Continuing its commitment to the support of aspiring artists, Guitar Center and Mötley Crüe announced today the 30 semi-finalists for the Guitar Center On-Stage – Your Chance To Make Rock History. Guitar Center and the world’s most notorious rock band will provide one up-and-coming band the ultimate, career-altering opportunity - the chance to open on tour for rock icons, Mötley Crüe. Over the past six weeks, bands across the United States were invited to submit their music at www.makerockhistory.com. From thousands of submissions, 30 semi-finalists have been selected to compete for the chance to win a prize package that includes an opening slot on Mötley Crüe’s 2009 U.S. tour (dates to be announced at a later date), $25,000 cash, $20,000 in exclusive new gear from Gibson Guitar, management from Tenth St. Entertainment, and a recording deal from Eleven Seven Music, Mötley’s management and record label.

The top 30 bands were chosen from metrics including top fan votes and also were judged by executives at Eleven Seven Music and Tenth Street Entertainment. The semi-finalists include:

Of Broken (Hampstead, MD)
Admiral of Black (Lisle, IL)
The Dirty Pearls (New York, NY)
The GoStation (Astoria, NY)
Neverset (Dallas, TX)
Irrational (Orlando, FL)
The Last Vegas (Chicago, IL)
The Spittin’ Cobras (Seattle, WA)
The Screens (Minneapolis, MN)
The Heroine (San Antonio, TX)
Lorene Drive (Victorville, CA)
Love Letter Radio (Vista, CA)
Love Said No (Bayonne, NJ)
Akora (East Rutherford, NJ)
Evil Engine #9 (Salem, IN)
The Faded Spades (Burbank, CA)
Pretty In Stereo (Fountain Valley, CA)
Breaking Vegas (Rydal, GA)
Five Star Failure (Fernandina Beach, FL)
Cherry S/T (Danvers, MA)
No JustUs (Taylor, MI)
Ones and Zeros (Rocklin, CA)
Jupiter Crash (Seattle, WA)
Reckless Sons (New York, NY)
SilverStone (Rogers, AR)
Something To Burn (Los Angeles, CA)
Venture (Grandbury, TX)
Waterstreet (Chicago, IL)
The Marquette Weekend (Florissant, MO)
The Binges (Los Angeles, CA)


The regional evaluation events will be held at Guitar Center locations in Los Angeles on October 20th and October 21st. The semi-finalists will be judged by leading influencers in the music industry such as President of FUSE TV, Eric Sherman; Producer and Frontman of Sixx:A.M., James Michael; Music Director of Los Angeles radio station 98.7, Julie Pilat; Chris Nilsson of 10th St. Entertainment and General Manager of Eleven Seven Music, Frank Woodworth.

After narrowing the list to the top six bands at the regional events, Guitar Center will host a final round of evaluation on November 10, 2008 at The World Famous Whisky A-Go-Go, where each of the bands will perform live for members of Mötley Crüe.
“Guitar Center On-Stage is our most audacious and ambitious program yet. We are offering nothing short of a chance for greatness. A way to step out of the shadows of obscurity and into the light of legends,” said Norman Hajjar, EVP and Chief Marketing Officer for Guitar Center. “Guitar Center invests every year behind programs that are dedicated to helping striving artists realize their musical dreams.”

Allen Kovac, CEO and Founder of Tenth Street Entertainment and Eleven Seven Music said, "This is the first time in the history of the music business that an opportunity of this magnitude has been offered to an unknown band. In just three short months, the winning band will go from being completely unknown to having a record and management deal, and the opportunity to tour with Mötley Crüe. Aligned with the advertising, brand recognition and credibility Guitar Center is providing, Tenth Street and Eleven Seven are excited to give an up-and-coming rock band the best possible support to jump start a long and successful career."

Mötley Crüe’s Mick Mars notes, “Our partnership with Guitar Center gives us the opportunity to help an up-and-coming band by giving them every element needed to succeed. Like Ozzy did for us when he took an unknown band called Mötley Crüe on the road, we too are looking for the next generation’s great rock band.”

“Gibson Guitar has always supported bands on every level and as a music innovator we work hard to support emerging bands by giving them opportunities for success through our many resources,” said Henry Juszkiewicz, Chairman and CEO of Gibson Guitar. “This program will launch the next Mötley Crüe and we are proud to partner with our friends at Guitar Center for such an exciting promotion.”

