Over the past few weeks Nerina Pallot has been performing live acoustic and alternative versions of songs taken from her forthcoming third studio album ‘The Graduate’, scheduled for release on the 5th October.

“Real Late Starter” was posted on September 1st 2009 and features Nerina performing the first single from her album singing and playing piano, guitar, bass and drums (dressed as a rabbit!)

Watch “Real Late Starter” video:

To win the chance to support Nerina at the first SOLD OUT London date, at the ICA, on her upcoming tour of the UK (21st October 2009), simply post your own musical version of “Real Late Starter” as a video response to that episode. It could be as a band, on guitar, on the ukelele, on a bass, harmonica, – anything at all – and Nerina will choose the winning performer to play a 20 minute opening support slot at the ICA.

Buy Music:

Nerina Pallot on amazon.co.uk

Nerina Pallot on amazon.com

If you don’t use youtube, post a link to your version on Nerina’s twitter page – www.twitter.com/ladychatterley or send it to her Myspace page – www.myspace.com/nerinapallot

Nerina Pallot on YouTube

Nerina Pallot Official Website
Nerina Pallot on Twitter

Jon Allen will be playing at the Magic FM Indulgence event at Regents Park in London on Sunday September 13, 2009.

The event will be headlined by Jamie Cullum, and also includes a performance from the cast of Jersey Boys.

For your chance to win one of the 15 pairs of tickets being given away, simply go to the competition page and fill in your details. Winners will be selected at random and contacted on September 9, 2009 with details to claiming the tickets.

Jon Allen releases his new single “Down By The River” on September 7th, and will be touring across the UK on the following dates.

Buy Music:

Jon Allen on amazon.com

Jon Allen on amazon.co.uk

2009 tour dates:

(Dates and information subject to change.)

Thu 10th Sept 2009 20:00 – The Plug, Sheffield
Sat 12th Sept 2009 20:00 – Harvest at Jimmy’s Festival, Pannington Hall Lane, Ipswich
Sun 13th Sept 2009 20:00 – Magic FM Event, Regents Park, London
Tue 15th Sept 2009 20:00 – Rescue Rooms (Red Room), Nottingham
Wed 16th Sept 2009 20:00 – Cambridge Junction, Cambridge
Fri 18th Sept 2009 20:00 – West End Centre, Aldershot
Sat 19th Sept 2009 20:00 – Arlington Arts Centre, Newbury
Sun 20th Sep 2009 20:00 – The Phoenix, Bradninch Place, Gandy Street, Exeter
Tue 22nd Sept 2009 20:00 – Chapel Arts Centre, St James Memorial Hall, Bath
Wed 23rd Sept 2009 20:00 – Cox’s Yard, Stratford Upon Avon
Fri 25th Sept 2009 20:00 – The Cluny, Newcastle
Sat 26th Sept 2009 20:00 – Lemon Tree, Aberdeen
Thu 1st Oct 2009 20:00 – Auntie Annies, Belfast
Fri 2nd Oct 2009 20:00 – Dublin Academy, Dublin
Sun 4th Oct 2009 20:00 – The 12 Bar, Swindon
Wed 14th Oct 2009 20:00 – Union Chappel, Old Street, London
Thu 15th Oct 2009 20:00 – The Cellars, Eastney, Southsea
Sun 18th Oct 2009 20:00 – Mr Kyps, Lower Parkstone, Poole
Tue 20th Oct 2009 20:00 – Pocklington Arts Centre, York
Wed 21st Oct 2009 20:00 – King Tuts, Glasgow
Thu 22nd Oct 2009 20:00 – Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh
Mon 26th Oct 2009 20:00 – The Glee Club, The Arcadian, Birmingham
Wed 28th Oct 2009 20.00 – The Perfect 5th, Taunton
Thu 29th Oct 2009 20:00 – The Flowerpot, Derby
Sat 28th Nov 2009 20:00 – Winchester Discovery Centre, Jewry Street, Winchester

For the latest tour dates, music and information, go to:

Jon Allen MySpace
Jon Allen Official Website

Open Mic UK 2009 is the exciting new national talent competition which searches for the UK’s best singers, singer/songwriters, rappers and vocalists of all genres who perform either covers or original material.

Over 10,000 hopefuls entered nationwide and hundreds of auditionees queued patiently on the day for their turn to impress the judges.

