bands in the upcoming years," said Andrew DeRoberts, co-chair of Concert Board.

Now, less than three months later, OneRepublic has emerged with its new single "Apologize," reaching No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts. Their album Dreaming Out Loud will be released Nov. 20.

"Apologize" features Timbaland and went platinum Nov. 6, according to a Blog entry on the band's Myspace.com page. In the same Blog entry, the members express their excitement and announce that they are No. 1 on MTV's TRL and "climbing charts at VH1, Fuse and MuchMusic."

OneRepublic's performance at Miami in August drew nearly 2,000 attendees, according to Concert Board estimates.

"We had a blast," said lead vocalist for OneRepublic Ryan Tedder. "It was a great crowd and a really good turnout. The weather was perfect and it was just awesome. We love college towns. We went out afterwards and did the bar crawl and hung out with the students."

DeRoberts also said the performance was a success.

"The concert went great and we had a great time," DeRoberts said. "The band sounded great and the fans loved them. There were a few incredible moments where fans were able to sing along to the songs and the songs are only on Myspace. It was pretty incredible that people were able to sing along to songs that were not officially released."

The songs will be officially released to iTunes and on the record Nov. 20.

Tedder and his high school classmate Zach Filkins, who plays guitar, founded the band in Colorado. The two then moved the band to Los Angeles, where they inducted Eddie Fisher, drums; Drew Brown, guitar; and Brent Kutzle, for bass, cello and vocals into OneRepublic.

Their sound suggests a large variety of influences, Tedder said.

"In terms of inspiration, it's all over the map," Tedder said. "It's everything from rock to hip-hop to soundtracks. It's a lot of British rock and American urban music and everything in between."

Tedder, besides performing with his band, has also been nominated for Grammies for music he has written for other performers. Artists such as Natasha Bedingfield, Bubba Sparxxx and Jennifer Lopez are only a few who have performed his songs. Currently, Natasha Bedingfield's new song featuring Sean Kingston, "Love Like This," was composed with help from Tedder.

The band is not currently on tour but has been performing shows across the country, including an upcoming show Nov.14 at Cincinnati's Bogart's.

"It may be a good chance for Miami students to see OneRepublic again before they become huge," DeRoberts said. "It's a great opportunity to see a band on the brink of stardom."

So far, OneRepublic has performed all over the country, including New York and California. The band does admit that they enjoy college shows over other performances.

"It's great because when you're invited to perform at a school, that means enough of the school population wants you and you have a built in audience," Tedder said. "College shows are consistently the best."

Overall, Concert Board recognizes they made a good choice in their selection for the Welcome Back concert.

"We've had success in the past with performers," DeRoberts said. "We usually try to get bands that we hope are going to hit it big and make some noise and OneRepublic looks like the perfect band and their album could really take off."