Registration is easy! Interested musicians should visit artswave.org/cincyjams and fill out the short form. Bands must consist of at least two employees or retirees from any given company and the sign-up window is open until April 19, 2024.
CincyJams is brought to you by Accenture, with sponsors, Hard Rock Casino Cincinnati, Cincinnati Music Festival presented by P&G, Gold Star, Cincinnati Enquirer and Radio One.
For more information on how to enter, go to artswave.org/cincyjams.
“It’s an excuse to be a rock star for a day.”
That’s how Bobby Gayol, the advertising director at Jake Sweeney Automotive, describes his experience with ArtsWave’s CincyJams.
Sounds like fun, right?
Following two successful years of standing-room-only shows at the Hard Rock Café, ArtsWave is looking for bands from local companies to compete in the third annual CincyJams, a workplace “battle of the bands.”
2023 CincyJams “best in show” winners Sugar Daddy, fro Jake Sweeney Automotive.
Gayol does admit he and his bandmates in Sugar Daddy had a slight advantage over the CincyJams bands.
“it’s kind of unfair,” he says. “A couple of us were professional musicians in an earlier life!”
But whether you’re learning a few songs for one night or in a longstanding group, CincyJams is looking for bands for the competition. With the deadline to sign up approaching on April 19, now is the time to get the band (back) together.
This year’s event is May 10 at 7 p.m. at the Hard Rock Café inside Hard Rock Casino Cincinnati. This year’s host will be The People’s Champ, 100.3’s DJ Don Juan Fasho, with judges including 96Rock’s Bridget England and Dean Kuroff from Accenture and lead singer in the local band Blue Otis.
“Not only did I have an amazing experience collaborating with coworkers on music but we also got to benefit local music and arts – which is the language that we all speak,” says Gayol. “ArtsWave has done an amazing job and promoting the arts in Cincinnati.”
Bands aren’t just competing for bragging rights, but for great prizes, too. Some of the benefits include performance slots at Cincinnati Music Festival, presented by P&G, and BLINK®, a recording session with Grammy-winner Ken Lewis, Beer for a Year, Gold Star for a Year courtesy of Gold Star, and more.
Along with Jake Sweeney Automotive, several other companies have already formed bands for Cincy Jams including SHP, P&G, The Christ Hospital Health Network, Great American Insurance and more.
Bands have three ways to win, two of which depend on audience participation. The “Fan-Funded” prize is awarded to the band that raises the most money before the end of the night. Bands will be raising money prior to the show and fans are encouraged to ‘give to vote’ for their favorite band, with all the proceeds supporting the 2024 ArtsWave Campaign. The “People’s Choice” award will be given to the band with the loudest audience response, which in prior years, has rivaled the noise from a jet engine. Finally, the judges will award the “Judges Pick” to the band they see as having the best performance of the evening.
“The crowd is great, with stadium-like applause,” says Gayol.
The free-admission event is designed to engage the community by bringing various companies together for an evening of great music while raising essential funds for the arts. The ArtsWave Campaign is at $9 million of its goal to make 2024 the largest local campaign for the arts in history and surpass $12.5 million. ArtsWave is the primary funder for local arts organizations throughout the 16 counties that make up the Cincinnati region, and the annual ArtsWave Campaign is the largest campaign of its kind in the nation. The campaign concludes on May 23.
“Do it for a good cause,” Gayol says. “It’s win / win!”