Ernie Ball Battle of the Bands 9 Goes Live

March 2005 – Ernie Ball is now accepting entries through May 13 for the Battle of the Bands 9, the most coveted gig of the year, through the Battle website, www.battleofthebands.com.

As the premier unsigned band network on the web, battleofthebands.com is the only place where North America’s best local bands can enter for the chance to play live on the Ernie Ball Local Heroes stage at the 2005 Vans Warped Tour, June 17 – August 14. A panel of industry judges will select four bands per Warped Tour stop to play live on the Ernie Ball stage for a total of 188 bands. A breeding ground for the best unsigned talent, Ernie Ball’s Local Heroes stage is a self-contained mobile stage equipped with a 24,000-watt sound system. The stage has featured more than 5,000 unsigned bands, including then up-and-comers Bowling For Soup, Sugarcult, Story of the Year, New Found Glory, Avenged Sevenfold, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Less Than Jake, and more. This year’s Battle of the Bands 9 winners will be sharing the stage with much-anticipated acts including My American Heart, Kane Hodder, Big D & the Kids Table, Opiate for the Masses, Bleed the Dream, The Receiving End of Sirens and Punchline.

In addition to battling for a spot on the tour, bands have two more chances to win:

1. All registered bands can win thousands of dollars in rock-n-roll music gear from Battle sponsors in the online voting competition. Fans can vote for their favorite groups at battleofthebands.com from June 25 – August 27. The top four bands will win prizes from Battle sponsors including Auralex, Boss, Coffin Case, DW, Electro-Voice, Ernie Ball/Music Man, Hartke, Kustom, Mesa/Boogie, OLP, Remo, Taylor Guitars, T.C. Electronic, Zildjian, The Music Edge, Guitar World and Guitar One.
2. Bands who make it to the Ernie Ball stage at the Vans Warped Tour also compete for the chance to be one of four showcase bands chosen to play before industry and record label executives at a major Hollywood venue in the fall ‘05. Throughout the Battle of the Bands competition, participants will be judged on performance by a group of Ernie Ball staff and sponsors, as well as Nathan Maxwell of Flogging Molly, Phil Sneed of Story of the Year, and John Feldmann of Goldfinger.

To take part in this year’s Ernie Ball Battle of the Bands competition, bands must upload photos, a band biography, and two MP3 audio files to the Battle of the Bands 9 site by May 13. For more details on sign-ups, please visit the Battle of the Bands 9 website at http://battle.ernieball.com/bb9/signup.php.

The Battle website also gives fans the opportunity to listen to a constant stream of the best unsigned music of 2005 through Battle Radio—the only internet radio station which does not require downloads or installations.

Since its debut nine years ago, the Ernie Ball Battle of the Bands has given the best local bands from North America the opportunity to showcase their talents in the world’s longest running and largest live music promotion in the music industry.

The Vans Warped Tour, the most prominent live music festival in North America, will hit 46 major venues in the United States and Canada and will feature, among others, My Chemical Romance, Thrice, Hawthorne Heights, Atreyu, and The Offspring.

The Ernie Ball Company was the first to offer rock strings with the creation of Slinkys, and further revolutionized the market by offering guitarists Custom-Gauge single strings. Ernie Ball also produces Music Man guitars and basses, volume pedals and accessories. For more information on the Battle, contact battle@ernieball.com.

SOURCE Ernie Ball Company