And the Winner is… Glass Pony

After six rounds of voting, the field of 64 has been chiseled away to just one… Glass Pony.

Our final two contestants are amazing talents, Girl Blue has the voice of an angel and the lyrics that take you on an emotional rollercoaster. When you hear Arielle sing, you feel every moment like it is your last. While this year’s winners, Glass Pony is a powerhouse of a band with blazing guitar riffs, tight jams, and a melodic groove that is guaranteed to make the people dance.

Honestly, any one of the 64 bands that started this year’s tournament had a great chance to win it all, the region is overflowing with talent from Troy to Schenectady, up to Saratoga, and of course, in the heart of Albany. Music has been our salvation over the past year of so many unknowns. It was our local music streams and radio stations like WEXT that helped keep us sane. For that we are thankful.

It was not an easy road to the finals for the local jam band. Their first-round had them faced off with Wurliday, an entourage of talented musicians that are led by Justin Henricks combining soul and funk.

The second round wasn’t any easier going against the incredible singer-songwriter with a heart of gold, Angelina Valente. Angelina released one of the best live albums of a performance at The Cock n Bull. She’s a favorite of many musicians and industry people for her delicate vocals and cheerful personality.

In the next round Glass Pony had to face-off against the VaVa Voodoos. What can you say about the VaVa Voodoos? They have a strong following and they play fun rock n roll. They are what happens when you watch too many cult movies and listen to surf music for hours while tripping on the brown acid. Does that sounds amazing? Well, it is.

In the “Elite Eight” the tournament was really anyone’s to win. Glass Pony faced off with Dark Honey, Bad Mothers took on Talia Denis, Candy Ambulance was paired up with Let’s Be Leonard, and Girl Blue went heads up with Side-B. It was at this point where people were calling me up going – holy shit our music scene really is the best, isn’t it? Well, no shit Sherlock… we already knew that. And yes, it is. As Michael Hallisey likes to point out, we are #BetterThanAustin. Though, Texas might have nicer weather.

So, that said, congrats to Glass Pony. A well-deserved victory and the future is bright for this young band. Catch them live as they play the area, because before long they will be playing arenas around the country and you could say.. I knew them when they were just starting out.

And this tournament would not have been nearly as awesome if it wasn’t for our sponsors and the incredible prized that we assembled.

Top Winner: Three-day session at White Lake Music and Bridge Road Entertainment, including, recording, editing, and mixing package — all studio instruments, equipment, engineer, pre-session consultation provided.

Runner-up: Four-hour recording session at Troy Saving Bank Music Hall.

Top two finalists: Live stream event hosted by High Peaks Event Production, in which bands will receive a high definition recording of the session and a copy of the multi-track recording.

Top four finalists: Streaming event hosted by the Palace Theatre in Albany after the conclusion of the tournament.

Other sponsors include Denis Entertainment Group, Laboom Entertainment, Putnam Place, The Dona Frank Team Select Sotherby’s Int’l Realty, Nanola, The Hollow Bar + Kitchen, Guthrie/Bell Productions, Caffé Lena, The Cock ‘n Bull, and WEXT Radio. Prices will be $250 for the Winner, $150 for the Runner-up, $100 for 3rd and 4th place Semi-finalists, and $50 for 5th through 8th place.