The NMU Forest Roberts Theatre is now accepting auditions in the form of either a video or audio track for an event celebrating local music until Friday, Sept. 8.

To audition, students or local band members must send a video or audio track to FRT Technical Director David Pierce at [email protected]. 

“There are really no official stipulations to the video submissions other than they need to be submitted to myself or to [email protected],” Pierce said. “I will state that while there is no video or audio stipulations, the selection committee will be using these videos to select which entries make it into the event. Bands should make sure the videos accurately depict their band, both visually and sound-wise. Don’t submit classic rock covers when your band is more fusion. We encourage original songs but they are certainly not necessary. Those selected for the event will receive bonus points for song originality.”

“General rules for the competition are simple. The bands must be local to the [Upper Peninsula] and northern Wisconsin and since we are on a college campus all NMU rules must also be followed,” Pierce said.

Cash prizes for the event include $300 for first place winners and $200 for second place. Only six bands will be selected for the competition but Pierce expressed that there could be exceptions.

“The number of bands selected really depends on the submission we receive. We would like to keep the event to six bands, however, last year the quality of the submissions were so good we expanded the number to seven. I don’t foresee selecting more than seven bands,” he said.

In last year’s competition, local band members from Lumi, a self-described psychedelic funk and fusion music group, walked away with the No. 1 cash prize.

Pierce, who is also an assistant professor in the communications and performance studies department said he started the event last academic year for two reasons. 

“One was to expose my Entertainment Technology 2 class to an area of our field they aren’t normally exposed to. Live music is vastly different than live theater but is still an area our students might find themselves working in after graduation. Giving them exposure to all the different career areas gives them valuable experience and makes them more employable after college,” Pierce said, adding, “The other is Marquette has an ever
growing music scene. There is a lot of talent in this area and we at the FRT wanted to expose the public to that talent while giving local bands the chance to play in a larger venue than they might be used to playing in. The more people these bands can play to the more the bands, and the community, are going to benefit. It also gave us at the FRT a chance to have a demographic come into our theater that might not otherwise do so.”

The musical battle will be held at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 14, at the Forest Roberts
Theatre.