Congratulations Round 3 Winners, The Naturalists!

Up Next - Round 4, Week 1:

Chester Copperpot vs. The Spin Wires

Vote Now at the BOOM Website!

Welcome to the eighth installment of Artvoice’s Battle of Original Music—a contest we call BOOM, for short. Briefly, here’s how it works: Each week, we will feature two local, original music acts like the ones you see to your right. Next, hundreds of readers like you will visit boom.artvoice.com to listen to their music and click on the band they like the best. The band that gets the most votes this way wins a spot in a live showdown, where they will be joined by three other bands who will also have won a place on the bill in the same manner.

At that live event, each audience member will receive one ballot to cast for the band they like the best. By evening’s end, those votes will be counted and the winner will gain a spot on the bill at the Artvoice BOOM Grand Finale scheduled for June 6 at the Tralf Music Hall.

The bands Folkfaces, Pine Fever, and now The Naturalists are already in the Grand Finale, thanks to winning our first three live showdowns on January 17, February 28, and April 11 respectively. The winners of our final, preliminary live show—scheduled for May 23—will compete alongside them in the Grand Finale. The winner on that big night will gain bragging rights as the 2014 BOOM Grand Champion, along with $5,000.

That’s right, kids. When’s the last time an original music act in Buffalo got paid $5,000 for a gig? Well, you’d have to go back to June 14, 2013—the last Artvoice BOOM Grand Finale at the Sportsmen’s Tavern—where Randle and the Late Night Scandals won the grand prize.

We’re also very pleased to welcome our new partners in the Artvoice Battle of Original Music (B.O.O.M.)—Alternative Buffalo 107.7 on your FM radio dial. Like us, they want to help boost our local original music scene. That’s why we’re proud to announce that this year’s Artvoice B.O.O.M. Grand Champion will not only win bragging rights and $5,000, but also a spot on the station’s Sunday night local music show AND a spot on the bill at the big summer show they are planning for Canalside.

You say you’re in a band and would like a piece of that action? Visit the boom.artvoice.com website. There, you can learn how easy it is to enter the contest. Number one, it’s free. 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.

The most successful bands are those that not only have created a cool sound, but have also cultivated a loyal fanbase that will visit boom.artvoice.com and vote.

A word of warning however: Bands attempting to stuff the online 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.)

This week we offer The Spin Wires vs. Chester Copperpot. Visit boom.artvoice.com to check out both acts and vote for the band you prefer. Online votes are due by the end of Tuesday, April 22.

Good luck to these competitors, and may the best band win.