Burlington, N.C.-based band wins cash and opening spot at Band Together’s main event

Raleigh, N.C. (March 6, 2012) — With a little funk, rock, a big sound and a whole lot of style, BIG Something beat out three other local bands last Thursday night at Lincoln Theatre to win the 2nd Annual “Last Band Standing,” the live Band Together competition for $3,500 cash and a coveted spot in the line-up for its spring main event.

Band Together NC is a Triangle-area organization whose mission is to raise funds and awareness for select nonprofits through events that showcase and support musical talent. This year’s “Last Band Standing” raised more than $5,500 to benefit local musicians and Urban Ministries, Band Together’s nonprofit partner for 2012.

“Last Band Standing” is the prelude to the spring Band Together Main Event, headlined last year by Third Eye Blind. The event attracted more than 5,500 fans and raised more than $482,000 for Band Together’s 2011 nonprofit partner, Alliance Medical Ministry. In the coming days, Band Together will announce the date and headline act for its 2012 show.

“BIG Something rocked the house and we are excited they will be back for our main event,” said Jim Graves, event co-chair at Band Together NC. “All the bands, LiLa, Lizzy Ross Band, BIG Something and Mipso Trio, helped put on an amazing show and raise awareness for Urban Ministries and Band Together. They highlighted the strength and diversity of our local music scene, and helped a great cause.”

BIG Something was named the winner after an error in tabulating judges’ ballots first resulted in LiLa being named the contest winner.

“A miscommunication led to confusion on the final ballot count,” said Graves. “We caught the error through a self-audit, and then reached out to all the bands and judges to address the problem and explain the error. We will have additional procedures in place in the future so that this does not happen again. Our humblest apologies go out to LiLa for this error; they are an amazing band with a great future ahead of them.”

In addition to assisting with “Last Band Standing” planning and sponsorships, Leadership Raleigh spearheaded a canned food drive to support the Urban Ministries Food Pantry, collecting more than 1,500 cans. Guests contributed canned goods on behalf of their band of choice, resulting in the Lizzy Ross Band racking up the most cans and winning the audience vote.

Band Together also wishes to thank the generous sponsors for the event: RBC Bank, Poyner & Spruill, LLP, Pendleton Financial, Bella Monica Restaurant, R.A. Jeffreys, N.C. Beer and Wine Wholesalers, Rich Cox Photography, S&A Cherokee, All Points Transportation, O2 Fitness and Radio 96.1. A special thank you was extended to Leadership Raleigh for their tremendous efforts.

For more information about Band Together NC, please visit www.bandtogethernc.org, become a fan on Facebook or follow @BandTogetherNC on Twitter. For more information about Urban Ministries, go to www.urbanmin.org.