02 National Final for local acts!

After battling it out in live heats across the country, Underline The Sky, Crumbs for Comfort, Dumbfoundus and Fuse have just made it through to the National Grand Final of Live and Unsigned! And they are now getting set to take to the stage at the IndigO2 in London on 10^th July!

 
After initially auditioning against thousands of other acts across the UK and impressing the judging panel with their originality, they went on to perform live on stage at the London and East Final on 22^nd May at the Towngate Theatre, Basildon. They dazzled the crowd with their winning performance and they’re now set to perform at the Grand Final – which is staged at the Live and Unsigned Festival at the IndigO2 at the O2 in London!

The acts will be performing on the main stage of the Festival, in front of a live crowd and judging panel. Some of the biggest names in the industry will be there to cast their eye over the unsigned talent including the legendary Noddy Holder, Radio 1’s prime time presenter Greg James, Urban DJ, Presenter and Radio 1’s Ras Kwame and RnB mega star Shola Ama.

Live and Unsigned is the biggest original music competition in the UK for unsigned bands and artists. Attracting over 30, 000 entries in the past three years, it’s set itself apart from its predecessors by offering and promoting live, original music and it’s open to all genres of music from Heavy Rock to Rap.

So, what are the acts battling it out for at the Grand Final? Not only will they be performing on stage at the best live music venue in the country, but there are also plenty of awards up for grabs, with a prize pool worth over £75, 000. The prize pool includes an all expenses paid trip to India to play and compete in the biggest Festival in Asia, an all expenses paid trip to Italy to play at a Festival, a slot on the main stage of Hellfire Festival, state of the art equipment, front cover features in popular music magazines, clothing, days out, coverage, development master classes and much more.

The overall winner of the competition will take home a winners package which includes equipment, coverage and promotion. They’ll also be offered a recording and management contract with Future Music to release their single and they’ll get the opportunity to develop their own clothing brand to sell online and in retail with Extreme State.

Chris Grayston, Events Director of Live & Unsigned commented “We’re all about originality, live ability and credibility. It’s a fantastic achievement to make it to the Grand Final and there are plenty of opportunities for all acts taking part, not just for the winner! We’ve got some fantastic judges on board at the IndigO2 and I’m excited to see what the acts can do on the main stage!”

The winners of 2010 will be thrust into the spotlight and will be given the opportunity to tour the UK. They’ll be performing at the IndigO2 in London on 10^th July against the UK’s finest under the radar acts. The Live and Unsigned Festival is an all day event, packed full of entertainment and will play host to an eclectic mix of artists – including Rock, Indie, Pop/Acoustic and Urban, so it’s packed with music for everyone! Representing the best of this region’s talent, Underline The Sky are hoping for all the regional support possible to be crowned the UK’s best Live and Unsigned act. Tickets are available from the website. For info on how to secure your audition place for next year’s competition, go to www.liveandunsigned.uk.com

www.myspace.com 

Underline The Sky are a local pop/rock Ipswich band who formed 3 years ago.  There are 5 in the band - Bronwyn (lead vocals), Tom (vocals/guitar), Dan (guitar), Hicks (drums) and Chiron (bass guitar).  Underline The Sky have performed at many gigs in Ipswich, Colchester, Norwich, Cambridge and London.  They were winners of the Road to V last year sponsored by Virgin, and opened both festivals - which was an amazing experience.  Since then they have produced another EP, and are currently working on new material for their next EP. 
At present  the band are raising money for Haiti by performing at as many High Schools in the Ipswich region, and they hope in total to go to 10 schools over the next 3 months.
They  have just been invited to play at The Pumphouse at the Aldeburgh Festival and the band are very excited to be performing at one of the biggest Music Festivals in the world.

The band are looking forward to the regional finals in April!

www.myspace.com/dumbfoundus 

www.dumbfoundus.com

Dumbfoundus is a two piece busking act originating from the sunny shores of Gorleston,Great Yarmouth.Noel and Nathan have been playing music together for nearly 10 years since meeting at high school.They play in various styles...acoustic one man band with hand drum and harmonies, two piece rock slide(one on a full drum kit,the other on distorted lap slide guitar) and just recently an 8 piece band with borrowed members of Killamonjambo! The skiffle reggae sound mixed with some classic covers always gets folks dancing and smiling.Their ambition is to play as many festivals as possible this summer!!oh,and win live and unsigned...then get signed!!

www.crumbsforcomfort.com

Crumbs For Comfort, are a band of six musicians from East Anglia. They class themselves as indie-folk-rock, with harmonies, wall of sound Keyboards, bass and rolling drums.

Crumbs For comfort have a passion for playing original songs such as “Lowestoft Bay” and “In The Country” which regard the beauty and history of the East Anglian coastline. The band also interprets a selection of both classic and fresh covers.

Crumbs For Comfort are:

Alex – Vocals/Guitar, Ben - Guitar/Vocals , Robert – Keyboards ,

Richard - Drums, Liam – Keyboards , Jamie - Bass

FuSE

www.fuse2010.co.uk

FÜSE  is made up of Cherrie Anderson, from Manila (now living in Woolwich, London), Larry Catungal, from Plaistow, London and Hal St John from Molesey, London. The band’s sound, as their name suggests, suffuses familiar Western guitars, keyboard and drums with mysterious Far Eastern instruments. Larry plays the kulintang, a percussive gong-like instrument that is distinctly Filipino, Cherrie composes and sings and Hal writes the songs, sings and plays keyboards.

 “The idea,” says Hal, “is to incorporate sounds unfamiliar to the Western ear into a recognisably Western song format. From this fusion a new genre of music is born that is accessible to both an Eastern and a Western audience.” Cherrie adds “the response so far has been unexpectedly encouraging if not totally overwhelming! People straight away get what we are trying to do and are really excited by the concept and the music itself.” “I think this is because,” says Larry, “listeners do not have to forget their cultural roots to enjoy our music. Just as people from the East recognise sounds and intonations characteristic of their musical heritage so too do listeners who have grown up in the Western tradition.”

www.fuse2010.co.uk

www.myspace.com/thefuse2010

http://www.muzu.tv/liveandunsigned/fuse-missing-you-hidden-light-music-video/640056/hq