Bands to Earn their Stripes

Bands to Earn their Stripes

For the third year running,
the Red Stripe Music Award 09 is offering emerging bands the opportunity to
grab the attention of the music industry, with an Edinburgh showcase
confirmed for Saturday 24th January at Cabaret Voltaire.

Hundreds of bands have entered
already and a line-up has now been confirmed with four bands to play at the
popular music venue from 7pm
until 10pm
with free entry for all.

With slots at three of the summer's major festivals
including The Great Escape guaranteed for the winner, The Red Stripe Music
Award is described by many promoters as live music's answer to the Mercury
Music Prize.

About the bands

THE DEBUTS The Debuts are a fresh
four-piece from Edinburgh. With their synth led indie-rock
anthems and energy fuelled live shows the band is quickly becoming one of the
most promising young bands around. Fresh
from support slots with Hard-Fi, Ocean Colour Scene, Delays and The Dykeenies
as well as a string of sucessful summer festival dates, The Debuts will begin 2009 with a string of Scottish tour
dates to promote their EP 'Honesty' which was released in 2008, and is
available as a digital download & Limited Edition CD.

THE FUSILIERS Fast becoming one of the most talked about bands
in Scotland, "Brutal Pop" outfit The Fusiliers were recently voted artist of
the week by listeners of XFM Scotland, have had extensive radio airplay in the
UK and USA, appeared as a featured artist at the legendary King Tut's "Your
Sound" event as well as being made student paper ScotCampus' musicians of the
month.

JENNIFER CONCANNON Edinburgh based Irish singer-songwriter
Jennifer Concannon discovered a love of live performance at an early age
playing Led Zepplin songs in a Derry covers band aged sixteen. In search of a wider audience
and to find herself musically, Jennifer moved to Edinburgh via San Francisco. She now plays her own material
in some of the city's best acoustic cafes and venues.

MODUS Having risen in the last three
years from a trio of session musicians, with a love for foot tapping soul to
become a five piece combo, Modus have built-up a strong following in the UK, US and Japan. The band is currently enjoying
some regular airplay on XFM and BBC Radio 6

The four month regional gig
series starts in January 2009, hitting over 25 of the country's best loved live
music venues. Red Stripe's Paul Brazier comments: "We're committed to nurturing
new music and the Red Stripe gig series offers bands from around the UK a
platform to get themselves noticed by both the public and the industry, playing
at some great music venues along the way."

Visit www.redstripe.net where there are details about all participating venues alongside
regular updates on the gigs, shortlists, finalists and special promotions.

The Red Stripe Music Award
is supported this year by Fender, Merc clothing, The Fly magazine and The Great
Escape.

Red Stripe Music Award confirmed venues and dates:

16th January
(Fri)                         Cardiff,
Barfly,

16th January
(Fri)                         London,
The Windmill (Brixton)

17th January
(Sat)                        Leeds,
Brudenell Social Club,

23rd January
(Fri)                         Exeter, Phoenix

23rd January
(Fri)                         Glasgow,
Box

24th January
(Sat)                        Aberdeen,
Moshulu

24th January
(Sat)                        Edinburgh,
Cabaret Voltaire

30th January
(Fri)                          Bedford, Esquires

6th February
(Fri)                          Bristol,
The Croft

7th February
(Sat)                        Brighton,
Audio

7th February
(Sat)                        Oxford,
The Cellar

13th February
(Fri)                        Southampton,
The Talking Heads

19th February
(Thu)                      Wrexham,
Central Station

20th February
(Fri)                        Liverpool, Zanzibar

20th February
(Fri)                        Accrington,
Attic

27th February
(Fri)                        Reading,
Purple Turtle

28th February
(Sat)                       Chelmsford,
Barhouse

5th March (Thu)                           Cornwall,
Bunters

6th March (Fri)                    Cornwall,
Blue

7th March (Sat)                            Newquay, The Koola Club

12th March (Thu)                          London,
Dingwalls (Camden)

13th March (Fri)                            Sheffield,
The Harley

14th March (Sat)                          Newcastle,
The End Bar

20th March (Fri)                            London,
Halfmoon (Putney)

20th March (Fri)                            Birmingham,
The Rainbow

21st March (Sat)                          Norwich,
B2 Venue

28th March (Sat)                          Manchester,
Moho

18th April (Sat)                             Brixton, Hootenanny