Nine years is a long time to wait.

That is how long Virginia-based Carbon Leaf waited to find industry success and win an award that put it in the history books.

In 2002, the band won a Coca-Cola New Music Award that landed it a spot playing at the American Music Awards. It was here that it became the first unsigned band ever to perform at the awards ceremony.

“Externally, it was the best thing that happened to us,” says lead singer Barry Privett. “We were one of 1,000 bands that entered. Soon it was narrowed down to 100, then 50, then five, and then we heard we won. Two days later we were playing the AMAs. It was one big whirlwind.”

Internally, Privett says the best factor of the band is the friendship.

“First and foremost, we have remained friends,” Privett says. “In the beginning, we didn’t garner a big fat record deal, which I feel is a blessing in disguise because there wasn’t a big hype around us.”

Fifteen minutes of fame is not what Carbon Leaf was looking for, Privett says. After playing the American Music Awards, he says, it was back to business to set up a tour.

“We didn’t want a quick fix,” he says.

“We wanted to just keep swimming and assume it as a stepping stone.”

What the American Music Awards performance did lead to was more concert opportunities and interviews, Privett says. But eventually it was time to look toward new opportunities.

“We had done everything on our own for so long and reached the point where it was as far as we could take it,” he says. “We needed more access, so we invested all the money we could to draw attention, and it helped.”

Privett says the money and efforts went into making the band’s sixth album, “Indian Summer.” He says the album is a little more emotionally raw and deals with serious themes that he had yet to explore in depth.

“This is a heavily intense album dealing with friendship and love,” Privett says.

“I had never been so forthright and worn everything on my sleeve before.”

Also, Privett says, the band had a new approach to each track on the album.

“In the past, each track could be distinguished as bluegrass or Celtic or rock,” Privett says. “Here, it is blended more and less gimmicky.”

Those efforts paid off in the form of a record deal, and after more than a decade of performing together as an unsigned band, Carbon Leaf found a home at Vanguard Records in April.

“We knew what we did and didn’t want from a label,” Privett says. “We wouldn’t sign anything that would work against us or destroy what we were all about. It felt like a right fit, and so far it has been.”

Privett says that since “Indian Summer” was released in July, life has been busy — but the band members are making progress.

“We have such a limited amount of time in our day,” he says. “We do a radio show in the morning, set up in the afternoon, shows at night and then travel.”

Despite a busy schedule, Privett says he has high expectations for the future and tries to live by the motto “never settle.”

“If you believe in your music, there is no reason you wouldn’t want success,” he says. “Steve Martin once said, ‘Be so good that they can’t ignore you,’ and I guess that’s something we try to live by.”