The competition Battle for the Van is starting May 1st. With local bands Letters from Home (formally known as He is King), and Beyond the Gates competing in the battle. The competition is going to be tough. 
    The Battle for the Van consists of four rounds, of different genres competing against each other to win first prize. Winners will receive a van for their band’s personal use, an interview on 105.3 Hot FM radio station, a professional demo, and different band promotion products. 
    To determine the winner, 80 % will be determined by the likes and dislikes of the crowd, and actual musicians will judge the rest. 
    First rounds of the battle will be held through the month of May. 

First round – May 1
Rattle Candy
Tony Oleck
He is King
Old School Poultry
Miles Hodson
Casse

Second round – May 8
Dwarf Corpse
Emonday
Our Forgotten Legacy
Beyond the Gates
Quell the Skeptic

Third round – May 15
3 Cents Short
We Live Loud
The Overheaters
Mylbs
Victory Victory

Fourth round – May 29
Krigen I Nord
Left Hand Fail
Oh the Storm
Blind Ambition
Post Addition

Final round – June 5 

    Jr. Jake Aday said the van that is given to the winner is pretty nice. It is white, with a lot of space for people. Not so much room for equipment though. “It’s not a creeper van,” stated Jr. Spencer Collins. Aday and Collin both agree that the Napoleon Dynamite sticker that the van has which says, “I caught you delicious bass,” pulls the whole look of the van together. 
    The name formally known, as He is King, recently changed their name to Letters from Home. This past April they decided to change their name towards something with a bit more meaning towards what they wanted to do with the band. 
    Jrs. Noah Kortman, Josh Swett, and Jon Macky, with Sr. Cody Flowers are in the band Letters from Home, they explained to us why they decided to change their name. “Letters from Home is a statement that we as a band live our lives by. We live by letters from home, scriptures from our Savior. Our mission as a band is to create music that people can enjoy, as well as find, or enrich their faith in,” stated Flowers. 
    Letters from Home has a concert the night before the battle in Cedar Springs, they are thinking of this concert as a good practice in front of people. “We’re really excited right now, we’re defiantly working our butts off!” Flowers said. Macky said, “If we can get the crowd into the music, we can hopefully move on.” 
    Jr. Spencer Collins is the guitarist in the band Beyond the Gates. Beyond the Gates genre is mainly metalcore. “Our main competition is going to be Dwarf Corpse,” said Collins. 
    Good luck to all the bands competing in the Battle for the Van, and a special good luck to Letters from Home, and Beyond the Gates! Macky says, “Come out to the show! It’ll be epic!”