Along with the other most impressive acts, Martha Joy made it through to the Regional Finals and will now be performing at the live stages of Open Mic UK 2009 to compete for a place in the National Final and the chance to grab a break through recording contract.

The Regional Final show is taking place at 8pm on Saturday 10th October, 2009 at Hove Town Hall, near Brighton station. Martha Joy needs your vote! Find information on tickets for the show below.

Described as having “honey tones and sweet riffs”, Martha Joy is a blues/rock singer/songwriter from New Cross in London. Martha has been working hard to showcase her music around UK venues this year and is delighted with this latest recognition.

Chris Grayston head of A&R at Future Music comments, “We are searching for an original act that has the live ability to impress an audience of over two thousand alongside a number of industry judges and A&R associates, as well as the potential to become professional recording artists.”

The prize for the overall winning act of Open Mic UK 2009 will be to record their own album in professional studios with an industry vocal specialist, with the potential of large investment for a single release as well as the aim to nationally chart. The winners will additionally have the opportunity to tour across the UK.

The winners will be thrust into the media spotlight through television, radio and the press and all winners will be invited on the Open Mic UK Tour, which boasts 100 gigs across the country.

For more information go to the website www.openmicuk.co.uk or better still, come down
and support your local talent Martha Joy performing live.

You can purchase tickets for £7.50 on the door or from Martha Joy, by emailing Martha@Evatt.co.uk.

For more information about Open Mic UK, go to:

Open Mic UK Official Website

For free Martha Joy downloads and more, visit:

Martha Joy website

Martha Joy MySpace

Following the video première of “Crying Lightning”; Babelgum is pleased to announce an exclusive competition to win tickets to see Arctic Monkeys play live at London’s Brixton Academy on Wednesday, August 26, 2009. This will be the band’s first UK show since December 2007 and their first since the release of their 3rd album, ‘Humbug’.

The band shall be joined by very special guests.

Entrants will need to visit Babelgum and register for the competition with their email address. One hundred lucky participants will then be selected at random as competition winners. The competition will be live from 10am today, to be in with a chance of winning, please go to Babelgum.

Each winner will receive 2 e-tickets to the gig; both winner and guest must be 16 or over to attend this gig. Winners will be notified by email on Thursday 20th August and must confirm attendance via email by 5pm on Friday 21st August 2009. Ticketweb will email winners with their e-tickets on Monday 24th August which then must be printed out and shown at the venue, along with photo I.D to ensure entry. The free prize draw starts on 18th August 2009 and ends on August 20th 2009.

Buy Music:

Arctic Monkeys on amazon.com

Arctic Monkeys on amazon.co.uk

Arctic Monkeys Official Website

For the latest videos and contest information, go to:

Babelgum Official Website

After Kissy Sell Out’s busy summer – releasing his debut album ‘Youth’ to critical and public acclaim and performing at every festival he could with either his live band or his trusty bag of records – it’s time to hit the road properly.

The charismatic and musical behemoth that is Kissy has graced many a venue up and down the country and amassed a huge following on the airwaves of Radio 1 every Thursday…and he is now going on his own curated and produced UK Wide tour.

Featuring Kissy Sell Out performing LIVE with his band, alongside a stellar selection of support artists including JackBeats, A1 Bassine, Grum, Lee Mortimer, Eddy Temple-Morris, Andy & Jaymo, Foamo, Scratch Perverts and Duke Dumont, this looks likely to be a hot ticket for the months to come. Kissy will also finish the night off with his own inimitable DJ sets so the fans will get their full fill of his talents!

Not content with throwing one of the most popular and well received nights as it is, Kissy, in his quest to promote the best new talent is asking budding DJs to enter a competition to perform at select nights on the tour.

DJs are asked to submit their very own 15 minute ‘mix tape’ through Kissy’s MySpace site www.myspace.com/kissysellout. Kissy will then choose his favourite mix and the DJ will get a chance to play alongside Kissy Sell Out and guest DJ at Kissy & Ko show.

The competition opens on Wed 19th August, 2009 with the closing date on 1st of September, 2009.

Winners will be notified by the 8th September.

Kissy & Ko 2009 tour dates:

(Dates and information subject to change.)

