Congratulations to week 1 winner, Chester Copperpot

Congratulations to week one winner, Chester Copperpot in our Battle of Original Music, or BOOM! With that win, they progress to the live showdown on Friday, November 26 at Nietzsche’s.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with BOOM, here’s how it works: Local original music acts visit the boom.artvoice.com website. There, they can learn how easy it is to enter the contest. Number one, it’s free. That out of the way, all a band has to do is supply a digital photo, a digital song track, and answer a few questions about themselves. This is all done in a matter of minutes.

Each week from those submissions we choose two acts to go head-to-head against one another. Then, local music fans visit boom.artvoice.com where they can click on the band they prefer.

The most successful bands are those that not only have created a cool sound, but have also cultivated a loyal fanbase that will go to the website and vote for them. Fans only have from Thursday when the paper hits the street until the following Tuesday at midnight to register their vote. By the following morning, those votes are counted, and the band with the most votes wins a spot on the bill at the first live BOOM Bash. This first one happens to be scheduled for November 26 at Nietzsche’s—one of the area’s top live music venues. There, audience members are issued a ballot at the door which they can then cast for their favorite act. At the end of the night, the band that garners the most votes wins a spot in the BOOM Grand Finale—an event that will be described in a moment.

The process then repeats three more times—two bands facing off against one another—until we have four finalists for each upcoming BOOM Bash (1/14, 2/25, 4/7). Along the way, a total of eight local original acts get exposed to a wider audience every month by simply participating in the contest.

But the fun doesn’t end there. For, once we have the four winners from these live BOOM Bashes, we send them all into the crucible of public opinion known as the live BOOM Grand Finale. There, the cream of the crop go all out in one last heroic effort to blow the audience away and coax the most ballots into their pile—because, at the end of the night, the band with the most votes wins the right to call themselves Artvoice BOOM Grand Champions.

Along with $5,000.

Sounds good? That’s ‘cause it is good.

A word of warning however: Bands attempting to stuff the ballot by submitting multiple votes will be rooted out using the most sophisticated intelligence software available on the black market. (Well, okay, that’s a bluff, but if you try to fool our IT guy you will be caught. Just ask the FBI…he’s that good. And if that happens, you will be disqualified with nowhere to appeal our decision.)

IF YOU’RE IN A BAND, AND WOULD LIKE TO ENTER BOOM, visit boom.artvoice.com to find out how. In the meantime, check out this week’s contestants—Jae-Skeese and Lazyrus—then visit the website to listen to their music and vote for the one you like best. As always, may the best band win.

Lazyrus	Jae-Skeese
You must have the latest Adobe Flash Player installed to listen to the BOOM! contestants.	You must have the latest Adobe Flash Player installed to listen to the BOOM! contestants.
When/where did the band form? Been street and stage performing multiple genres of music under various names since 1998. You might like us if you like: You might like me if you like great alternative hip-hop lyricists like Sage Francis, Brother Ali, Jedi Mind Tricks, Cage, or Vinnie Paz. Why you should win the Artvoice.com Online Battle of Original Music: Been writing and performing conscientious music of all genres longer than anybody I (and probably you) know. It’s time message and substance outshine mediocrity and flash.	When/where did the band form? I’ve been making music since I was 12 years old. I started out freestyling and beatboxing with two of my childhood friends and after a while i started to take it serious, so I got some recording equipment and some books and started to make quality music for people to enjoy. You might like us if you like: Lupe Fiasco, Jay-Z, Nas, Big K.R.I.T., BDP. Why you should win the Artvoice.com Online Battle of Original Music: Jae-Skeese deserves to win because the publicity gained from winning an event like B.O.O.M. will be a boost in the popularity and notoriety of Jae-Skeese in Western New York, and the cash prize of $5000 will be invested wisely in promoting the artist and making other things possible that wouldnt be without the prize! Also because the music the artist makes is unique and he has his own creative sound that people will appreciate. Website: www.jaeskeese716.com

What did you think of this week's contestants? Feel free to discuss below - please keep it friendly - and remember, posting a comment in favor of a band doesn't count as a vote. Use the link above to cast your vote!