More Than 10,000 Enter, 4 Bands Remain!
Ernie Ball Battle Of the Bands Showcase Final Brings Together Today's Hottest Unsigned Talent

SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA (October 24, 2005) ?The culmination of the 9th Ernie Ball Battle of the Bands will bring together four of today's best unsigned bands on Friday, December 16 at the renowned Key Club in Hollywood, CA.

The four remaining bands beat out more than 10,000 other groups that initially entered this year?s Battle. Label A&R representatives, prominent music manufacturers, and Vans Warped Tour brass will all be attending the event, hoping to catch a glimpse of Warped Tour's best unsigned talent.

The bands making the cut this year are: Glass Intrepid of Spring, TX;
The Felix Culpa of Rockford, IL; Race The Sun of Richmond, VA; and Your Name in Lights of Albuquerque, NM.

Ernie Ball selected these four great bands based on their outstanding live performances on the Ernie Ball Stage this summer at the Vans Warped Tour. ?Their musicianship, ability to draw, and crowd interaction set them apart as the Showcase winners,? explained Brian Ball of the Ernie Ball Company.

Glass Intrepid, a radio friendly modern rock band, is a major player in the thriving Houston and Dallas music scenes. Relishing upon the upcoming showcase, singer Brian Scott said, ?It means so much that the people of Ernie Ball saw something in us. It has been our lifelong dream to make music a career and we feel that this opportunity is a great stepping-stone for our band? We are that much closer to our dream of sharing our music with the world.?

The Felix Culpa has been entertaining the Midwest music scene since the start of the millennium. Alternative Press magazine caught buzz of the art-rock trio and featured the band in their August 2005 issue. ?It feels really weird?in a great way,? commented Tristan Culpa, bass player and vocalist of The Felix Culpa the Indie band. ?It?s one of those things that you enter for a good time, but never really expect to win. You just think ?Yeah right ? 10,000 bands entered this thing--There?s no way we?re going to win!? But now we?ve won and it?s still sort of hard to believe. We all have such a gracious attitude about the whole thing because everybody involved has just been absolutely fantastic. We?re still getting over the shock.?

Race The Sun has built their immense fan base through nationwide tours and a massive internet presence through Pure Volume and My Space. After releasing their 11 track LP on Fidelity records, major label suitors began to take notice of the Virginia Beach pop punk quintet. ?It?s an opportunity of a lifetime,? said Daniel Long, vocalist of Race the Sun. ?It?s our one chance to really show everyone who we are and what we?re all about. Our hopes are high and we have the determination to take this beyond our wildest imaginations. This could be the position that could make or break us, so we have to take it on with the best intentions.?

Your Name in Lights recently got off tour with the likes of Rufio and The Spill Canvas. While they have only been a band for one year, Your Name in Lights is the most sought after band in the southwest since At the Drive In. Said Mario, vocalist and guitar player for the rock band, ?We?re extremely excited and thankful! We can?t believe we won a chance to play at the showcase. We would?ve never thought about coming this far in this contest with thousands of awesome bands involved. We?ve been together for about a year, and this shows us that after hard work and dedication we have a good chance of achieving our goals. Plus, it shows us that our band is actually pretty good and people like us!?

Special guest headliner (to be announced soon) will headline the Hollywood Showcase event. Doors open at 7pm, and tickets are $10, available through the Key Club box office, Ticket Master and other locations. The Vans Warped Tour will also be hosting an after party, celebrating the success of selling over 700,000 tickets this summer. All proceeds from this year?s showcase will be donated to Unite the United, a charity benefiting those recently affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

In addition to playing for a room full of big music names, each band receives an expense paid trip to the west coast, a week on next year?s Warped Tour and thousands of dollars worth of rock n? roll prizes from Battle 9 sponsors, including an Electrovoice microphone, Music Man bass & guitar, Hartke cabinets and a bass amp, DW drum kit, Coffin Cases drum hardware case, Mesa Boogie cabinet and other products, TC Electronic Flanger Pedal, Auralex DST kit and, from Ernie Ball, 52 sets of guitar strings and 12 sets of bass strings.

Since its debut nine years ago, the Ernie Ball Battle of the Bands has given the best local bands from North America the opportunity to showcase their talents in the world?s longest running and largest live music promotion in the music industry.

The Vans Warped Tour, the most prominent live music festival in North America, hit 46 major venues in the United States and Canada and featured, among others, My Chemical Romance, Thrice, Hawthorne Heights, Atreyu, and The Offspring.

Ernie Ball was the first to offer rock strings with the creation of Slinkys, and further revolutionized the market by offering guitarists Custom-Gauge single strings. The Ernie Ball Company also produces Music Man guitars and basses, volume pedals, and other accessories. The company's strings and accessories are available in more than 6,000 music stores throughout the U.S. The company also exports to 82 countries. For more information, contact the Ernie Ball company at (800) 543-2255, or visit their website at www.ernieball.com.

These products are Ernie Ball trademarks registered in the USA and many foreign countries:

ERNIE BALL®     CUSTOM GAUGE®     SLINKY®     EARTHWOOD®
MUSICMAN®
STINGRAY®     SILHOUETTE®     AXIS®
STERLING®     4+2®     3+1®

Trademark ownership is indicated by the symbol ®, however, for the sake of brevity it is omitted during the story.

Contact:
Brian Ball
Ernie Ball, Inc.
(800) 543-2255

Media Contact:
Keith Negrin
MORSEKODE
(952) 853-9555