The 2015 Northwestern Mutual Battle of the Bands will bring people together with beer, food, music and a $5,000 grand prize package.
Local band Grit is one of the six bands competing at the event, and 23-year-old lead singer, rhythm guitarist and keyboard player Gytis Garsys said he’s looking forward to the show. The five-member band, which describes itself as a "southern rock band," will perform along with five other bands at the Tioga Town Center Saturday from 4 to 9 p.m.
"It sounded like something we’d like to be involved in," Garsys said. "We like to help promote music in our community as well as charitable events."
In addition to Grit, Jamie Davis, TJ Brown, Houston Keen, HEDGES and Idylwild will perform.
The Battle of the Bands, organized in part by a group called Leadership Gainesville, will benefit the Education Foundation of Alachua County. Rachel Debigare, the program director of Education Foundation for Alachua County, said all the money for the event will go directly to the Take Stock in Children program, a scholarship and mentoring program for at-risk children in Alachua County schools for seventh through 10th grade.
Debigare, 26, said that Take Stock in Children has certain guidelines for good behavior and GPA that can earn students two-year prepaid scholarships to any Florida college.
She said the program currently has 326 students, with a mentor for each one.
The money raised for this event will help bring in more scholarships and enroll more students in the program, she said. Each scholarship costs $8,000, according to the foundation’s website. All funds used to purchase scholarships can be doubled through the Florida Prepaid College Foundation.
"We count ourselves so fortunate, and we’re so appreciative," she said of the publicity and sponsorships the event has had.
She hopes for a couple hundred people to attend the event and to raise about $20,000.
Dwaine Bush, the vice president and commercial relationship manager at BBVA Compass, is on the Leadership Gainesville committee and helped plan the Battle of the Bands. He said there are four judges and the fifth one is the audience. The family-friendly event will host all kinds of music from country to rock to pop. There will be a dance troupe from in town, a live auction and a live disc jockey playing between bands. There will also be a tailgate for the football game.
"I hope this is the beginning of an annual tradition," Bush, 42, said of this first event Leadership Gainesville and Take Stock in Children will partner in.
Denise McIntyre, 21, is a UF Master of Public Health student who plans to go to the event Saturday.
"I’m a big advocate for youth so I think Take Stock in Children does that," she said. "They’re the definition of helping youth."
She said this will be her first time attending an event like Battle of the Bands, and she’s looking forward to meeting the mentors for Take Stock in Children.
Gerry King, 45, owner and chief mastering engineer of Skylab Recording Studios in Gainesville, is the head of the biggest sponsor of the event. The grand prize is a $5,000 recording and production package. One staff member of the studio, Mark Pinske, will also be a judge, he said. Pinske is a well-known engineer who has worked with Tom Petty and Michael Jackson.
King said the money is enough for more than a week’s recording and production time.
"It’s something positive," he said. "I’ve been in music for a long time. It’s a passion for me and I know it is for others as well."
The music community is an ongoing passion of King’s, he said, and he enjoys working with the Gainesville community.
Garsys said he’s excited to compete with and meet other local bands.
"The only thing we’re interested in is putting on a rocking performance and making sure everyone has a good time," he said.
