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SUontreat Coffee’s Student ^otce
Crunching guitar riffs,
searing cymbal crashes, and
booming bass beats filled
Anderson Auditorium last
Friday, April 15 for the
second-ever annual Battle of
the Bands at Montreat.
The battle is a musical
competition geared to
wards amateur bands. Not
only does it give fledgling
bands a great opportunity
to play in front of a crowd
and spread recognition of
their names, but the win
ner of the competition takes
home a whopping $500 cash
prize and 25 hours of studio
recording time. Additionally,
the event serves to showcase
Montreat’s Music Business
department.
The Battle of the Bands
was designed by Montreat’s
Music Business department
as an extensive hands-on
project for the Music Busi
ness Seminar class. The
whole event was organized
and run by the students in
the class, under the guidance
of Professor Kevin Auman,
program manager for the
Music Business department.
Seven different semi
local bands duked it out for
over four hours until a band
called Savannah Shoulders
(from Roanoke, VA) rose
above the pack and swiped
the first place prize. Smaller
second and third place prizes
were also awarded to the
runners up.
“I think the battle of the
bands... really demonstrates
the school’s willingness to
bring aspiring musicians
into the music industry,”
said Rob Blackwell, a musi
cian from Reidsville, NC,
who served as a judge at the
event.
“We spent a year
working on this event,”
said Paul Wasmund, a
student in the Music
Business Seminar class
and marketing manager
for the event. “Really,
as the year went on,
we figured out a lot of
things about ourselves. It
was the initiative to take
things upon ourselves to
reach our goals that was
really the hardest part.”
The Music Business
Seminar class partnered with
local radio station 106.9 The
Edge. The Edge promoted
the Battle of the Bands by
giving away free tickets and
placing an ad for the event
on their website. In return,
the Edge was given prime
advertising spots on the
event t-shirts and around
Anderson Auditorium. Ad
ditionally, Jon Matthews
from The Edge was allowed
to speak during the intermis
sion and promote The Edge.
It was the first promotional
event that The Edge has
sponsored and been
directly involved
When asked if he thinks
the Battle of the Bands is
an effective way for aspir
ing musicians to enter the
industry, Blackwell replied,
“Absolutely. My suggestion
is to have multiple ones a
year. It was that good, that
pertinent to what [Montreat]
aspires to.”
“Putting on the event and
having it all come together
as, in our minds, a huge
success was just absolutely
amazing,” said Wasmund.
“It was an experience we
^ ^ will all cherish forever.”
with.
VERSE r
■pdomH I
“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on
things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God."
Colossians 3:1 (NIV)
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