Battle of the bands made a resurface at the Carbon County Fair on Friday evening. Ted Hinkley opened the event explaining the five criteria the bands would be judged on: musicianship, ensemble precision, stage presence, originality and performance. Four bands were set to show the crowd their 30-minute set in hopes to win the battle of the bands. A $1,500 contract was also rewarded to perform at the Helper Arts Festival as the featured Culture Connection performance this summer. Layne Miller then introduced the judges for the evening. Helper City Mayor Lenise Peterman and radio personalities, CJ McManus and Dave Hocanson had the tough job of scoring the performances.
The first band on stage was southern rock and roll band, Milf & Cookies. The band is based out of Salt Lake City, covering songs by Bryan Adams, Audioslave, Guns and Roses, Jimmy Eat World and Lenny Kravitz. The band would be a tough act to follow after getting the crowd going with their fun, upbeat style.
Next on stage was the only local band in the battle. Black Corvus released their debut album in 2022, and are known for their metal and hard rock style of music. The band consists of Tyson Farrell, Devin Farrell, Mark Dickey, Nick Melosi and JB Johnson. The band played all original music with a sound that would surely get most people pumped up and banging their head. As the crowd favorites of the evening, the hometown band put on an excellent set and will continue to play shows throughout the summer.
Eduardo and Alvaro, a duo from Argentina and Costa Rica, spiced things up with come classical jazz. The two were dropping jaws in the crowd as Alvaro amazed on the saxophone, as well as the piano. Adding in acoustic and electric guitar was Eduardo, along with his vocals. The duo turned many in the crowd into fans of the blues by the end of their performance.
For the last band of the evening was the McKayla Paige Band. The six-piece country band included lead vocalist (McKayla), fiddler (Leah), drummer (Marley), rhythm guitar (Tyson), lead guitar (Tyler) and a bassist (Kendrick). Bringing the locals original music along with Carrie Underwood, Lee Ann Womack and Miranda Lambert. The exciting instrumentals along with the lead singer’s excellent country voice was going to be tough to compete with.
The judges had a very hard decision to make, but in the end, the battle of the band winners were the McKayla Paige Band. All bands showed excellent musical appreciation for the other bands performances, showing the unity and love music brings to people. The winners will now plan on their next performance in front of the local crowd, that you will surely not want to miss. The performance will be on Thursday, August 15 for Culture Connection and the Helper Arts Festival. The collaboration will be held on Helper Main Street.
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- Photos by Maxwell Misner
