– Press Release

After more than two months of open polls, the final votes are in! Ernie Ball is proud to congratulate the four bands who won the online portion of the 9th annual Ernie Ball Battle of the Bands: Gone Baby Gone, Atomic Blonde, December Lies, and Dose of Adolescence.

Over 100,000 votes were cast through http://www.battleofthebands.com , which hosts over 10,000 unsigned band profiles consisting of 20,000 songs. The four bands that swept the votes in this year’s online battle win over 5,000 in rock and roll prizes from Ernie Ball and Battle sponsors, including the following: a selection of products from Electro-Voice Microphones, M-Audio and Auralex; a 210 Taylor Guitar; a guitar and bass from OLP; Remo Drumheads; Zildjian cymbals and sticks; a Boss ME-50 Guitar Multiple Effects floor-based, multi-effects processor; and 24 sets of guitar strings and six sets of bass strings, both from Ernie Ball.

“The response for this year’s contest has been tremendous. We’d like to thank all the bands and fans for taking the time to promote the contest,” said Brian Ball of the Ernie Ball company. “There are many exciting developments in the works to grow the Battle of the Bands even further. Next year will be the contest’s 10th anniversary, a true testament to the success of the Vans Warped Tour.”
Brief bios of the four online winners (along with pictures) follow. More information can be found at the Battle of the Bands 9 website.

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Gone Baby Gone: Boston-based Gone Baby Gone stands out as the kind of powerpop group that makes people jump up and sing along, the kind that leaves a catchy chorus spinning in your head long after the show is over. The band is the flagship of Long Island native Brendan Lynch, who cut his teeth in the music industry with a popular indie outfit called Bloo. He moved to Boston to form Gone Baby Gone in 2002, along with bassist Travis Williams and drummer Chris Ventolieri. Guitarist Mike Krilivsky joined the band as lead guitarist in late 2004, injecting it with extra energy and a more aggressive sound. Since forming, the band has established a solid following and reputation in the Boston music scene and across New England.

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Atomic Blonde: In 2003, four ambitious females hailing from all over the country converged in Nashville, TN to form Atomic Blonde, a bombastic, “in-your-face” hard rock band with explosive energy.“ The lively quartet, which consists of singer Dacia, guitarist Amber Gold, bassist Danielle Day and drummer Kendra Kayne, have been making a name for themselves throughout Nashville and beyond, stressing that the all-girl theme isn’t just a gimmick. “We’re not the average girl band,” Dacia said. “When the four of us first jammed together and no cat-fights broke out, I knew it was right.”

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December Lies: For over six years, the members of December Lies played as the Spitfire Monks, until December of 2004 when their drummer, Brad, was called to duty overseas in the NJ National Guard. Instead of ending everything, the remaining members decided to stay together—but under a new name in respect for Brad. Now, the former lead guitarist Travis plays the drums, Billy is on the bass, and Jared is on guitar and vocals. Their new music can be characterized as a mix between rock and punk with very heart felt lyrics.

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Dose of Adolescence: “We like to say ‘never love a band that doesn’t love you back.’ And we do our best to live by that,” said Jimmy Brown of Does of Adolescence. “So for us, the best part of winning the Ernie Ball online Battle is not only the fact that we’ve gained a bunch of new fans but also having been part of something that involves Ernie Ball and the Warped Tour, both of which understand unsigned bands like us and are great to the fans.” Rising out of the suburbs of Rancho Cucamonga, CA, Dose of Adolescence has emerged as a band that is more than ready to be heard and have made an impressive name for themselves. The band was started in the winter of 2001 when brothers, guitarist Timmy Brown and bassist Jimmy Brown, were introduced to guitar player Steve Madigan. Soon after the three began playing together, they found a steady drummer who fit their style, and Does of Adolescence was born. Now the band continues to progress musically and professionally, playing and practicing as much as they can. Dose of Adolescence states, “Our main goal is just to be able to play the music we love, and if people enjoy it, that’s all just a plus.”

The Ernie Ball Battle of the Bands is the longest running music competition of its kind. Now in its ninth year, the contest gave bands three ways to steal the spotlight:

1) By earning a spot on the Ernie Ball Local Heroes Mobile Stage. A total of 188 bands were chosen to play live at a venue near their hometowns on the Vans Warped Tour ‘05.

2) By having a loyal fan base. The online competition puts fans in the judges’ seats and offers winning bands thousands of dollars in great rock-n-roll prizes from Battle sponsors.

3) By taking their talent all the way to Hollywood. The four best bands to play on the Ernie Ball Local Heroes Mobile Stage at the Vans Warped Tour will land a spot at the Hollywood Showcase event in the fall of ‘05, where they will play in front of music industry executives and fans. (The sold out Hollywood showcase of 2004 saw the band My American Heart win a spot on the entire Taste of Chaos tour and the full leg of the 2005 Vans Warped Tour.)

Website: http://www.ernieball.com