In conjunction with this year’s Veishea celebration, 10 local bands soon will be selected to battle for time in the studio.

Battle of the Bands will be held at the Maintenance Shop April 11.

Starting at noon and performing in 20-minute sets, the sounds of punk, pop, folk-rock, funk, rap and other musical styles will be critiqued by three judges who will hand the winning band an opportunity to record an album for free.

“The reason we’re doing it is to get the local music scene involved in Veishea as much as possible,” said Corey Moss, co-music coordinator for Veishea. “We figured what better way than to have a show where we can bring in 10 different bands and have a fun competition.”

Ames and surrounding area bands will be competing for donated gifts.

First prize will be four hours of studio time at Trifecta recording studio of Des Moines. Other prizes include gift certificates for guitar shops and free speaker equipment rental.

“To me, Veishea is all about variety,” said Kyle Moss, co-music coordinator for Veishea. “That’s why this concert is so important because we’re going to have a wide variety of music.”

Judges include entertainment editor of The Des Moines Register Kyle Munson and recording engineer Matt Sepanic, who works at SR Audio, a recording studio in Des Moines.

“This is a great opportunity to see the 10 best bands in town for free, and the M-Shop’s a fun place with a great stage that has been graced by a lot of huge names,” said Corey Moss, senior in journalism and mass communication. “Also, underage students who can’t normally see bands in the bars can attend.”

Any style of music is welcomed, and so far, five or six bands have submitted their applications.

Bands interested in entering the contest need to submit a recording with a name and phone number, and turn applications in to 108 Hamilton Hall, attention: Kyle or Corey Moss, by Monday.

Selections will be made by Tuesday, and bands will be notified of their performance time slots at that time.

“Bands have been rooting for us to get this all year; now we got it, and everybody is pumped,” said Kyle Moss, freshman in journalism and mass communication.