Fri 18th Sept – Sankeys Manchester **
Sat 19th Sept- Plug Sheffield
Sun 20th Sept – Aberdeen Uni **
Th 24th Sept – Simple, Oxford **
Tues 29th Sept -Leeds Uni **
Fri 2nd Oct – Junk Southampton **
Sat 3rd Oct – Bathouse Chelmsford **
Tuesday 6th Oct- Lancaster Uni
Wed 7th Oct – Fibbers York **
Wed 21st Oct – Bournemouth Uni **
Fri 23rdrd Oct- Thekla Bristol **
Sat 24th Oct – Warwick Uni

** (Venues open to Kissy & Ko DJ Comp)

Kissy Sell Out MySpace
Kissy Sell Out Official Website

Swansea and Ipswich bands to open the V Festival

Virgin Media has today announced the winners of the Road To V unsigned band competition.

The Last Republic

Underline The Sky

With over 2,600 bands applying for this year’s Road to V, the competition was fierce, but now the much anticipated winners have been revealed:

Welsh rock quintet The Last Republic and pop punk band Underline The Sky, from Ipswich!

This year’s mentors, Just Jack and The Charlatans, whittled the ten semi-finalists down to the final six, but this year it was the public who decided that The Last Republic and Underline The Sky should be the lucky unsigned acts to open the V Festival in Stafford and Chelmsford on 22nd and 23rd August and appear on the same line up as Oasis, The Killers and Snow Patrol.

Read The Charlatans interview on Band Weblogs!

The Last Republic lead singer, Jonnie Owen, commented, “We have been following the Road to V competition for years and it was a dream to enter but to get this far and to know we are going to perform at probably the coolest festival of the summer is untrue. We can’t believe our luck and we just can’t wait to get on stage now and give it our best”

Underline the Sky lead singer, Bronwyn Cooper commented, “We got into this competition through our fans. We have worked so hard to keep their support and attract new fans along the way, and you have no idea how very grateful we are for them. The competition was immense, but the hard work had paid off now and our dream has come true. Bring on V Festival!”

Both bands were recognised for their mesmerising performances at Brighton’s The Great Escape festival where they opened for the Road to V mentors, The Charlatans and Just Jack.

Ashley Stockwell, executive director of brand and marketing at Virgin Media commented: “This year’s Road to V competition was of an incredibly high standard and we were delighted by the sheer number and variety of bands who entered. Our finalists ‘wowed’ our mentors with their performances at The Great Escape and then finally won over the hearts – and ears – of their fans in the public vote. Congratulations to The Last Republic and Underline The Sky – we can’t wait to see their performances at the V Festival.”

Since 2004, Road to V has nurtured great new talent with bands such as quirky post-punk trio The Young Knives, who opened V Festival and went on to attract a Mercury Award nomination in 2007 for their second album ‘Voices of Animals and Men’. Other successful Road to V winners include the critically acclaimed Bombay Bicycle Club, The Rebs and The Brightlights.

To find out more about Road to V, fans can visit www.roadtov.com, where they can watch exclusive interviews, extended shows and performances. Customers on all mobile networks can also keep up-to-date and get access to exclusive video clips on their mobile by texting R2V to 801591.

The Road to V winners will be showcased on Friday 7th August, 2009 at 6:55 pm on Virgin1. As well as being broadcast on Virgin1, the full Road to V shows are available on Virgin Media’s Music On Demand.

A show documenting Underline the Sky and The Last Republic’s experience at V Festival will air on Friday 4th September at 6.55pm.

The Last Republic MySpace

Underline The Sky MySpace

For more information on Virgin Media products and services visit:

Virgin Media

Road to V Official Website

Win a trip to BIG DAY OUT festival in Australia!

In the summer of 2004, Matt Allen was behind the wheel of a 1969 Chevrolet Step Van, roaming the streets of Ashland, Oregon in search of adventure. Armed with an endless supply of frozen treats, he was determined to become the most famous ice cream man in the world.

As that summer came to a close, Allen’s mission of entertainment evolved into a greater calling. He began giving away his ice cream for free, beginning with an ice cream social for the residents of Ashland and quickly moving to his hometown of Long Beach, California to expand the simple idea of free ice cream into the phenomenon it is today.

Three years, two national tours, and over 125,000 free ice creams later, Ice Cream Man has come to represent the power of a dream. “This is about getting people to think about things a bit differently, proving that you can do anything with your life,” says Allen, a veteran adventurer whose feats have included hiking from Canada to Mexico and biking across the country to raise money for breast cancer groups. “I want to give away ice cream. It’s that simple. I can’t be the only one who thinks this is a good idea. Why not bring all of these like-minded people together to do great things?”

