Cincinnati’s Next Big Band is a music competition hosted at Rick’s Tavern & Grille, starting April 15th, to allow any garage band, weekend band, part-time band, full-time band, young band, old band to play in front of a live audience and compete for prizes.*

The object of the competition is to give those unknown bands an opportunity to get noticed and possibly start their careers. There is no age, genre, or geographical limit for the contest, so all band types can compete in front of the judges for an opportunity to be Cincinnati’s Next Big Band.

Cincinnati’s Next Big Band begins April 15th and will run every Thursday evening after that for 10 weeks. (Including 2 finals weeks) The contest is set up to allow 4 different bands play each night of the competition and are then critiqued by a four judge panel that will ultimately chose a winner each week. The winners are allowed to move into a semi-final/final playoff at the end of the competition. The final winner is given a paid weekend gig at Rick’s, studio recording time, and a potential management contract.

This contest is being sponsored and supported by many well-known, local companies. We will also have 4 members from different local bands judging the contest and Jim Miller of Dangerous Jim and the Slims will be the weekly host.

Bands are allowed and even encouraged to bring their own props to help pump up the crowd and possibly influence the judges’ decision. Get crazy, rock out, jump around; your job is to not only play great music, but put on a fantastic show for the audience.

* Bands cannot have an existing management contract (other rules & regulation apply)