Using JSON object in Underscore template - Backbone.js

I am working on a calendar style backbone app, but am fairly new to it. I have been wokring on this for over 12 hrs now and still haven't been able to get my templates to populate with the JSON data.

Here is some code I've written today:

Model

var CalendarDay = Backbone.Model.extend({
    defaults: function () {
        return {
            title: "No days for this event",
            done: false
        };
    },
    initialize: function () {}
});

var calendarItem = new CalendarDay({
    urlRoot: URL
});

Collection

var Calendar = Backbone.Collection.extend({
    model: CalendarDay,
    url: URL
});

View

var CalendarView = Backbone.View.extend({
    template: _.template($('#days').html()),
    initialize: function () {
        this.collection = new Calendar();
        this.collection.fetch();
        this.collection.bind("reset", this.render, this);
        this.loadTimes();
    },
    render: function () {
        var JSON = this.collection.toJSON();
        this.$el.html(this.template(JSON));
        console.log(JSON);
    },
    listDays: function () {

    }

});

var calendarView = new CalendarView({
    model: calendarItem
});

and here is the JSON I am gett from the server:

0: Object
activity_logs: Array[0]
attendee_code: "BBNVKBGT"
attendee_fee: "0"
cego_fee: "0"
certificate_fee: "0"
created_at: "2013-02-13 11:29:03"
days: Array[1]
description: "A wonderful serenity has taken possession of my entire soul, like these sweet mornings of spring which I enjoy with my whole heart. I am alone, and feel the charm of existence in this spot, which was created for the bliss of souls like mine."
disciplines: Array[3]
done: false
fee_transaction_id: "0"
id: "102"
marketing_materials: Array[0]
messages: Array[0]
name: "My very first event"
organization_id: "1"
start_at: "2013-02-28 00:00:00"
state_id: "38"
states: Array[2]
title: "No days for this event"
updated_at: "2013-02-13 11:29:04"
venue_id: "55"

(from console.log) attached is a better view of my console log with JSON.

UPDATE: here is my stringified JSON:

    [{"title":"No days for this event","done":false,"id":"102","organization_id":"1","state_id":"38","venue_id":"55","name":"My very first event","description":"A wonderful serenity has taken possession of my entire soul, like these sweet mornings of spring which I enjoy with my whole heart. I am alone, and feel the charm of existence in this spot, which was created for the bliss of souls like mine.","start_at":"2013-02-28 00:00:00","attendee_code":"BBNVKBGT","cego_fee":"0","fee_transaction_id":"0","attendee_fee":"0","certificate_fee":"0","created_at":"2013-02-13 11:29:03","updated_at":"2013-02-13 11:29:04","activity_logs":[],"disciplines":[{"id":"1","label":"Psychologist","desc_text":null,"created":"1152725531","valid":"1","ordering":"-1","assocs":"APA","completion_only":"0","abbr":"psy","created_at":"2006-07-12 10:32:11","updated_at":"0000-00-00 00:00:00","pivot":{"id":"5","created_at":"2013-02-13 11:29:16","updated_at":"2013-02-13 11:29:16","conference_id":"102","discipline_id":"1"}},{"id":"8","label":"Alcohol/Drug Counselor","desc_text":null,"created":"1153074004","valid":"1","ordering":"3","assocs":"NAADAC","completion_only":"0","abbr":"acn","created_at":"2006-07-16 11:20:04","updated_at":"0000-00-00 00:00:00","pivot":{"id":"6","created_at":"2013-02-13 11:29:16","updated_at":"2013-02-13 11:29:16","conference_id":"102","discipline_id":"8"}},{"id":"13","label":"Massage Therapist","desc_text":null,"created":"0","valid":"1","ordering":"6","assocs":null,"completion_only":"1","abbr":"mass","created_at":"2006-07-18 12:01:31","updated_at":"0000-00-00 00:00:00","pivot":{"id":"7","created_at":"2013-02-13 11:29:16","updated_at":"2013-02-13 11:29:16","conference_id":"102","discipline_id":"13"}}],"states":[{"id":"38","code":"OR","name":"Oregon","country_code":"US","pivot":{"id":"6","created_at":"2013-02-13 11:29:16","updated_at":"2013-02-13 11:29:16","conference_id":"102","state_id":"38"}},{"id":"5","code":"CA","name":"California","country_code":"US","pivot":{"id":"5","created_at":"2013-02-13 11:29:16","updated_at":"2013-02-13 11:29:16","conference_id":"102","state_id":"5"}}],"messages":[],"marketing_materials":[],"days":[{"id":"1","conference_id":"102","happens_at":"2013-02-28 00:00:00","start_at":"0000-00-00 00:00:00","end_at":"0000-00-00 00:00:00","created_at":"2013-02-20 12:37:23","updated_at":"2013-02-20 12:37:23"}]}] 

Here is my template view:

    <script id="days" type="text/template">
            <a class="btn small-btn marginRight"></a>
    </script>

Just thought I would add here, if I use a template tag in the above such as <% title %>, I get the error Uncaught ReferenceError: title is not defined

I am exhausted, teaching myself backbone is harder than one would think. Any help to get this ball rolling again would be awesome Thank you.