Throughout the tours, music became a main focus as Ice Cream Man and his dedicated team of over 100 volunteers called at concerts and festivals far and wide; providing frozen treats to artists and audiences, alike.

The crew began reviewing shows along the way, allowing a growing army of followers to join the ride. His growing reputation soon caught the attention of established and emerging artists; all keen to be part of the journey.

Inspired by his operation, ethos and seeing the potential in an increasingly iconic figure; Babelgum teamed up with original content producers, Dig For Fire, to document Ice Cream Man’s 2009 summer tour and thus the weekly documentary: ‘Road Trippin’ with Ice Cream Man’ was born.

Currently powering his way through the States, this years’ tour has seen Ice Cream Man call at and chime his way through SXSW, Pitchfork fest, Rothbury, All Points West, Bonnaroo and 10KLS amongst many other esteemed events and venues where he has been joined by likes of MGMT, Delta Spirit, Cold War Kids, Broken Social Scene, White Rabbits, Chairlift, Manchester Orchestra and many, many more who have stopped by to play music, have a chat or even serve ice-creams – step forward, Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips!

The expedition continues next weekend at Lollapalooza where Ice Cream Man will be joined by the legendary, Ben Harper and Band of Horses; however, with a bill including TV on the Radio, Passion Pit, Perry Farrell, Bon Iver and The Killers, you never know who might stop by for a 99.

The fun doesn’t end there, following Lollapalooza, the van powers on to San Diego and San Francisco for Street Scene and Outside Lands and then tours its way into 2010 with Ice Cream Man’s constant motivation forever at heart: “Why wait to fulfill your dreams?”

Catch up with past episodes of Road Trippin with Ice Cream Man

For further information, head over to:

Ice Cream Man Official Website

If you want to make like Ice Cream Man, Babelgum are offering you the chance to fulfill your dreams with a competition that will send two lucky winners to the Big Day Out festival in Australia, next January 2010.

For terms and to enter, go to:

Ice Cream Man on Babelgum

DJ Times Magazine, The Groove Cruise and WebCeleb.com count-down to final weeks in open DJ competition

Now in its 21st year of print publication, the leading authority on professional DJs, DJ Times Magazine (Testa Communications), teams with award-winning travel agency, Whet Travel, and talent discovery site for musicians, WebCeleb.com, to host an open DJ competition for amateur and semi-pro DJs seeking the first step in a career as a professional DJ.

From now until voting ends on August 16, 2009, contestants are invited to upload their live DJ mixes for public voting on www.WebCeleb.com. The grand prize winner will be announced on August 16th and prize package includes a spot deejaying before music savvy guests aboard Whet Travel’s semi-annual ultimate music adventure, The Groove Cruise, October 1st to 5th, 2009, aboard Carnival Elation from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas.

The competition is titled, “Who’s Spinning On Deck 10?,” and the winning DJ will be spinning alongside international jocks – Bad Boy Bill, Scotty Boy, Scooter & Lavelle, Kenneth Thomas, Anthony Attala, and more – as well as receive a complimentary ocean-view cabin for two. Paul Oakenfold’s world-acclaimed label, Perfecto Records, is hosting one of several parties onboard.

Other contest sponsors include: Mansion, 4theDJ.net, International DJ Expo, Masterbeat.com, and RockBandsFashion.com. To date, close to 100 aspiring DJs have registered to compete, and thousands of electronic dance music (EDM) fans throughout North America have logged-on to vote. The semi-finalists in the first four weeks of competition were: Miami’s Leonardo Del Toro, Miami’s Karbokane, New York’s Andrew Salsano and Vancouver’s G3N3R4L. The eight-week contest is a part of Whet Travel’s and WebCeleb’s effort to discover and support local talent by helping to promote aspiring DJs.

Said Whet Travel’s president, Jason Beukema, “Each week we receive requests from several DJs who want to play onboard the Groove Cruise. WebCeleb’s online voting system has been a perfect fit for what we were trying to do to find up-and-coming DJs for our Groove Cruises. It’s exciting to see the competition escalate week-by-week. We hope to help aspiring DJs get their music heard and potentially have that exposure result in media coverage, a record deal, and ultimately, more bookings.”

