CLEVELAND — Northeast Ohio is a hub for musical talent and this weekend it will be on full display.
On Saturday and Sunday, Tower City will host the 2nd annual Battle of the Land—a music competition where the contestants compete for a grand prize.
And according to organizers, this year is bigger and better.
Now an annual event, Battle of the Land serves as an amazing opportunity for local artists representing a variety of genres.
"Battle of the Land is that opportunity for us to create that exposure utilizing Tower City, a very unique venue, not a traditional concert venue," said Jason Russell the Senior Director of Leasing and Operations for Bedrock who organizes the event in collaboration with iHeart Radio.
The competition received submissions from more than 200 artists and with the help of more than 6,000 voters, the submissions were narrowed down to 16—those artists will be competing in the two-day semifinals this weekend.
"There'll be eight performers each day, and then the public will vote on who the top two were from each day. And so those Final Four will then compete in the final, uh, next weekend on October 8th," explained Russell.
So what’s at stake for final four?
One local artist will go home with a $5,000 cash prize, a music video, 10- hours of studio time, and an exclusive interview with the Insomniac from IHeart Radio.
"It's just getting that exposure, getting their name out there. I mean, that's everything, right? Especially we live in a social media world. The more followers you have, the better. So Battle of the Lands is that opportunity for us to help those individuals really expand their exposure," said Russell.
Buy why is this important to Bed Rock and Tower City? Well, it’s all a part of their larger vision for the city.
"Our goal is, you know, even folks that are coming down to a Cavs game or, you know, the Guardians are in town this weekend that, you know, may not even have heard of Battle the Lands, but they're gonna hear some great music say, now what is this? And, and stick around and try to learn more, uh, about who these artists are.
Voting for this weekend's semi-finals is only available in person, so in order to support these local artists you have to attend the event.
The Semi-finals are taking place Saturday and Sunday from 2 p.m.to 6 p.m. at Tower City. For a detailed look at the talented artists performing and more information, click here.
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*Editor's Note: The video in the player above is from a previous, unrelated report.