"Battle of the Bands" spotlights student talent

While ASMSU does a lot of serious work for the students of MSU, such as advocating for student welfare, it also contributes to the quality of campus life with events like the “Battle of the Bands,” which took place last Saturday, April 20. 

This year marked the third annual “Battle of the Bands,” an event that highlights student talent and gives college-age musicians an opportunity to launch their musical careers. 

There were six bands competing this year, though that was just a select few out of the twenty six applicants. “I just love how much student art this event highlights, like we have 26 college bands in Bozeman — that’s just crazy,” ASMSU Events Team Director Macie Hopkins said. The bands were ranked based on quality of sound, variety and originality and stage presence. The six finalists were Jampoke, MST, Michael Armstrong and the Prairie Fire, Bottlecap, Icarus and last year’s winner, Hornbread. 

“I’m always rooting for the underdog, I’d like to see a band win that hasn’t won anything before — that would be really fun,” Hopkins said.

“It's always so fun to see who comes out for it, that’s my favorite part. Like, it’s so much prep, and then just seeing people there having fun enjoying the music,” Hopkins. “There’s definitely some new names this year which is exciting, like Michael Armstrong and the Prairie Fire is a more country-ish band, we try to have some variety so it’s not all like hard-rock.”

Michael Armstrong and the Prairie Fire draws inspiration from country musicians like Parker McCollum, George Strait and Tyler Childers. “Michael and I have been friends since high school and he started singing, and I was playing acoustic guitar with him and we were like it’d be really cool if we started a band, and so then we asked my buddy Zack who plays the drums, and he was like yeah sure,” computer science freshman William Graham said. 

There were also some jam bands at "Battle of the Bands" this year. Jack Twitty, a recent graduate from MSU, plays with Bottlecap — a psychedelic rock band. “We’ve got a few good ones we’ve been working on for tonight, it’s our drummer’s first big show with us so that should be fun, showcase him a little bit,” Twitty said. 

Bottlecap has been together for almost three years now, and has enjoyed playing gigs around town. Soon however, Bottlecap will be enjoying a full-length recording session at a studio in town, because Twitty and his bandmates took second place Saturday night. 

“With this show, we try really hard to create opportunities for future performances or recording sessions,” Hopkins said, which is why MST — the winning band — will be performing at the Rialto on Friday, May 3.