Now in its fifth year, thousands of professional party enthusiasts have experienced The Groove Cruise, recently featured in: The New York Times, MTV, CNN, 944 Magazines, and other media outlets.

Join us on The Groove Cruise from San Diego to Cabo San Lucas, October 1st to 5th, 2009, and from Miami to Great Stirrup Cay and Nassau, Bahamas, January 29th to February 1st, 2010.

For the latest dates and information, go to:

The Groove Cruise on Whet Travel website

A BIG Shwayze scavenger hunt is headed to 5 cities (NY, LA, SF, Boston, Chicago) THIS Saturday (7/11/2009).

At 4pm EST / 1pm PST a Shwayze prize pack will be hidden in each city and clues will be given out via Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and email so stay tuned and you could be the FIRST to hear a MegaMix created by Cisco of 4 never-released songs on the new album and other fun prizes.

The 5 winners of the Shwayze prize packs will also be eligible to create and enter an original YouTube video using the MegaMix to win a VIP pass to a show the next time Shwayze plays in a city near you!

Stay posted to Shwayze.com, sign up for the mailing list, and follow Shwayze and Cisco on Twitter to make sure you’re the first to hear news of the prize locations!

Facebook
MySpace
Shwayze Official Website
Shwayze on Twitter

Cisco Adler on Twitter

Acclaimed Dublin born and LA based singer and multi instrumentalist Marc Carroll releases a new single, “Always”, on High Noon Recordings, Monday 13th July, 2009.

“Always”, with its haunting melody and heartbreaking lyrics is the lead single from Marc’s new album ‘Dust of Rumour’, released 6th July. Its uplifting refrains and beautiful repetition are reminiscent of pioneering Krautrock band Neu and Marc plays all the instruments on the track.

The new album, ‘Dust of Rumour’ is set to continue the critical acclaim that flowed following the release of Marc’s previous two albums, ‘Ten Of Swords’ (2003) and ‘World On A Wire’ (2005) and songs such as the exquisite “Against My Will” and the sun-drenched “You Just Might Be What I’ve Been Waiting For” show Marc’s timeless west-coast influenced songwriting.

MUZU.TV has teamed up with Marc Carroll to give you the chance to win 5 signed copies of the new album. Competition closes 14th July, 2009.

For full competition details just go to Marc Carroll TV on MUZU.TV

Buy Music:

Marc Carroll on amazon.com

amazon.co.uk

Marc Carroll Official Website

Winner receives 3-day trip to Boston to see Slightly Stoopid, Snoop Dogg, Stephen Marley, and Mickey Avalon, plus other great prizes including Skullcandy headphones.

FUEL TV, the only network dedicated to the lifestyle of action sports, is joining forces with Silverback Management and Skullcandy to send one lucky winner and a friend to watch the final stop of the highly anticipated Blazed and Confused summer tour in Boston, Massachusetts, featuring Slightly Stoopid, hip-hop legend Snoop Dogg, reggae’s favorite son Stephen Marley, and Los Angeles rapper Mickey Avalon.

Running from July 1 to July 15, 2009, fans can sign up to win this trip of a lifetime. The winner will be announced July 17th, and will receive airfare to Boston, Massachusetts, hotel rooms for three days and two nights, VIP backstage passes to the show August 8, and a Skullcandy prize pack including Slightly Stoopid signature model headphones.

“We all watch FUEL TV and had a lot of fun on ‘The Daily Habit’ recently,” says Miles Doughty from Slightly Stoopid. “A lot of our fans are into surfing, skating, boarding, and the action sports lifestyle and they’re most likely watching FUEL TV. We’re really excited to be working with FUEL TV to bring fans the chance to come kick it with us at the tour finale in Boston. And the winner will be stoked because the Stoopid signature Skullcandy headphones are sick!”

Set to kick off July 10th, the month-long Blazed And Confused trek will bring together a mix of music featuring rock and blues, hip-hop and reggae. Pre-sale tickets for the outing are on sale now starting as low as $20.

Slightly Stoopid, Snoop Dogg, Stephen Marley and Mickey Avalon team up for this summer’s BLAZED AND CONFUSED tour. Co headliners Slightly Stoopid and hip-hop legend Snoop Dogg will both be playing full sets, Reggae’s favorite son Stephen Marley and LA based rapper Mickey Avalon join forces to create a summer music extravaganza of the “highest” degree, and arriving in a city near you July – August 2009!!

