Boyband Comedy Takes Final Bow

After four seasons, Nickelodeon's boy-band comedy hit "Big Time Rush" is winding down to its final episode this month.

Which is bittersweet for BTR cast member Logan Henderson.

"Everybody kind of got a little emotional. But you know what, it's been such a fun ride," said Henderson, whose character, Logan Mitchell, is always rescuing the guys from one mishap or another. "It was very much a family. We've seen these guys for four or five years, so we were getting emotional. … It was very sweet, but I think it's a nice way to wrap up this project."

So will the end of the show mean the end of BTR, the made-for TV band that transcended the small screen and became a hit with tweens and teen girls worldwide?

"That will have to be a conversation for the four of us, and we haven't had that," said Henderson, 23, during an interview to chat about the band's tour stop in Tucson next week.

"All of us, we've been doing this for quite awhile and we all have dreams and aspirations to do the next thing in our lives," he said. "We'll see if that matches up with everybody creatively and then we'll take it from there."

BTR is bringing its "Summer Break Tour" with fellow Nickelodeon star Victoria Justice to Casino del Sol's AVA on Wednesday

"It's going to basically be one big party, a big tour," Henderson said. "We've known Victoria for a really long time and she's a lot of fun. We're excited to have her in the mix."

From the beginning in 2009, Big Time Rush was meant to become a bona fide pop band. With the exception of Henderson, the cast came to the table with singing experience. Carlos Pena Jr. was actually enrolled in the Boston Conservatory when he was tapped for the BTR role. James Maslow came in with a strong musical theater background, and Kendall Schmidt was in a couple of rock bands, including Lovers Make Liars, which played the 2008 Vans Warped Tour.

"It was always supposed to be like that ... but I think never to the level of the success that we saw," said Henderson, who hinted during a phone interview two weeks ago that he is entertaining a post-BTR solo singing career in addition to acting.

"Summer Break" is BTR's third world tour, and on Tuesday, the band released its third album, "24/Seven." Henderson said the album takes the quartet to a higher artistic level than its two earlier albums - the 2010 debut "BTR" and 2011's dance-influenced "Elevate." Between them, BTR wrote all but two songs on the album, which Henderson said is a true representation of the guys outside of their TV personas.

"I would have to say '24/Seven' is a much more genuine, down-to-earth type of pop music," he explained. "We have such a huge R&B flavor for the album 'Elevate' and I know '24/Seven' was supposed to be much more down-to-earth, more classic pop. We didn't have any expectation except to make good pop music. We weren't trying to say, 'Oh, this is going to go to radio,' 'This is going to sound like this.' We just wanted to get in the studio and kind of just explore. And that's kind of really what we did."

"Summer Break" will hit a number of cities the band has never played, including Dallas in Henderson's native Texas.

"All my family will be able to see it," he said. "I work all the time, so just to see them is awesome enough."

If you go

• What: Big Time Rush and Victoria Justice in concert.

• When: 7 p.m. Wednesday.

• Where: Casino del Sol's AVA, 5655 W. Valencia Road.

• Tickets: $39.50 to $69.50, VIP $250-$325 through tickets.solcasinos.com

Source: azstarnet.com