On January 29, 2002, exactly 10 years ago, I received my first press pass to a concert for StarShine Magazine.  It was to an Aaron Carter concert in Albany, New…

New York author, Sandy Lo releases BREAKING THE MOON, a follow-up novel to 2010’s rave reviewed DREAM CATCHERS, which spawned the song “Haley’s Letter” penned by Sandy along with musician/actor James Manzello.REAKING THE MOON continues the journey of Haley Foster and Jordan Walsh, who are both at the brink of fulfilling their dreams. Jordan’s band, Tortured is already a success before the release of their debut album while Haley is set to graduate college and begin her career as a respected photographer.

This past weekend, Sandy attended the Audrianna Bartol fundraiser.  Audrianna is a 4-year-old girl who suffers from neuroblastoma.  The fundraiser was to raise money for Audrianna’s family to help pay…

My friend Aaron Carter and I spoke on the phone recently to discuss the charity fundraiser he will be performing at on March 26th in Ronkonkoma, NY. All proceeds will go to Audrianna Bartol’s family. Audrianna is a 4-year-old girl who has been diagnosed with stage 4 Neuroblastoma, a high risk cancer that she is currently considered N.E.D. (No evidence of disease). However, with this type of cancer, it tends to come back as it has before to Audrianna. She won’t be considered to be in remission until she is cancer free for 6 years. With her growing medical bills and many setbacks, the Bartol family’s wallets and hearts have been strained.

Vote for the best music artists that have been in StarShine the past year! Polls close on December 12th. Nominees include Lady Gaga, 30 Seconds To Mars, Justin Bieber, Backstreet Boys, Goo Goo Dolls & many more!

On July 26, 2001, I was a girl fearing my future. Unsure of who I was and where I was going. All I knew then was I loved writing and entertainment. I began StarShine to overcome my fear of interviewing people. On January 29, 2002, I found myself backstage at an Aaron Carter concert, terrified and beyond excited to be given such an opportunity so early on in my journalistic career. The day was surreal. I was hanging out with Aaron and his crew and yet that was only the beginning of my 9 year journey running StarShine Magazine. From there, it was a whirlwind of Nick Lachey sneaking me into a premiere, smoking a cigar with a Backstreet Boy, having a drink spilled on me by Jesse Bradford, almost being groped by Pretty Ricky and meeting Taylor Swift before anyone knew her. The question is why would I give up all those fun, sometimes crazy experiences?

The 8th annual StarShine Music Awards (SMAs) nominees has branched out this year to include more rock-based artists like multi-platinum selling acts 30 Seconds To Mars and Goo Goo Dolls, who go head to head for many awards like Album of the Year and Artist of the Year. Also up for the big honors are tween favorite Justin Bieber and party monster Lady Gaga. Bieber grabs the most nominations with 9, setting a new record for most nominations in a year.

What’s surprising is the Backstreet Boys being acknowledged for 7 categories with their latest, slightly under the radar release, This Is Us. “We choose nominees based on their presence on www.starshinemag.com,” explains founding editor, Sandy Lo. “The Backstreet Boys were at the foundation of StarShine when we began in 2001. It’s great to see now that we have popular, fresh acts like Gaga and Bieber that we still have readers that want BSB and Aaron Carter… Read More

Aaron Carter is performing at Crash Mansion in NYC on October 17th. I chatted with him the night before to see what new developments he had up his sleeve. Although, he didn’t have details on his world tour or album yet, we talked about his fans, his SMA nominations and working with Johnny Wright again.

Back in 2002, StarShine’s coverage of Aaron Carter’s Winter Party tour put our name on the map! When he was a teen, long before Bieber fever was ailing the world, girls were yelling “Oh Aaron!” After management struggles, public family feuds and many growing pains, Aaron is rising out of the ashes from child stardom and into a 22-year-old do-it-himself music artist!

In June 2002, StarShine attended their first press room at Giants Stadium for New York’s Z100 Zootopia concert.  Editor Sandy Lo and contributing photographer, Tiffany Rodriguez were both incredibly nervous…