Diversity rules 2009 Battle of the Bands
By Kevin W. Smith
KSMITH@AZSTARNET.COM
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 11.27.2008
The Arizona Daily Star's 2009 Battle of the Bands is literally the biggest ever.
A record total of 34 bands from 16 Southern Arizona schools entered the annual contest, now in its sixth year. The previous record was 33 bands in 2005.
Musically, this could also be our strongest and most diverse year yet. Genres represented include (take a deep breath) reggae, hip-hop, experimental, ska, screamo, pop, folk, metal, hardcore, blues, pop-punk, electro, country, funk, prog, instrumental and a whole lot of plain old rock.
To double their chances, some musicians chose to enter themselves in multiple projects.
Although it's called Battle of the Bands, solo artists were eligible. Marana High School's Steff Koeppen has jumped in both as a poppy solo artist and with her harder-rocking act Idella (also from Marana.)
Koeppen's no stranger to music competitions. In 2007 she won a national songwriting contest sponsored by TV station GAC (Great American Country) and Comcast cable that brought country artist Keith Anderson to perform at her school.
Meanwhile, Tucson High Magnet School's Jeff Evans is a returning face. He's back as part of the ska-rocking Monterey, the runner-up last year, and he's also entered as a member of High Fives for Wexler, an out-there folk duo.
Evans was also a finalist in 2007 with his folk duo Jon and Jeff.
The 2009 battle entrants also include seven visually impaired musicians from The Arizona State Schools for the Deaf and the Blind. Their band, which bounces from country to sock-hop, is called Out of Sight.
In addition to ASDB, the 34 competitors include six acts each from Catalina Foothills and University high schools, four each from Salpointe Catholic High School and Tucson High Magnet School and three from Marana High School.
Rounding out the entries are one act each from Green Fields Country Day School, Coronado Middle School, St. Gregory College Preparatory School and Catalina Magnet, Mountain View, Empire, Nogales, Desert View, Sahuarita and Cienega high schools.
It'll be tough for our panel of judges to whittle down the acts to six finalists.
The panel, which comprises local musicians and those involved in the scene, will listen to the music submitted and judge it on overall sound quality, technical skills and competence, entertainment value, originality and creativity and songwriting.
The six bands with the highest scores will be announced in Caliente on Dec. 18.
The finalists will play a warm-up show at Club Congress on Sunday, Jan. 18, in preparation for the final showdown on Friday, Feb. 20, at the Rialto Theatre.
In past years, the warm-up show has been at the Family Arts Festival.
The winner of the Arizona Daily Star's 2009 Battle of the Bands will win a huge prize package, chief of which is a Feb. 21 recording session on the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus. The winning act will also have its music entered into the national John Lennon Songwriting Competition.
Not to mention all the newspaper ink, photos and Web mentions that come with the champion.
Keep up to date with Caliente and the official Battle of the Bands blog, "The Battle Plan," on aznightbuzz.com.
Above all, good luck to all who entered!
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