Fat Cheek Kat Wins Band Together’s 5th Annual “Last Band Standing”
Raleigh, N.C. (April 14, 2015) – In a packed house at Lincoln Theatre last Friday night, music fans cheered on four talented North Carolina bands at Band Together’s 5th annual “Last Band Standing” event, the biggest philanthropic music competition to hit the Triangle. Winston-Salem based Fat Cheek Kat won the musical face-off, taking home $3,500 in cash and a coveted spot in the line-up for Band Together’s Main Event, headlined by Michael Franti and Spearhead on June 27 at Red Hat Amphitheater.Triangle-based Band Together NC uses live music as a platform for social change. This year’s “Last Band Standing,” raised more than $10,000 to benefit Band Together’s 2015 nonprofit partnership with StepUp Ministry.“Each year this event gets bigger, better and more exciting,” said Matt Strickland, executive director of Band Together NC. “Dark Water Rising, Diali Cissokho & Kaira Ba, Fat Cheek Kat and The Nomadic each blew away the audience with their performances. Fat Cheek Kat won out with their soulful and funky sound, but this diverse show of North Carolina-based musicians made this year unique. Our commitment to showcase rising talent is what makes our events successful and we are proud to support regional music.”“This is a great opportunity for us in Raleigh,” said Cass Copsey of Fat Cheek Kat. “We needed an event like this to allow a new audience to see us and experience our music. We can’t wait for the big show on June 27 in front of the crowd at Red Hat."The winning band was selected by a panel of four local judges: Matt Carter of Yep Roc Records; Sara Waters, Coordinator for Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival; Taylor Traversari, of Red Hat Amphitheater; and Lee Crumpton of Home Grown Music. In the event of a tie by the judges, the winner would have been determined by the audience’s vote.Band Together also wishes to thank the generous sponsors for the event: First Citizens Bank, Poyner Spruill, Bella Monica, Red Hat, Insight Global, Veredus, Rex Healthcare, Robert Half, New City Design, The Select Group, Harris, Wiltshire & Grannis, Schools Kids Records, Moe’s Southwest Grill, WNCN, WRAL Out & About, and The Stagger.Last year’s Band Together Main Event was headlined by Daryl Hall and John Oates, raising more than $600,000 for its partnership with Communities In Schools of Wake County and Communities In Schools of Durham (CIS). This year, Band Together hopes to raise more than $2 million for its partnership with StepUp Ministry through its June 27 Main Event at Red Hat Amphitheater.For more information about Band Together, visit www.bandtogethernc.org, become a fan on Facebook, join their LinkedIn group or follow @bandtogethernc on Twitter.###About Band Together NCBand Together NC is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that operates under one mission: using live music as a platform for social change. Since its inception in 2001, the organization has grown to become the largest annual charitable music event in the Southeast, donating more than $3.5 million to philanthropic organizations. Band Together’s annual concert event is organized and led by a team of more than 500 volunteers from across the Triangle.About StepUp MinistryStepUp Ministry is an interfaith nonprofit organization that teaches low-income and homeless people to become self-sufficient (stable job, stable home, stable family). Founded in 1988, StepUp annually helps empower, not enable, nearly 600 individuals in Wake County. StepUp accomplishes this through life-skills preparation with volunteer partners and job training/placement. More than 800 Wake County adults, many of them in crisis or in need, have been placed in jobs over the last five years because of StepUp Ministry. For more information, visit www.stepupministry.org or call (919) 781-0156.