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Jaci and Those Guys take the stage during a contest held at House of Blues. The band walked away with a $500 prize from the event. Courtesy photo
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Local musicians make noise at HS Rock Off
Jaci and Those Guys, familiar to Royse City residents for their participation in events like FunFest and the FourthFest celebrations, have been taking their show on the road as of late.
The band appeared in over the weekend and won the first Texas High School Rock Off at the House of Blues Friday night. There were 11 bands selected from all around the DFW area.
The local rockers won a trophy, $500, and the opportunity to open for a national touring act at an upcoming concert.
The MC of the show was the lead singer from the band Forever the Sickest Kids a band from the Dallas area whose base player happens to be from Rockwall.
The band is also involved in the SchoolJam USA finals. Several hundred bands from all across the county entered the first annual SchoolJam USA competition sponsored by NAMM.
All bands had to be comprised of students between the 7th and 12th grades and had to be sponsored by their school with the school winning funds for their music department if the band placed in the final 10. By making the final 10, the band's school was guaranteed a minimum of $500 with third place getting $1,500, second $2,500 and first $5,000.
Entrees had to submit all original music. From the top 50 bands were selected by SchoolJam for the semi-final round which was online voting. The 50 bands were placed in five regions across the country with the top two vote getting bands advancing to the finals, which the band did in the Southwest region along with a band from Austin.
The competition is being held at the Anaheim Convention Center on Jan. 18 at the NAMM show. The NAMM show runs approximately 100,000 music industry people through in 4 days. It is not open to the public but the band and parents get passes to the show.
They are being put up in a Disney Resort Hotel right there by the convention center. There is a meet-and-greet reception for the bands and families Thursday evening at the Hilton.
Friday they will meet with the production/stage manager, James Mays from Austin who heads up the SXSW festival in Austin.
Saturday the competition will begin at 2 p.m. on an outdoor stage between the convention center and the Hilton. The band that that won the last SchoolJam Germany competition will play as a guest to open the show.
“Our kids are first up at 2:30,” said Vince Venhaus, father of the band’s guitarist. “After the last band plays there will be a surprise guest band make an appearance while the judges deliberate followed by the announcement of the winning band. They are giving individual awards as well for best guitarist, bassist, drummer, vocalist, and keyboardist.”
The winning band will get $750 and an all expense paid trip to Frankfurt, Germany in March to play at the SchoolJam Germany competition.
“Most of us fly back on Monday,” Venhaus said. “However, Jaci, Matt and Jaci's parents are staying til Wednesday to finish the vocals for their debut album that is set to be released at the first of March if all goes well.”
Members of the group include Jaci Butler, Jason Savage, Trevor Quiett, Matt Venhaus and Chad Ragsdale.
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