The month-long BLAZED AND CONFUSED trek features some of the top names in today’s pop-culture pantheon and collides for a colossal mash-up of rock, hip-hop, and reggae. For the ultimate fan experience tour organizers are launching a variety of contests for fans to win a spot in the VIP area off the side of the stage where fans can hot tub or bartend the Oliphant vodka lounge which is nearly on the stage, bringing the ultimate summer party experience nationwide this summer.

As Snoop says, this tour will reunite him with “his nephews” Slightly Stoopid. “We’re gonna go out and just basically give the people a good time,” Snoop says. “Ya’ll just make sure ya’ll tune in because Snoop Dogg and Slightly Stoopid, we gonna be rippin, rockin, flippin, floppin, hippin and hoppin in a hood near you.”

Slighty Stoopid’s Miles Doughty adds… Slightly Stoopid and Snoop Dogg will be brewing up a melting pot of west coast party and musical madness this summer.

Sign up to win from July 1 to July 15, 2009 on: Blazed and Confused – Fuel.TV

More details re the tour can be found at:

Snoop Dogg Official Website

Slightly Stoopid Official Website
Slightly Stoopid MySpace
Facebook
Slightly Stoopid on Twitter

The Search For The Nation’s Greatest Undiscovered Blues Guitar Player is Back!

World’s Largest Guitar Competition Offers Grand Prize Worth Over $35,000, Including $25,000 Cash, Gear and Product Endorsements.

Guitar Center is pleased to announce the return of King of the Blues, the nationwide search for the next great undiscovered blues guitar player.

With sign-ups launching July 1, 2009, Guitar Center’s King of the Blues will feature competitions in over 200 Guitar Center locations across the country, culminating with the Grand Finals in Los Angeles this November.

In addition to showcasing the top five finalists, the King of the Blues Grand Finals will also feature performances by renowned blues guitarist Joe Bonamassa and Grammy Award winner Pete Anderson.

King of the Blues is part of Guitar Center’s ongoing mission to provide emerging artists and musicians with career-altering opportunities and vehicles to achieve success. Other Guitar Center programs include Drum-Off and On-Stage.

Now in its 21st year, Guitar Center’s Drum-Off has been a launching pad for numerous professional drummers, including Cora “CC” Dunham (Prince), Eric Moore II (Suicidal Tendencies), Tony Royster Jr. (Jay Z) and Thomas Pridgen (The Mars Volta). In 2008 Guitar Center also added On-Stage, a search for America’s next great rock band, with close to 8,000 bands vying for an opening slot on Mötley Crüe’s 30+ city North American arena tour. The winning band, The Last Vegas, not only toured with Mötley Crüe, but was also awarded a record deal with Eleven Seven Music and a management contract with Tenth Street Entertainment (Mötley’s management company).

Watch video trailer: King Of The Blues 2009:

Introduced in 2006, Guitar Center’s King of the Blues is designed to offer similar life-changing opportunities for unsigned guitarists. More than just a competition to find the most technically skilled players, King of the Blues is designed to seek out the most passionate, innovative and authentic undiscovered guitar players and give them a shot at stardom.

Some of today’s most iconic and groundbreaking artists, including BB King, John Mayer, The Black Crowes and Kenny Wayne Shepherd have participated at past King of the Blues events, and the winner of Guitar Center’s 2007 King of the Blues, Aaron Loesch, was invited to perform at Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Festival in front of over 25,000 attendees.

With “the Blues” being the foundation for nearly all of today’s popular music, the search for the nation’s greatest undiscovered blues guitarist is expected to unearth a goldmine of unsigned talent, some of whom are destined to become tomorrow’s legends.

“The Blues defines today’s music—from Robert Johnson to Jack White and B.B. King to John Mayer,” notes Dustin Hinz, Manager of Event Marketing and Promotions for Guitar Center. “By tapping into this rich and deep musical art form, our goal is to find true original talent—not clones of great guitarists, but rather great guitarists in their own right who deserve a place alongside the legends.”

