No fly zone: Riders record four interceptions in win over Argos
Jul 05, 2024
"We are just making the plays we are supposed to make," said Rolan Milligan.
A Saskatchewan band is looking to make it in the big leagues.
Tombstone Whiskey is a four-man rock and roll band out of Swift Current, and they’re competing in America’s Top Hitmaker Contest. It’s an event that has bands from across North America register and compete through online voting with the chance to win some huge prizes.
If they win, some of the biggest things they’ll receive are an appearance in Rolling Stone Magazine, $10,000, and the chance to perform at Rolling Stone’s Future of Music Showcase in Austin, Texas.
This year’s champion will also receive an exclusive mentoring session from artist Busta Rhymes, who recently debuted his album, Blockbusta, at No. 10 on the hip-hop album charts.
When it comes to Tombstone Whiskey, they say a lot of their music is influenced by classic rock bands like Lynyrd Skynyrd, Deep Purple, KISS, AC/DC, ZZ Top, etc.
But it’s not just rock music they connect with. Lead singer and frontman for the group, Darrin Schwartz, said they take a lot of inspiration from another genre.
“We’re not really country, but we do take some influence from some country musicians,” said Schwartz.
He said the contest works like a sports tournament, with online votes deciding who will move forward and who won’t.
“We’re in the first kind of group phase, and the voting starts, and it just continues on until I think it’s September or so, and then the grand prize winner will be announced,” said Schwartz.
“I don’t know how many groups there are… I counted it yesterday. There were 56 artists in our group alone. So, what they’re doing now in this first round of voting is it goes down to the top twenty in each group and then it just continues. The next one will be the top 15, the one after that will be the top 10, and it just continues on until the very end, and then the grand prize winner will be announced,” said Schwartz.
You can find their music on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter.
The competition’s first cut will take place on July 11.