YOVASO (Youth of Virginia Speaking out for traffic Safety) put on the third annual Lord Botetourt High School Battle of the Bands Friday May 16 to an almost packed house filled with students wearing neon glow in the dark necklaces.

All six bands were on their mark for the night. Each played three songs and many had original material. Some stepped back to rock’s roots and others played rock classics!

The six bands were:
* “Nature of the Mind” featuring Aaron Altice, Adam Cuba, Max Pritts and Daniel Graybill.
* “Team Ramrod” with Trent Alderman and Steve Keck
* “TRI” had Drew Sprinkle, Tom Sosnowski, Mickey Henderson, Bengy Wagner
* “Five Minutes Later” comprised of Alex Tam, David Vineyard, Travis Grahame and James Campbell
* “Head over Kills;”with Chris Suter, Robert Patten, Andy Neikirk, Brye Hayes
* “Letters of December” made up of Jesse Boothe, Gage Freeman, Dakota Thacker and Devin Stevens.

YOVASO members asked traffic safety questions between bands and gave out gift certificates donated by local eateries. Government teacher Greg Hupp served as MC, YOVASO faculty sponsors Doak Harbison and Dee Sheffer who is retiring this year manned the stage and sound crews and a slew of YOVASO members and Shelia Lithegow from Blue Ridge Behavioral Healthcare also assisted. Lights by Katelyn McDaniel and Art teacher Patti Kapral designed the program and cover with art that came from Ryan Bauman.

“Team Ramrod” consisted of two players Alderman and Steve Keck (who wore the coolest hat) on acoustic guitar. Their rendition of “Johnny B. Goode” by Chuck Berry was awesome. One surprise of the night came from a heavy metal version of the 50s classic “Run Around Sue.” It was actually a good adaptation of an old song into the growling sound of 2008.

Every one expected great things out of “Head Over Kills” as Suter and Patton participated in their third Battle of the Bands and they did not disappoint. Yet the evening exploded with the play of Five Minutes Later. Lead singer James Campbell has a big on key voice and the guitar work of Alex Tram on his white and gold electric guitar was terrific. They played several original tunes including one about girl trouble. The finale of their set was Mettalica’s “Enter Sandman” and they had the crowd standing and cheering. David Vineyard and Travis Grahame on bass and drums really added to the set.

Though all of the bands were good and the judges had a difficult time choosing (they came from the local band, Blackwater, which will be participating in the Botetourt Relay for Life in two weeks,) Five Minutes Later took the $150 first prize and Head Over Kills came in second.

For an encore Five Minutes Later played the 90s Classic “Heaven Let Your Light Shine Down” and ended to thunderous applause. The group practices every Sunday at Grahame’s house. They perform next at the Coffee Pot on Brambleton Avenue on May 31, said Campbell and Grahame. Yeah—they are that good to have a set at The Coffee Pot as teenagers!


Smoking guitar work ruled the night
Drew Sprinkle embodied the surly heavy metal TRI played
YOVASO members took a bow with Greg Hupp
Neon rocks to Five Minutes Later
FIve Minutes Later owned the night. The band as they prepared to play the winner's encore.

Our last post about Lord Botetourt High School was May 16.

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• Posted by cathy benson in Schools & education
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