Guitar Center’s King of the Blues champion will win an impressive package of prizes, including $25,000 cash, a featured spot in a Guitar Center ad campaign, along with a Gibson ’59 Les Paul reissue guitar, a $2,500 Levis shopping spree, a Marshall Vintage Modern 50 watt half stack, a Boss GT-10 Guitar Multi Effects Pedal, a feature in Guitar World magazine, worldwide distribution of their music in iTunes and more, plus endorsement deals from Ernie Ball, Marshall, Vox and Gibson. Additional regional, district and local prize packages will also be awarded, thanks to the generous support of Gibson, Levi’s, Ernie Ball, Marshall, Boss, Vox, Guitar World and Tunecore, all of whom are proud supporters of Guitar Center’s King of the Blues.

How It Works:

Sign-ups for the preliminary rounds of the King of the Blues competition begin July 1, 2009, and run on a “first-come, first-serve” basis, with a maximum of 30 registrants per store.

Contestants must sign up with a Guitar Center associate at their local store — no phone or online sign-ups are available.

Each contestant will perform live to 1 of 25 original backing tracks, developed by Grammy Award winning producer, Pete Anderson. All backing tracks are available for free download at www.guitarcenter.com/kingoftheblues Contestants may bring and use any 6, 7, or 12 string acoustic or electric guitar, lap steel or pedal steel guitar, plus any audio pedal effects that can be set-up in a 5 minute time limit, all of which will be plugged into a selection of amplifiers provided by Guitar Center.

Local competitions start August 20, 2009 in all 214 Guitar Center locations nationwide.

One winner from each store will be chosen to move up to district competitions (24 locations), followed by regionally hosted semi-finals (6 locations) and culminating in the final King of the Blues Grand Finals competition in Los Angeles in November, where the grand finalists will perform in front of a live audience and a panel of celebrity judges, sharing the stage with Joe Bonamassa, who was named Best Blues Guitarist by Guitar Player Magazine’s readership in their annual Reader’s Choice Awards for 2008, and whose incendiary playing has resulted in numerous albums in Billboard’s Top 10 blues chart.

COMPETITION DATES 2009:

(Dates and information subject to change.)

Store Prelims: August 20th, August 27th, September 3rd

Store finals: September 10th

District finals: September 30th

Regional finals: October 21st

Grand Finals: November 2009

For more information about the competition, rules and terms, go to:

Guitar Center Official Website

King of the Blues Competition

Photo: My Passion

***LIVE – MONDAY 20th APRIL 2009***

To round up Season 1 of Red Bull Bedroom Jam this year we have a very special edition live webcast with an interview from Madina Lake, a live set from this year’s winning Myspace Band (to be announced!) PLUS a chance for 15 lucky people to attend the My Passion album launch party!

So if you want to get involved in all this action read on…

Photo: Medina Lake

Madina Lake is an American band formed in Chicago. The band consists of lead vocalist Nathan Leone and his twin, bassist and backing vocalist Matthew Leone, guitarist and backup vocalist Mateo Camargo and drummer Dan Torelli.

They worked with esteemed producer David Bendeth (Paramore) on the eagerly-anticipated ‘Attics to Eden’, the experimental follow-up to their 2007 Roadrunner Records debut ‘From Them, Through Us, to You’. The band also spent two months with Bendeth — within the platinum plaque-lined walls of his House Of Loud Studios, planted smack dab in the desolate thick of Elmwood Park, New Jersey – where completing the record was ultimately humbling. That’s because crafting and tracking what would become their sophomore full-length was an experience tantamount to rock and roll boot camp, according to bassist and backing vocalist Matthew Leone.

The Red Bull Bedroom Jam band featured during the webcast this time round will be the winning band picked from the MySpace competition that has been running for the past few weeks. Watch this space to find out who the lucky winners are!

During the live show Red Bull Bedroom Jam are also giving 10 lucky people the chance to attend the My Passion album launch party, which will take place on 18th May 2009 at Red Bull’s HQ’s in London where you will see My Passion take the stage. My Passion returned this year to launch the first RBBJ webcast of the season and will also be headlining at Red Bull Bedroom Jam X Crawl.

The prize includes an exclusive invitation to the event for you and a mate, the chance to meet the band plus a limited edition My Passion / Red Bull Bedroom Jam T-Shirt.

For the chance to attend the My Passion album launch party fans just have to tune into the Red Bull Bedroom Jam live webcast on Monday 20th April and listen out for the codeword that the presenters announce on the night of the webcast.

Then entrants just send in the codeword answer to info@redbullbedroomjam.com along with their name, address and contact number and winners will be informed by email if they have won.

