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By Brad McEwen

ALBANY — Albany’s Chehaw park will truly be wild this coming weekend when the multi-purpose nature preserve welcomes the 2016 Albany Battle of the Bands Grand Finale.

Organized by Albany’s EGA Productions, the Albany Battle of the Bands, which is now in its second year, serves as a way to showcase and celebrate several of the talented artists that call South Georgia home.

“The most important thing (about the Battle of the Bands) is to support our music community and to have fun,” said Amy Bacon, EGA Vice President and owner of Bacon South Photography. “Our artists need to have exposure in our local area.

“Today, with the venues making it harder to book and pay out, I want our local bands to get out there and for people to hear them.”

The first step toward giving those bands a chance to shine came earlier this year when EGA hosted online voting, which allowed local fans a chance to chose who would partake in the competition.

Now that the ballots have been counted, seven area talents — Midnight Matinee, Old Damascus, From Dust to Man, Caliber Band, Icky Hollow, The Isabellas, and Gritty N Pretty — get the chance to duke it out musically for various prizes and bragging rights.

Those seven groups will hit The Stage at Chehaw Saturday afternoon, where each will be allowed to play three songs in front of a panel of judges, who will determine which group deserves to be crowned champion.

This year’s judges judges are local radio personality Kurt Baker, Sean Murphy of the musical group “Metal,” and Gary Raye of Double Shot from Peoria, Ill..

While the seven artists — competing for the first-place $1,000 prize package and the second-place prize of a custom-built guitar from Chad Roberts of Roberts Instrument Repair — are Saturday’s main attraction, the Grand Finale also will feature performances from three other artists — Luke Martin, Derailed and Gary Raye. They will entertain the audience in between sets by the competing bands.

The Grand Finale, which is an all-ages event, is set to start at 3 p.m. Tickets to the concert are $10 and will be available at the gate.

Before Saturday’s Grand Finale, the Albany Battle of the Bands will kick off Friday night when EGA Productions presents its Red Carpet event at Chehaw’s Creekside Center.

The Red Carpet, which gets started at 6 p.m., will feature live music from local talents DJ Chris and metal band Dog Head, and will give the event judges, the performing artists and their fans a chance to mingle.

Bacon said this year’s Red Carpet has an ’80s theme and guests are being encouraged to dress up in their finest ’80s-style attire.

“I love the ’80s thing,” Bacon said. “I’m telling people to dig way back in your closet and pull out your best ’80s costumes so we can rock out the night.”

The Red Carpet will also feature a silent auction, the proceeds of which will go to benefit the Joshua Tree program. That program provides assistance to families with special-needs children who might have equipment needs that rae not covered by insurance.

Joshua Tree, which will also receive some of the proceeds from the Red Carpet and the Grand Finale ticket sales, was inspired by Bacon’s son, Joshua Bacon, a 19-year-old Lee County High School senior who has endured eight major surgeries because of spina bifida.

Tickets to the Red Carpet, which is restricted to ages 21 and older, are $10 and can be purchased at the door. The doors open at 6 p.m. and the event will run until 10 p.m.

“The 2016 Battle of the Bands is going to be epic,” Bacon said. “You don’t want to miss it.”

While the Red Carpet and Grand Finale will certainly be a draw, EGA is also presenting two after parties in conjunction with ABOTB. Friday night Lee Pilcher will be playing at Big Rax Saloon at and Saturday night Syde Projykt will be performing at Doh Dah’s.

For more information about Albany Battle of the Bands visit www.albanybotb.com, email [email protected], or call (229) 310-8889.