When Talain Rayne Blanchon was a senior in high school he had no piano, no voice, and no clue music would come for his heart like it has. The journey didn’t begin until a teacher helped him buy his first keyboard and record his first song that year. Writing music quickly became Talains livelihood, keeping him afloat amidst stormy seasons. He clung to songwriting through college with a fervor that has not subsided.
Now Rayne and his band are finalists in Slurpee’s Battle of the Bands, 1 of 12 bands from around the country selected from 906 entries who will be headed to concerts in various U.S. cities, playing for headliner bands. On Monday, August 16 at 8pm, Rayne and his band will take the stage at Filmore Irving Plaza in New York City to perform along with two other Battle of the Bands finalists. Headlining that evening will be N*E*R*D, a genre-bending alternative hip hop group from Virginia, fronted by Pharrell Williams.
A press release on Slurpee’s Battle of the Bands gives the following information on the contest: “Fans can view all performances live online on Slurpee’s Facebook fanpage (http://www.facebook.com/Slurpee), then vote at Slurpee.com for their favorite band for three days immediately after each event. Also, one song from each competing band’s performance will be posted on Slurpee.com. The group with the winning votes from each of the four events will continue on to the next round of competition. Four semi-finalist bands will travel to Dallas where they will each have three days to create music videos with amateur video crews. Their music videos will be shown on Slurpee.com. Again, fans will vote for their favorite music videos. The two winners from this challenge will battle it out when each performs a special engagement in their respective home towns. Live video of their performances will be streamed on the Slurpee Facebook fanpage. Fan votes will be collected over two days and the winner will be announced on Sept. 30 on Slurpee.com. The top band will receive the grand prize of $10,000 and a chance to record in-studio and be featured on Wolfgangsvault.com.”
Fans of Talain Rayne can head to NYC to watch the band perform live on stage or watch the concert online on the Slurpee Facebook page. Either way, fans will have a chance to vote for their favorite band. Be sure to support homegrown Talain Rayne and cast your vote online (voting ends at midnight on August 21st).
You can check out Talain Rayne and the other bands competing in Slurpee’s Battle of the Bands by clicking here: http://www.slurpee.com/Events/promotions/BOTB_2010/Bands.aspx
Or, become a fan on Talain Rayne’s Facebook page, where you can have a listen to a selection of original songs: http://www.facebook.com/TalainRayne
A side note: Rayne comments on his unique first name saying, “it’s pronounced like Salon, but take away the S and add a T”. We like it. And we love the music. Rock on, Talain!
