James Mathes won the Get The Gig Champion of Champions Finals at J.D, Legends in Franklin, Ohio last night. He won $350 and five hours of studio time with Mark Liggett, who produced albums for Blessid Union of Souls.
Mathes was one of five artists who advanced the Champions of Champions Finals. The other artists who performed were Thomas James Freel (5th place), Heath Bowling (4th place), Tesa Marie (3rd place) and Thomas Beverly (2nd place).
All five artists were extremely talented and deserving of being in the finals. Each artist performed a total of five songs before the audience voted for the winner. Mathes’ winning set was very diverse with songs from artists such as Snoop Dogg, Prince and David Allan Coe.
Get The Gig started months ago and allowed local acts who wanted to play at J.D. Legends to have the opportunity to audition and were paid $50 for the audition. Four artists auditioned each Thursday night and the audience voted for the winner, who earned their own show at J.D. Legends. After a few months, the weekly winners began competing against each others in the Champions of Champions and those winners were the artists who were in last night’s finals.
The Get The Gig competitions were hosted by Scott Hall, who also Hall Around Town Radio shows on Facebook Live at 5 p.m. on weekdays. He did a really good job of talking to artists between rounds last night. I had watched one of the five artists prior to last night and it gave me the opportunity to get to know the a little bit better. I hope to watch each of them perform longer shows soon.
J.D. Legends also has Get The Gig Band Edition and Get The Gig Hip Hop Edition. The Get The Gig comeptitions for solo artists and duos will start again on Aug. 29.