BITG local act Semishigure, L-R: Kylie Smith, Yusuke Fukuda & Yogo Kiminami.

Congratulations to NT bands Sweet Amber, Semishigure, Sleeveheads and artists Leigh Chisholm and DJ Fish! They are the local acts selected for this year’s BASSINTHEGRASS!

BASSINTHEGRASS is an 11-hour music festival, and the biggest live music event in the Northern Territory. The bands will play in front of a huge crowd at the Darwin Amphitheatre, Darwin Botanic Gardens, Saturday May 22. Doors open at 11am.

They will represent the NT alongside interstate acts Silverchair, Empire Of The Sun, Horrorshow, Children Collide, Territory diva Jessica Mauboy – and more.

Sleeveheads from Nhulunbuy won their place at the inaugural Battle Of The School Bands competition. Semishigure (pictured) are “the only Japanese band in Darwin” with a unique pop-punk-rock sound; Sweet Amber are one of the hardest working – and hardest-rocking – young bands on the live circuit;  and DJ Fish is a 16 year-old Darwin high student, and quite possibly  the youngest professional DJ in the Territory!

And Leigh Chisholm is one of the NT’s most talented young blues guitarists. He will team up with fellow musicians bass guitarist Jamaica Richards and drummer Jason Irvine (all pictured right), to perform a great set of local music – an incredibly talented young band of NT musicians who’ll show the crowd just what they’re made of!

Read all about the full line up – and more about the bands – on the BASSINTHEGRASS website.

The Battle of the School bands is a new initiative to provide an opportunity for a school to receive mentoring from leading musicians as well as get the opportunity to perform at Bass in the Grass.  The initial stage of the competition is focussed on the north of the Territory and the Southern region will have there own later in the year.  For more information head to the website

The winners of 2010 Battle Of The School Bands will play at NT live music events, Bass In The Grass (Darwin) and Bass In The Dust (Alice Springs) gigs to be held later in 2010.

Workshops will be run across the NT to assist school bands on how to enter, what orgniasers are looking for and musicv and technical requiurements. NT power group Terracotta Pigeons will give a live performance as part of the workshops, run by the NT government. Expressions of interest must be registered for the workshops, which will be run on dates between February 24 – March 24, 2010.

To find out how to enter and all the details of the NT competition, visit the Battle Of The School Bands website.

Bass in the Grass returns for 2010 bringing national acts to Darwin to perform over 12 hours.  This year there is a battle of the school bands competition to choose one of the local bands slots.  For more information head to the website

A young contingent of NT bands was announced as part of the line up for the 2009 BASS IN THE GRASS, Saturday May 23rd, Darwin Amphitheatre, Botanical Gardens.

• Unbroken Expanse
• Enth Degree
• Push Crew
• The Aviators

The Aviators