Hey! Unsigned and aspiring bands! Yeah, you! You wanna play Uproar festival and have your band selected from dozens of competing acts by legends like Jerry Cantrell and Duff McKagan?

Of course you do. And you're in luck, as Uproar's annual Ernie Ball Battle of the Bands has launched and is underway, with unsigned bands eligible to compete for a fan-voted slot to appear on the Uproar festival. The competition runs from today, July 1 through Sept. 1. The ending deadline fluctuates and is market dependent.

Bands will vie for a slot on the Zippo Encore Festival Stage powered by Ernie Ball in their individual market in August and September. Finalists will compete for a sweet grand prize, which is a spot on the 2014 edition of Uproar; the chance to record with producer Jay Baumgardner at NRG in Hollywood; a record deal; $10,000 worth of music gear; national exposure on the HardDriveRadio program and much, much more.

Perhaps even more thrilling is the fact that the judges this year are the aforementioned Alice in Chains guitar maestro Cantrell; former Guns N' Roses and current Walking Papers bassist Duff McKagan; Baumgardner; and author Jesse Cannon.

About the contest, McKagan said, "For new bands willing to work hard, this is a great opportunity to gain new fans and expose yourself to a national audience. I’m looking forward to checking out these up-and-coming bands and helping to discover new talent." If that's not a call to action, we don't know what else is.

Uproar, now in its fourth year, launches on Aug. 9 and runs through Sept. 15. It features Alice in Chains, Jane's Addiction, Coheed and Cambria and more.

To enter the Battle of the Bands, go here. Entrants should use the Band Promotional Toolkit provided in their profile after logging in to promote their entry on the web and drive fans to vote. Fans can also register to become official contest judges.

Good luck and godspeed.

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