New bands to the Luxembourg music scene will be given a voice this November with the advent of the 2015 edition of the Rock the South Newcomer Band Contest.

First organised by the Youth Committee and the municipal administration of Pétange in 2009, the Contest allows local and burgeoning bands the opportunity to perform on stage and potentially launch their career with the prize winning of €1,000 worth of recording sessions at Rockhalstudio.

The competition will take place at Home St Hubert in Pétange on Saturday 25 November 2015, and will be open to all amateur rock groups. However, the participating musicians must reside in Luxembourg and be at least 15 years old, with the average age of a group not to exceed 25 years old.

Registration will close on 13 November 2015, after which only five groups will be selected to perform. On the night, each group will receive 30 minutes in which to musically convince the public and jury present of their right to 1st prize, in front of an audience which will include last year's winner Danny Boland.

A jury of music professionals and enthusiasts will then chose the final winner, who will receive the €1,000 package of recording sessions as well as project monitoring from a team at Rockhal's resource centre and the chance to perform at the SnJ 'On Stéitsch 2016' festival. The winning group can advance their musical career even further with a performance at the 2016 Rock the South event.

In keeping with this, 2014 winner Danny Boland, who is currently working on his first record, will make an appearance on stage and will be present to share in the experiences of all the newcomers. Headlining at the event will be Dreamcatcher, the solo project of John Rech which will soon celebrate its 20th anniversary. Dreamcatcher is comprised of singer and composer Sir John Rech, who is accompanied on stage by guitarist Christoph Brill and violinist Wolfgang Wehner, as well as Eric Falschero on keyboard, accordion and vocals; Claude Zeimes on bass; and Steve Krippler on drums.

The competition has been organised in collaboration with the National Youth Service and the Resource Centre of the Rockhal. Entrance is free.

To register your band for the competition, visit www.petange.lu or call 50 12-51-228 before 13 November 2015.

 

Photo by Serge Waldbillig (Dreamcatcher Trio)