Sixteen musicians in four newly unveiled local bands play the Brick on July 16, making up the fifth Band Scramble. The Brick's owner, Sheri Parr, explains how these four bands get cracked, scrambled and served up hot for the showcase.
The Pitch: How does the Band Scramble work?
Sheri Parr: There are four bands and four members per band. It's a random drawing. Courageous people sign up and write down their first choice of instrument. Singer, guitar, bass, drums: first choice, second choice. And then we divide them up, randomly draw them, and you're a band. And then you have one month to write three original songs and come up with a name. The night of the showcase, the bands come in and showcase their songs to a panel of judges.
Bands are kind of like relationships. So this is like speed dating?
Yeah! And there's some motivation, too -- you win 500 bucks -- to work it out. It's only a month, you know?
Are the bands from different genres?
They're different ages and different styles. They're all over the place. And I've never really seen one where everybody's from the same mindset. Years ago, someone brought a didgeridoo. That was weird.
How did you come up with this?
John Ferguson, who's in Federation of Horsepower, came up with it. I've seen it different places. For people who are out of it or new to town or haven't played with other people for a long time, it's a good way to meet people. And it's a hell of an exercise. It's not who brings the most fans or who's the loudest. It's about cohesiveness.
Catch Band Scramble No. 5 on Friday, July 16, at the Brick.
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