So don’t forget to tune into the Red Bull Bedroom Jam live webcast featuring Madina Lake, a live set from the winning Myspace Band and to listen out for the special codeword you need to enter the My Passion album launch party competition – tune in at 5pm BST Monday 20th April 2009 on www.redbullbedroomjam.co.uk.

Red Bull Bedroom Jam Official Website

Photo: The Charlatans

Virgin Media today announced that Just Jack and The Charlatans will mentor the finalists of Road to V – the UK’s biggest and longest running search for unsigned musical talent.

Genre-fusing Just Jack, caused a sensation with his breakthrough Brit Hop style… mixing up beats, melodies and witty, conversational lyrics to funky home made loops, creating a sound that has influenced a generation of bedroom beat poets.

The Charlatans, with a history of V Festival performances to their name, now on their tenth studio album and famous for a string of hits including indie classics such as “The Only One I Know” and “Weirdo”, will join Just Jack in mentoring the ten lucky finalists of the competition, before two winners are eventually decided by a public vote.

Although coming from two completely different perspectives (both musically and lyrically), these two prolific artists with their combined experience, will offer a complete package of advice to fledgling acts in developing their sound and image, and help set them up for a career in music.

Photo: Just Jack

The recruitment of Just Jack and The Charlatans as mentors marks a first for Virgin Media, which has refreshed the format of Road to V for 2009, offering entrants the chance to be nurtured by established musicians for the very first time. In previous years, Road to V consisted of a judging panel of industry professionals, who selected the finalists before going on to decide on two winning acts.

The competition is now open for registrations, and two winning acts will open up the mighty V Festival, which takes place this summer, in Chelmsford and Stafford on 22nd to 23rd August, 2009.

Acts have until 12th April 2009 to head to www.roadtov.com to register and be in with a chance of being one of the ten final acts to make it through to the live stage of the competition.

Not only will the lucky finalists be mentored by our established artists, they will also get the once in a life time opportunity to play alongside them at the Great Escape festival in Brighton on 14th to 16th May.

In addition, the ten finalists will all appear, with their mentors, on the Road to V show on Virgin 1 which began Friday 3rd April 2009, and airs on every first Friday of the month until August.

You can also tune in to watch extended shows with exclusive interviews and performances on Virgin Media’s music on demand service and on the Road to V website – www.roadtov.com.

After the Great Escape, the artist mentors will whittle the final ten down to six remaining acts. Then it’s over to the fans to decide who wins the ultimate prize of opening one of the UK’s biggest music festivals – V.

Since 2004, Road to V has nurtured great new talent, with bands such as quirky post-punk trio The Young Knives and Bombay Bicycle Club achieving nationwide success. The Young Knives attracted a Mercury Award nomination in 2007 for their second album, ‘Voices of Animals’, and the Bombay Bicycle club signed a deal with Island Records in 2008.

Rosie Spooner, head of music sponsorship at Virgin Media said, “Road to V is all about the music; it’s so important to have a good calibre of mentors, who can make a real difference to our unsigned music talent. Just Jack has his third album out this year and his new single ‘Embers’ is currently all over the radio, The Charlatans are touring throughout the year and doing special projects like Road to V. Both artists have caused a sensation in their own musical ways – coming from very different musical backgrounds, loved by millions and offering our acts the advice they need to succeed.”

The Charlatans drummer, Jon Brookes comments, “We as mentors will offer the truth to any band that asks us to talk with them about our experiences. It won’t be a pupil / teacher vibe, but something more subtle, a guide or confidant. Hopefully it will be a two-way arrangement and we will all get to share something.”

Whilst Just Jack added, “I’m really looking forward to being a Road to V mentor. When you write songs obviously you put everything into them – however, you need honesty as an artist and you need to hear honest opinions from people”.

Road To V – for more information and to register

Virgin Media Official Website

Red Bull Bedroom Jam is giving MySpace bands the chance to have the Red Bull Bedroom Jam crew round their place to broadcast a special live stream of their performance for the last webcast of the season on April 20, 2009, which will be watched online by the world and will also feature a interview by Madina Lake!

Not only this but the winning band will also get the opportunity to play a live set at the Red Bull Bedroom Jam Camden X-Crawl on April 25th!

For more info. on how to get involved head to:

Red Bull Bedroom Jam Official Website

Red Bull Bedroom Jam MySpace