The second annual Battle of the Bands, hosted by KSLU 90.9 FM, will give local artists an opportunity to display their skills and compete for a slew of prizes.
The winning band will have their music played on KSLU’s Local Static show, win a $500 prize, a headlining gig at Augustine’s, record a three track demo with Firestorm Studios, get a show at Columbia Theater’s Ghostlight venue and have an interview on KSLU’s Local Static radio show.
The show will be held at Augustine’s of Downtown Hammond on May 1. Doors open at 8 p.m. and the show starts at 9 p.m. After a listening party held by the staff of KSLU, Bad Moon Lander, First Fracture, Better By Design, The Telegraph Salesmen and Yo, Picasso were the bands selected to compete in this year’s competition.
Todd Delaney says the local music scene benefited greatly from last semester’s Battle of the Bands.
“Last year’s Battle of the Bands was a huge success for each of the participants, KSLU, Augustine’s and especially the very talented local music scene,” said Delaney.
This semester KSLU is trying to get the word out about the show by encouraging people to bring their friends.
“We’re encouraging every music fan to bring a friend to the concert,” said Delaney. “They’ll be surprised and impressed by the amazing talent in our own backyard.”
Brandon Kenyon, vocalist for Yo, Picasso has been preparing for the show by practicing and polishing their songs. Fans can expect an upbeat style of music.
“Ours fans can expect to hear pretty much what they’ve been hearing at our shows as of late, a mixture of high energy indie rock with catchy dance pop,” said Kenyon. “We will be polishing a few of our current tunes to perform at the battle. We’re all super excited to play with the other bands and feel confident that it’s going to be a show you don’t want to miss.”
Yo, Picasso’s hopes for winning stem from the desire to please fans and extend their name into the community.
“Winning for Yo, Picasso would be not only an honor but an encouragement that we’re doing something right by our fans,” said Kenyon. “We would use the rewards to produce a couple of high-quality tracks to sell at shows along with new merchandise, such as stickers and shirts. Regardless of who wins what, we’re happy to be playing, and hope the best for everyone’s performance.”
The Telegraph Salesmen is another band that will be competing in this year’s Battle of the Bands. Vocalist and band founder,Carter MacFarland, says fans can expect new songs to be played at the show.
“We do have some new stuff lined up for this show, some very European swing. We don’t make a lot [from shows] because we have such a big band, everything we get we’re trying to put toward releasing a record and going on tour in either in June or July,” said MacFarland. “If we got some studio time we would use it to record some new stuff, because we’re constantly writing. We don’t usually do many pay to play events, but everybody wanted to jump in on it and they [the band] thought it would be good publicity. I’m not concerned if we win our not I think it will be good to go out there and play with friends.”