Exude One of 20 Finalists in Contest to Find the Best Unsigned U.S. Band

Exude, a techno-pop band from Anaheim, is one of 20 finalists in a Musician magazine contest to choose the best unsigned band in the country.

A group of four rock notables--Elvis Costello, Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits and producer-performers T-Bone Burnett and Mitchell Froom--will gather in Los Angeles in the next month to listen to each finalist’s one-song entry, Musician’s Audrey Glassman said.

Together, they will choose a grand prize winner and nine or 10 runners-up whose songs will appear on a special CD that Warner Bros. Records will distribute to radio stations and music critics. The grand prize winner also receives a home recording studio valued at $10,000. Glassman said results will be announced in June.

Two other Southern California bands, Tin Star, from Venice, and the Conversation, from North Hollywood, are among the finalists that Musician staffers culled from 1,962 acts not signed to a recording contract. Exude’s contending song is “Billy,” a dance-rocker with ironic lyrics full of images of war and apocalypse.

Dexter, another Orange County band, won the one previous Musician best-unsigned-band contest. The judging in that contest was done by magazine staffers rather than prominent rockers, and the prize did not include exposure on a compilation record.