For more information or to watch the any of the “Top 30 Finalists” audio and video submissions, please go to www.makerockhistory.com

About Guitar Center

Guitar Center is the world’s largest retailer of guitars, amplifiers, percussion instruments, keyboards, and pro-audio and recording equipment. Our retail store subsidiary presently operates 214 Guitar Center stores across the nation. We are also the largest direct response retailer of musical instruments in the United States through our wholly owned subsidiary, Musician's Friend, Inc., and its catalog and Web site, www.musiciansfriend.com. In addition our Music & Arts division operates more than 100 stores specializing in band instruments for sale and rental, serving teachers, band directors, college professors and students. More information on Guitar Center can be found by visiting the Company's Web site at www.guitarcenter.com.
The Guitar Center logo is a registered trademark of Guitar Center, Inc. Other brand or product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated.
About Mötley Crüe

Having survived three decades of decadence and nearly every possible obstacle, including several brought on by themselves, Mötley Crüe now find themselves alive and elevated to rock royalty. The Crüe have returned with the recent release of Saints of Los Angeles, their first CD with the original line-up -- Nikki Sixx, Mick Mars, Tommy Lee and Vince Neil -- in over a decade and the ninth studio album in their career. The disc debuted at #1 on the Independent Album chart and was the top debut of the week at #4. Based on the band’s New York Times bestseller, The Dirt, the revealing CD offers tremendous insight into the lives of the rebellious leaders of the “L.A. sleaze rock” movement. The single “Saints of Los Angeles” broke barriers when it was released simultaneously on Rock Band and by traditional means, selling more than five times the number of downloads via the video game as it did on iTunes in its first week of release. The band is currently on their inaugural Crüe Fest, the top rock festival of the summer. www.motley.com
About Tenth Street Entertainment

Tenth Street Entertainment (www.10thst.com), the leading music management company founded by industry veteran Allen Kovac is a leader in the kind of wide-ranging marketing alliances, branding opportunities, research based promotion and online convergence that marks the future of the entertainment business. At Tenth Street Entertainment, every release is a convergence of the company’s departments that oversee the music, radio, marketing, press, online media, touring, branding, international, third party licensing and strategic partnerships that inspires each artist’s brand to live long lives in many areas and in unexpected places around the world. The prestigious artist management roster includes Mötley Crüe, Buckcherry, Debbie Harry and Blondie, Sixx:A.M., Papa Roach, Jet, Drowning Pool, Marion Raven and the Exies.

About Eleven Seven Music

Eleven Seven Music is the #1 Independent Active Rock label (according to Mediabase and industry trade Radio & Records) and is among the top five performing rock labels, controlling up to 25 percent of the rock charts since its inception in January 2006. With the recent #1 independent release from Mötley Crüe (the label scored the #2 position last year with Sixx:A.M.’s The Heroin Diaries Soundtrack and Buckcherry’s Platinum and Grammy-nominated 15 ), Eleven Seven continues to build on its model of research-based marketing strategies targeted directly to the fans and building out from that base. Helmed by President Nikki Sixx, the label’s roster includes Mötley Crüe, Buckcherry, Sixx:A.M., Trapt, Drowning Pool, The Exies and Marion Raven. Eleven Seven Music was founded by industry veteran and pioneer Allen Kovac, a revolutionary mind who has been at the center of some of the most creative and successful campaigns in the music business.

About Gibson Guitar
Gibson is known worldwide for producing classic models in every major style of fretted instrument, including acoustic and electric guitars, mandolins and banjos. Gibson's HD.6X-PRO Digital Guitar and the Gibson Robot Guitar represent the biggest advances in electric guitar design in over 70 years. Founded in 1894 in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and headquartered in Nashville since 1984, Gibson Guitar Corp.'s family of brands now includes Epiphone, Dobro, Kramer, Steinberger, Tobias, Echoplex, Electar, Flatiron, Slingerland, Valley Arts, Maestro, Oberheim, Sunshine Piano, Take Anywhere Technology, Baldwin, J&C Fischer, Chickering, Hamilton and Wurlitzer. Visit Gibson's website at www.gibson.com or www.gibson.com/press.
About TuneCore

TuneCore (www.tunecore.com) has changed the 100-year-old rules and model of the music business. It is a low, flat fee service that delivers anyone's music to iTunes, eMusic, Amazonmp3 and many other major download sites while taking no rights and no revenue from the sale of the music. Artists are building careers, selling significant volumes of music and generating revenue while keeping their rights utilizing the new model created by TuneCore. TuneCore has delivered the music of Nine Inch Nails, Keith Richards, Bjork, Jay-Z, Public Enemy and thousands of others to the digital download stores.

About FameCast

FameCast (www.famecast.com) is “Where Independent Artists Win.” As the premier online talent competition and community for emerging, entrepreneurial musicians, FameCast shines the spotlight on those who have what it takes, but have lacked the breaks. The company’s proprietary contest platform, at FameCast.com, provides artists with worldwide exposure to new fans, major cash prizes, and industry opportunities such as performances at Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits Music Festival. Companies also harness FameCast’s contest platform to power branded contests, such as Guitar Center On Stage and the Big State Festival’s “Big State Big Star” competition.