The Raven @ 258 Pleasant Street in Worcester, MA is hosting its 1st annual “The Raven” Battle of the Bands beginning on February 5, 2012. All lovers of Blues music are encouraged to attend and all are welcome. There will be a $5.00 cover charge to cover the cost of sound, promotion and cash prizes to the bands.
The Raven is a very affordable full service bar that has been promoting all genres of musico for years – formerly The Cardinal.
Each night of competition will begin promptly at 5:00 pm
The 2012 preliminary competition dates are the following: Sunday, February 12th, Sunday, March 4th, Sunday, March 25th & Sunday, April 8th.
The 2012 final competition date is Sunday, April 22, 2012.
The contest is open to blues bands/solo acts from Massachusetts, New York, Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode Island & Maine.
A hat will be passed around after each act for each band to share.
Rules & Regulations
Each band has 10 minutes to set up including sound check.
No Backline Available
If the band takes longer to set up, this will cut into their actual playing time.
If the band takes less time they can add the remainder to their set.
Each band has 40 minutes to play their set.
If the band goes over their 40 minutes, lights and sound will be shut off.
Each band has 10 minutes to tear down off stage.
No more than 4 bands will be competing in the Battle of Bands each (4) preliminary competition dates and during the (1) final championship date – see dates above.
After each night of perfomances, the bands will be given their score sheets and the winner of the nights performances announced.
The winning band/solo act each night they are scheduled to perform in the preliminary round will perform in the final round on April 22nd against the three other winners.
No person can play with more than one band/solo act.
The bands will not know what time they will be performing at until the night of their performance to discourage having their fans only show up for their playing time.
Each band will be expected to advertise “The Raven” Battle of the Bands on their website, facebook & myspace pages to encourage their fans to support the competition.
Each band is allowed to sell merchandise and music during the competition date that they are performing at – they must have their own staff doing so.
“The Raven” BATTLE OF THE BANDS will be scored by three judges with a profession in music, a musical background, or are knowledgeable and appreciative of all types of music, and will not favor their own personal preference or style.
The prize money will be awarded on April 22, 2012, after all four performances and order of finish is announced.
Selected Bands/solo acts will be informed of any changes made to these rules via email.
How To Submit Your Band/Solo Act
To submit your band/solo act you must send an email to baevents@aol.com with the answers to the following questions:
Please put in the subject of the email: Blues Band Entry-“The Raven” Battle of the Bands
The deadline for submitting your band/solo act is December 31, 2011 or sooner if the allowable band/solo act participant number is picked from the submitted bands/solo acts – 16 bands/solo acts are being picked.
1. 2-3 sample tunes performed by the band/solo act on youtube or other vid format (if you only have one a-okay)
2. official band/solo act name
3. a short band/solo act bio – 200 words or less – include band home base and where you have performed
4. a digital color or B&W photo of band/solo act for competition promotion
5. band/solo act website, facebook & myspace page addresses for competition promotion
6. band/solo act contact email & telephone number
7. band/solo act artwork for competition promotion
8. What preliminary competition dates are you available to perform – being available for any date is the most attractive
Sunday, February 12th, Sunday, March 4th, Sunday, March 25th & Sunday, April 8th.
All preliminary date winners must be available for the final round on Sunday, April 22, 2012
You will be notified by email if your band/solo act has been selected to participate in “The Raven” Battle of the Bands competition
we would love to join your battle
Hi~
I’m the drummer/dad for Zanois. We’re based in NH. We’d love to compete in your battle but according to one of the prerequisites, “The contest is open to blues bands/solo acts from Massachusetts, New York, Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode Island & Maine”, bands from NH are not included? Is this a typo or is there a reason that groups from the granite state cannot participate?
http://youtu.be/aNepP1w0Jt0
http://zanois.bandcamp.com/track/mister-minutia?permalink
Thanks!
McDad
Hi Gavin,
I’m only the music journalist who posted the Raven blues challenge as a service to the Raven, BA Events, and the music community in general. You may wish to direct your question about New Hampshire bands to BA Events.
Thank You,
Bill Copeland
BillCopelandMusicNews.com