Will Burton (Gaelan Connell) is used to being bullied or completely ignored by his schoolmates, so when cool and popular former cheerleader Charlotte Banks (Alyson Michalka) starts inviting him to hang out with her, the quirky teenager is stunned—and so is his doting single mom Karen. Impressed by his eclectic knowledge of music, Charlotte, a gifted singer-songwriter, asks “Will” to manage her fledgling rock band. The goal: go head to head against her egotistical musician ex-boyfriend Ben at a regional battle-of-the-bands.
Unsure of what he’s getting himself into, “Will” agrees to help Charlotte’s off-beat trio, eventually expanding it with a crew of like-minded outcasts. Against all odds, the group’s sound starts to come together and their prospects for success look bright. Even more amazingly, Will’s loser status finally seems to be a thing of the past; he even has a potential romance brewing with a kindred spirit named Sam (Vanessa Hudgens), a classmate with untapped musical talents. But when Charlotte is faced with a family tragedy, she suddenly breaks off her friendship with “Will” and quits the band, leaving their competition chances in tatters. With Will’s new-found self-confidence on the ropes and the contest almost upon them, he and the band must choose whether to admit defeat or face the music and stand up for what they believe in.
