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Muse Music hosts 5-day Battle of the Bands

June 6, 2002

Muse Music hosts 5-day Battle of the Bands

Joseph Ellsworth/Universe
Gutterball performs at Muse Music for the Battle of the Bands.By Joseph Ellsworth
NewsNet Staff Writer
4 Jun 2002

This week several Provo bands will find out how they stack up against each other in a battle - not a war of words or physical valor - but of artistic creativity and live performance.

Muse Music in Provo will host the Battle of the Bands contest this week with nightly competitions from Tuesday June 4 through Saturday June 8. Sixteen bands will compete for a $150 cash prize to be awarded after Saturday night's final showdown.

Participating bands include Simple People, Jerrytown, Quiver, and Major Applewhite. Competition promoters said the event will provide public exposure to some great local musical talent that otherwise might go unnoticed.

"I think people want to know who the good bands are, and I think bands want to know for themselves how they fair against the others," said Chuck Hamm, Muse Music co-owner. "If a band wants to succeed, they've got to be criticized, judged, and compared to others."

Each night from Tuesday through Friday a group of four bands will play in front of a panel of judges as well as the live audience. The judges - who come from professional performing arts organizations and recording companies in Utah County - give each band a number score based on the following categories: tightness, crowd response, originality, stage presence, and songwriting quality.

At the end of the nightly competition, one band will be selected as that evening's winner and advance to the four-band final concert on Saturday night, where one band will win it all.

"It's probably more entertaining than any other show you'll go to. (The bands) are going to be at their best. You never know what (they're) going to do to pull out their stops," Hamm said.

Simple People rhythm guitarist and lead singer Tom Hurtado said participating bands are excited for the event and happy to be competing along side each other.

"At the BYU battle of the bands, everyone was just happy to be there," Hurtado said. "I think (this competition) will be like that. People will definitely want to be cheered for and make $150, but It's just fun to play and hang out with the other groups."

Simple People is participating in battle of the bands to let local music fans experience their music in a live performance. They also want to see how they stack up, Hurtado said.

The event has drawn sponsorship from local businesses like Dairy Queen and Infogenix.com. Dan Campbell of Infogenix.com said he supports local music and wants to help local artists promote themselves on the Internet through his interactive website development company. Campbell anticipates an exciting week of live music.

"I think it's going to be a lot of fun," Campbell said. "(Muse Music) is kind of a cool, tight, compact place, so I think it's going to be a pretty intense crowd and a good time."

Muse Music will hold Battle of the Bands through Friday with shows starting at 8 p.m. The final competition on Saturday night starts at 9 p.m. The cost for the event is $2 at the door on weeknights and $4 on Saturday night.

Source: BYU

http://newsnet.byu.edu/story.cfm/39020