Louisiana Music Prize 2014 Finalists Gearing Up for Showcases

A huge crowd showed up at Twisted Root Burger Co. Friday night to find out who made the top five in two different Louisiana Music Prize showcases.

Five artists have been chosen to play a "Locals Only" Showcase on the opening day of the Red River Revel, and they'll get paid $500 to play. There are some familiar names on this list:

Buddy Flett
Twang Darkly
Lance Thompson
Engine
Project of Love

The five performers who will be battling it out for the top prize of $5,000, plus a Blade Studios recording session, are:

Lynn Drury from New Orleans
The Ian Quiet Band from Shreveport
Soul Track Mind from Austin, TX
The Devil Anse from Shreveport
Static Scene from Washington, DC

Those five will be paid $250 to play a show October 9 at Voodoo Cafe: an art bar, and fans get to vote on their favorite. Music Prize Director Gregory Kallenberg told me how that all works.

"The audience will actually be able to purchase $5 tokens," Kallenberg said. "They'll drop it into the tip jars of the bands. Each band keeps the money, but the winning band actually gets their money matched by the Music Prize."

A panel of top-notch music industry judges will be picking the grand prize winner. Among them is Talking Heads guitarist Jerry Harrison and Kathy Valentine of the Go-Go's.

Kallenberg said there's much more at stake during the Music Prize's second year -- the grand prize has doubled. And local musicians will be excited about another new aspect.

"This year, the Music Prize in a weird twist of fate -- and thanks a huge amount to Ken Sheppard -- we're now associated with the Grammys," Kallenberg said. "So the Music Prize is going to be hosting an educational night for musicians on October 8 at Blade Studios. It's free, but it's going to be RSVP. And basically, we're going to have panels on recording engineering, promotion, distribution and then a listening party where our celebrity panel of judges is going to be able to listen and give feedback to musicians."

Kallenberg said there is a limited space for this event, though, so you need to let him know if you'll be attending.

Listen to the complete interview with Gregory Kallenberg:

And in case you missed the announcement, watch that video here: