Since 2006, Artvoice has been proud to sponsor this homegrown contest featuring the best original music acts our area has to offer—the Battle of Original Music, or B.O.O.M.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with BOOM, here’s how it works: Local original music acts visit the boom.artvoice.com website. There, they can learn how easy it is to enter the contest. Number one, it’s free. That out of the way, all a band has to do is supply a digital photo, a digital song track, and answer a few questions about themselves. This is all done in a matter of minutes.

Each week from those submissions we choose two acts to go head-to-head against one another. Then, local music fans visit boom.artvoice.com where they can click on the band they prefer.

The most successful bands are those that not only have created a cool sound, but have also cultivated a loyal fanbase that will go to the website and vote for them. Fans only have from Thursday when the paper hits the street until the following Tuesday at midnight to register their vote. By the following morning, those votes are counted, and the band with the most votes wins a spot on the bill at the first live BOOM Bash. This first one happens to be scheduled for November 26 at Nietzsche’s—one of the area’s top live music venues. There, audience members are issued a ballot at the door which they can then cast for their favorite act. At the end of the night, the band that garners the most votes wins a spot in the BOOM Grand Finale—an event that will be described in a moment.

The process then repeats three more times—two bands facing off against one another—until we have four finalists for each upcoming BOOM Bash (1/14, 2/25, 4/7). Along the way, a total of eight local original acts get exposed to a wider audience every month by simply participating in the contest.

But the fun doesn’t end there. For, once we have the four winners from these live BOOM Bashes, we send them all into the crucible of public opinion known as the live BOOM Grand Finale. There, the cream of the crop go all out in one last heroic effort to blow the audience away and coax the most ballots into their pile—because, at the end of the night, the band with the most votes wins the right to call themselves Artvoice BOOM Grand Champions.

Along with $5,000.

Sounds good? That’s ‘cause it is good.

A word of warning however: Bands attempting to stuff the ballot by submitting multiple votes will be rooted out using the most sophisticated intelligence software available on the black market. (Well, okay, that’s a bluff, but if you try to fool our IT guy you will be caught. Just ask the FBI…he’s that good. And if that happens, you will be disqualified with nowhere to appeal our decision.)

IF YOU’RE IN A BAND, AND WOULD LIKE TO ENTER BOOM, visit boom.artvoice.com to find out how. In the meantime, check out this week’s contestants—Next Station and Chester Copperpot—listen to their music and vote for the one you like best. As always, may the best band win.

Chester Copperpot	Next Station
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Band members: Nick Wierzbicki - guitar, vocals / Eric Stachewicz - bass, vocals / Joe Urban - drums When/where did the band form? Chester Copperpot was formed in January 2011 and is a three piece punk band from Buffalo (716). You might like us if you like: Punk Rock, Alternative, Ska and bands like Rancid, 311, Alkaline Trio, Bad religion. Best show played: Our first show was amazing. The support we received from our fans was wonderful. It was a very special night for us. Why you should win the Artvoice.com Online Battle of Original Music: Chester Copperpot may be a new band, but its members have unlimited talent and many years experience. We are something fresh, exciting, and new for music. Pushing hard and growing fast we are already making a name for ourselves in the music scene. Website: www.reverbnation.com/chestercopperpot	Band members: Will Pedicone - vocals, guitar / Mark Podbielski - percussion, humor / Matt Einstein - bass, hips When/where did the band form? Noir, Nietzsche’s, Broadway Joe’s. You might like us if you like: Third Eye Blind, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Dispatch, Guster Best show played: We played a festival in the North Adams in the Berkshires this summer that had a awesome crowd and was lots of fun. Got on the bill at the last minute after begging for a few weeks but it was definitely worth it. I think the experience of being in front of a big crowd was worth it. Why you should win the Artvoice.com Online Battle of Original Music: We’re new, we like to rock out hard, and we work hard. Will has an amazing voice and we have great chemistry on stage. Music is something that we all feel comfortable making and playing; something we actually enjoy doing together. It’s a great escape from the mundane reality that is the normal work day. Website: facebook.com/nextstationmusic

What did you think of this week's contestants? Feel free to discuss below - please keep it friendly - and remember, posting a comment in favor of a band doesn't count as a vote. Use the link above to cast your vote!