These United States, DCist's favorite local alt-country Unbuckled alums and purveyor of tour diaries, is in the running for a spot in this year's famed CMJ Music Marathon. TUS has been touring relentlessly and doing all the good stuff bands should do, but are still doing all of their booking, promotion, traveling, managing and everything else on their own. Have you seen their tour schedule lately? That's a hell of a lot of stuff to coordinate all by yourself. CMJ is just the type of gig that could introduce this group of dedicated locals to people who could set their career on the right path. Which we all want, right? Right!

So how can you help? First, become a member of Aimie Street, a site that finds the middle ground between iTunes and Facebook. They're holding a contest where members vote to send one of the site's bands to the festival. These United States are facing off against Brooklyn's The Epochs, Massachusetts' Eli Reed & The True Loves, Seattle's Blue Scholars, and New York's Casey Shea.

So, do some locals a solid and head on over to Aimie Street to vote. You've got until Thursday to push TUS into the finals. Now get to clicking!

Photo by Kyle Gustafson