Battle of the Bands!

 

Back in 2010, Jill and I were talking about putting together a special event for the heart of Lawrence Kansas. You see, I wanted to come up with my own event for "Battle of the Bands". Fortunately, the event needed a lot more work.

So when I come back to live in Lawrence Kansas, I'm gonna get together with some friends of mine and help me come up with this special event in music.

Now before I start talking about it, I wanna give you the 411 on what "Battle Of The Bands" really is here in Lawrence.

A Battle of the Bands is a contest in which many bands, usually rock or metal bands, but often musical acts from a range of different styles, compete for the title of "best band". Its history though goes back to earlier times, at least the 1930s swing era, when big band battles between famous band leaders like Chick Webb, Casa Loma Orchestra, Benny Goodman and Count Basie were regularly organised in big dancehalls, like the Savoy Ballroom. The winner is determined by a panel of judges, the general response of the audience, or a combination. The winning band usually receives a prize in addition to bragging rights. Prizes usually include cash, free recording time in a local recording studio, support or main slot at a local or large gig, a piece of new equipment, or a gift certificate. For instance, the band Phish won a battle of the bands competition in 1989 in their hometown of Burlington, Vermont, and won recording time at a local studio, which they used to record their second album Lawn Boy. Battles of bands are sometimes held as part of a live music event; they are also commonly held at high schools and universities. The term "Battle of the Bands" is a trademark in Canada, held since 1998 by the Toronto promotions company Supernova Interactive.

Now here's the real scoop on how it's done.

When we get things set up for Battle of the Bands in downtown Lawrence. We need to find a selection of the five bands to audition. Next, we select them for competition to enter in the contest. Then, we pick out the winner for them.

Okay, here are my selections of band names for the Battle of the Bands contest.

I'll give you more band logos updated as soon as possible while I take my time on that.

Anyway, moving on. For ‘Battle of the Bands’, we need a location here in the downtown Lawrence area. Here are the choices.

1. The Bottleneck

2. Replay Lounge

3. The Granada

4. South Park in Lawrence

5. Outside the Lawrence Public Library

These are the five choices of where to get the ‘Battle of the Bands’ located. If you have some info about it, please let me know. You know where to find me.

And hey speaking of which, this reminds me of something that Stephanie and I once gone to that summer here outside the library. One time Stephanie and I were together at the library after I was checking out some CDs or books, and we got to see a 'Battle of the Bands' contest here in downtown Lawrence. We saw the whole band and heard the music they were playing, and man they were rocking out loud!

The first ever ‘Battle of the Bands’ will be on fire, and it’ll be really awesome. So get this, we’ve been thinking about doing this for a very, very long time. Before that, planning on that was a lot of hard work to think of. So when we get things straightened up, we will finally get ‘Battle of the Bands’ started for the very first time. Even in Best Buddies events too.

Jill, this next one’s for you!

So for example, if I could pick one off my top five selections, it would be Canyonbrush because it would have an abstract indietronica sound that’s similar to Owl City and Death Cab For Cutie. And the artwork would be surreal and magical for the debut album. That’ll be a lot of fun, won’t it.

My other pick would also be Sundown cause ever since Dylan and I were recording something on GarageBand, we were gonna tune things up a notch. And that’s a really good thing to try. Sundown would feature a mix of indie rock and alternative pop at the same time and would have a summer surf feel to it. The artwork for the band’s debut album would be photography with a vintage feel like Hipstamatic.

Now I want you guys to help me out on planning the first ever ‘Battle of the Bands’ event because it’s another one of the new ways to help support local music here in Lawrence. And if anyone likes me blog entry on that topic, feel free to get me informed and posted on this special event so we can make this happen.

Now let’s talk about local bands in Lawrence.

One of the bands that I remember listening to is Shaking Tree. I really love listening to one of their songs, like this one called ‘Ramblins’. I love how it sounds. The first time I listened to it was the time I was in Free State High School with my teacher Mr. Andrew, and Amy Hill let me listen to the song. And I was thrilled to hear it. It was a really catchy song with a feel good vibe.

The first time I saw one of their albums was this one.

The artwork was drawn by hand on canvas.

The next band I remember listening to is Reggie and the Full Effect. Before the new album ‘Songs Not to Get Married To’, there was a video that I watched on Fuse the other day. And it featured jars of peanut butter and jelly. That song was “Congratulations Smack & Katy”. It was featured on the 2003 album, ‘Under The Tray’. Those two characters were also featured on Daily Download.

On ‘Songs Not to Get Married To’, there was also a song I jammed out to in 2006. The song was titled “Get Well Soon” and it featured a puppet of the Loch Ness monster who’s roaming around the streets of Kansas City.

That was an incredible track I love listening to when I was young.

But that’s not all. There are many more other musicians and bands from Lawrence Kansas that I grew up around.

There’s many more to check out. There’s The New Amsterdams that features The Get Up Kids’ singer Matthew Pryor. The band began as a solo project and was named after the song New Amsterdam by Elvis Costello from 1980.

The Appleseed Cast founded by the early days of emo in 1997 by singer-guitarist Christopher Crisci and drummer Louie Ruiz. The Appleseed Cast has steadily evolved over the release of eight full-length albums with Crisci as the main songwriter.

Other musicians from Lawrence Kansas are one named Sara Evans.

Sissy and Earl, formed by Michael Paull and Terri Laddusaw. Best known for their song “Mama Don’t Know”. A shout out to Terri Laddusaw and Michael Paull, this is for you guys.

And as always, it’s Carswell & Hope! They’re the guys that I know since the first time I went to see the band perform in Lawrence. I was thrilled to see his band for the very first time! I even got their first album. One of their songs I like are “Folks Like Us” and “Hunger”.

Maybe if I get lucky again, I can go see them perform in downtown Lawrence. I just wish that I can get their second album ‘Sign Of The Times’. What’s up, Nick! Here’s to you, my friend! A shout out to Nick Carswell and Jason Slote.

Made you look, huh. Keep rocking you guys, that’s all for now. Check back soon for another Lawrence blog.

Until next time, rock and roll!