The Holler: State Mutual Insurance Battle of the Bands

8/9/14
DeSoto Theatre
Rome, GA 

Let me make this clear:  I absolutely hate this kind of thing.  I am not a competitive person.  I do enjoy sports on TV, and do my best whenever engaging in such, but it matters not to me who wins or loses.  That being said, I have a great band, and I knew we had an excellent chance to win, if not pull a whole lot of exposure.  Eight bands were selected.  Their music was played on The Ridge, we all appeared on the radio, fans voted for the Final Four by donating to Cancer Navigators.  The four who raised the most money went to the Performance Round at the DeSoto (which was enough for me and my guys).  There were two awards:  People's Choice (whoever raised the most money) and Judges' Choice (three judges using the following criteria:  Musicianship, Audience Engagement, Presentation, Originality, Overall Experience).  I knew that Kamikaze Dali, People's Choice last year, wanted the Judges' Choice more than anything, and that they would bring it.  Not ruling the other two bands out, we put together our best stuff.  It was a long, fun day.  Most of the musicians hung out with each other backstage, laughing it all away.  It was not at all a competition, just camaraderie.  Everybody played great.  Last year's judges were a little more critical in their comments.  This year's had only nice things to say.  After the first round, we and the Dali were picked to play again.  They won the coin toss, opted to go second (as we would have done).  We knew we were in a competition, but we genuinely have more fun than should be allowed when we play, and it showed.  "I'm Gone" was the bombastic closer it has been in our live shows, and it put us over the top, according to one judge.  I'm not a competitor, but you don't want to compete with me.  They had to follow that, and I knew it wouldn't be easy.  They are a great band, but I knew we had it.  They brought all the musicians onstage afterwards, everyone got a participation trophy, the Dali won the People's Choice (they ran away with it), we won the Judges' Choice.  We were gracious winners, high-fiving and hugging all around.  I got interviewed for the radio. 

I
It's A Crying Shame
Wasn't Really
You Don't Like Me That Way
Explosions

II
Heartbreak Song
I'm Gone

Josh Brown --guitar, vocals
Manning Burns -- guitar
APL -- bass, vocals
Adam Sikes -- drums

(Awake For, The Holler, Kamikaze Dali, The Donors)