On January 15, 2011, the Davenport Chordbusters will host their first ever Youth In Harmony workshop, ACAPPELLOOZA . The workshop will have experienced music clinicians run a day-long workshop with the assistance of chapter members. Our Youth in Harmony chairman, along with the President of the Chordbusters, has been in contact with the music educators from several area schools who have shown an interest in promoting and attending this workshop with students from their schools.

The ACAPPELLOOZA workshop will run from 8:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, January 15, 2011, at St. Ambrose University, with the main clinicians being Dr. Keith Haan, Director of Choral Activities at St. Ambrose University; and Stephanie Batten, Director of the Port City Pearls Chorus of Muscatine, Iowa. They will be assisted by two teaching quartets, A Touch of Fun and Mini Pearls. The workshop will be attended by students from Davenport Assumption, United Township, Sherrard, and Kewanee Wethersfield high schools.

The activities for the day include : vocal warm-up exercises, separate sectional rehearsals for males and females in which the registrants will practice their respective vocal part (tenor, lead, baritone and bass) on five songs. One of these songs will performed by a combined male and female chorus. The workshop will be followed by a general session in which the combined number will be rehearsed together, along with an explanation of the evening event. ACAPPELLOOZA participants will gain increased vocal production and stage presence skills.

Each participant will be given a souvenir t-shirt to wear during the evening show at the Galvin Fine Arts Center, where they will perform on stage with the Chordbusters, the Port City Pearls Chorus and chapter quartets. The show starts at 7 p.m. and admission is only $5.00.

It is our hope that, through this workshop and evening show, these high school participants and teachers can experience the joy that singing this style of music can bring. It is our heartfelt goal to Keep the Whole World Singing one student at a time.

Funding for this workshop has been provided by Quad City Arts, The Barbershop Harmony Society and The Chordbusters.

The Chordbusters, aka SPEBSQSA A-008 Davenport, Iowa Chapter, is a non-profit singing organization, affiliated with the Barbershop Harmony Society. Over the past few years, our Society has encouraged each chapter to appoint a Youth in Harmony chairman whose job would be to increase exposure of this particular style of singing and our organization to area youth. It is the hope of the Chordbuster Chorus that this increase in exposure will lead to an infusion of young male and female singers in the high school choirs singing a cappella, barbershop style music.

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For more information on the Chordbusters you can find us at www.thechordbusters.com .

Winning group to perform live with The Bangles and Sick of Sarah at a private daytime showcase hosted by maurices during South by Southwest 2011

A local band is one step closer to having its dreams of stardom come true on its journey to becoming the winner of maurices "Small Town Sound" nationwide search, and the regional community can help make it happen.

From a field of 500-plus bands, Euralea! Of Moline, Ill., has been chosen as a top 10 finalist in maurices "Small Town Sound" contest. The contest was created in partnership with PlayNetwork and Sonicbids to discover the hottest up-and-coming female-fronted band in the country. The goal of "Small Town Sound" is to ultimately give bands like Euralea!, which plays Pop/Rock music, their big break.

"We've entered contests before but have never gotten this far," said Aaron Mattson of Euralea!. "We know we have a good sound and vision that everybody in the band has worked hard to get across, but it's completely different to know that others feel the same."

Online voting last month cut the field of 525 bands to 50, and a group of panelists including The Bangles, Chrissie Hynde and Sick of Sarah, narrowed it to the 10 finalists. The finalists each had two weeks to create an original song based on the "Small Town Sound" theme. The songs are now playing in maurices stores nationwide and are also posted online, where people can vote from now through December 15, 2010. The general public is invited to vote on the best original song to help determine the grand prize winner and the two runners' up.

The winner will receive several incredible opportunities to let their star power shine. The band will perform live at their local maurices store, fly to Los Angeles to shoot a music video and record their winning song at the PlayNetwork production studio, and receive gifts from maurices and Daisy Rock Guitars. In addition, the winning group will perform live with The Bangles and Sick of Sarah at a private daytime showcase hosted by maurices during South by Southwest 2011.

"Small towns inspire us," said Lisa Bartlett, maurices associate vice president. "They're the heart of America, and we want to give bands with big dreams from small towns their breakthrough chance. Friends and neighbors have the chance to help make Euralea!'s dreams come true."

People are encouraged to log on to maurices.com and click on "Small Town Sound" to listen to the top 10 bands and then cast their vote.

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