Military Youth Garage Band Contest

USAA and U-TURN are looking for The Next Great American Road Song

The call for entries has begun for U-TURN’s annual Garage Band Playoff ’09, a national battle-of-the-bands competition sponsored by USAA and open to aspiring musicians and songwriters ages 13-21.

 This year – in the tradition of immortal songs like Steppenwolf’s “Born to Be Wild”, and Rascal Flatts’ “Life is a Highway” – U-TURN is looking for The Next Great American Road Song.     

U-TURN’s judges are seeking original compositions that celebrate cars, driving and the freedom of the open road. Song entries can be something the artists have previously written and recorded, or a completely new creation.

If a song makes the cut, it’ll face off in a series of online, head-to-head match-ups against others… until only one song is left to be named The Next Great American Road Song.

THE GRAND PRIZE INCLUDES:

• $2,500 cash
• a professional photo and video shoot
• an in-depth interview on U-TURN’s audio podcast
• tons of free buzz on MySpace, Facebook and more!

RULES OF THE ROAD: 

• Open to solo artists, groups and bands of any musical genre
• Song must be original (no covers)
• Song topic must be about cars, driving or the freedom of the open road (instrumentals OK if evokes a driving feel)
• Song must be clean/radio-friendly
• Solo artist or at least one band member must also be a USAA member
• Solo artist or all band members must be ages 13-21 (as of July 31, 2009)

DEADLINE TO ENTER AT GARAGEBANDPLAYOFF.COM IS JULY 31, 2009. VOTING BEGINS OCTOBER 16, 2009. FOR MORE INFORMATION, E-MAIL UTURN@USAA.COM.

No purchase necessary to enter or win. A purchase will not increase your chances of winning.

BACKGROUND INFO:

• This is U-TURN’s third Garage Band Playoff competition, but the first with a theme.
• In 2008, the competition involved 16 bands from across the country, ranging in style from country to metal.
• Voters from around the world voted more than 150,000 times through 8 head-to-head matchups, 2 semi-final rounds, and the finals.
• Grand Rapids, Mich.-based indie rock group Coronete was crowned U-TURN’s Garage Band Playoff ’08 champion. (Their song can be streamed at myspace.com/usaauturn.) They beat Southern California-based Invictus (note: currently defunct) in a tight finals matchup.
• The 2007 champion was San Antonio-based A Kid Named Thompson.