Halestorm have emerged as one of rock's top acts, but it all had to start somewhere and that somewhere happened 22 years ago today. In a new posting, Lzzy Hale celebrated the occasion of the band's first talent show performance on Aug. 9, 1997.

She recalled, "Lil' bro Arejay and I entered ourselves in a talent show in Schukill County Pennsylvania. We played one song we'd written called 'Love Is Power,' complete with a drum solo in the middle (would you expect anything less?). We took home a third place trophy, losing to the tap dancing cowgirl in true Spinal Tap fashion, but that day changed everything."

Hale says that in the moment, Halestorm became everything and everything else came second. "We were just kids, but we knew there was something special. You don’t choose music, it chooses you, and this path chose us. We were willing to do whatever it takes to keep the band together, and moving forward," says Hale, adding, "We built a rotating upside-down drum kit out of steel frame, a tractor axle and a flea market drum kit so we could get on the front page of one of the local papers...after we accomplished that, we went on to whatever was next on our list. We didn’t believe in destinations or an end goal. Still don’t. It was, and still is about riding this highway of endless possibilities."

The vocalist continues, "Everything we’ve achieved as a band, are beautiful milemarkers along the way. This band isn’t just a band, and it’s not a 'career' or a 'hobby.' Halestorm is ever blooming, and has shown me just what I am capable of as a human, gives me something to fight for, to connect with, to inspire."

In true rockstar dream fashion, Lzzy recalls, "I remember a conversation @arejayhale and I had that first year of being a band, we were working on perfecting our autographs and were wondering when people would start asking for them. We talked about being like our idols and touring the world. We joked about winning a Grammy someday. Mile markers. Inspired by the the wise words of a once upon a time 10 year old Arejay. We are indeed crazy for going all in betting on a middle school rock band. But it turns out we weren’t stupid."

Hale concludes the post stating, "Thank you to my parents, to my Lil brother/partner in the low and high times. And my best friends @thejoestorm and @jodowa. Even when we need to pull over on this analogical highway to change a fan belt, or put in a whole new engine, we still get er revvin and running down the highway again. Twenty-Two years from the beginning, but we got miles and miles to go!"

Hale, credited as "Elizabeth" back then, included a variety of photos from that talent show period, including some with a still very young Arejay, publicity photos of the pair and a look at their six-song cassette titled Forecast for the Future, with the songs "I Could Fly," "Will" and "Light in the Dark" on Side A and "Think on These Things," "Reach Out" and the aforementioned "Love Is Power" on Side B. The cassette comes with credits thanking Dad "for the bass parts" and Mom for the "great backup vocals." Check out this trip down memory lane below.

These days, Lzzy and Arejay have a fully fleshed out band with Joe Hottinger and Josh Smith taking over for mom and dad. You can catch them on the road with Alice Cooper at these dates.