Gaylord-Pickens to Host Battle of the Bands

By Darren Brown, News9.com INsite Team

OKLAHOMA CITY -- There's a group of teens at the Gaylord-Pickens Museum who are out to prove that you don't have to be a "professional"  to put on a professional rock concert.

The Oklahoma Heritage Association at the Gaylord-Pickens Museum relies on a group of metro teenagers to handle one of its most important fundraisers of the year.

The teen board is made up of 29 high school students from schools around the state.  This year's board had over fifty applicants.

Erin Page, Director of Communications and Marketing at the museum, said the board puts in plenty of hours over the school year.

"The OHA Battle of the Bands is the one thing they do," said Page. "They work on it all the way from September through the event in March." 

Jack Malone, the chairman of the board, attends Edmond North High School.

"It feels like my child, y'know," Malone said. "I work on it all the time, at lunch, at school I'm runnin' home to my computer to check my e-mails and call different people."

One of the groups performing on March 28 is Tritium. The band is made up of four classmates at Deer Creek Middle School.  For Tritium, the battle will be a new experience.  

"Altogether we've performed two times in front of people," said Jordan Lindley, Tritium's lead singer.

Last year's event drew about 150 people and raised over $20,000. The board thinks this year's OHA Battle of the Bands will be even more successful.

"It's an opportunity for them to give back to the community, to learn a little bit about their heritage being from Oklahoma," said Page. "And it gives us a great connection to a younger generation of people."

Injunuity, Forevermore, Hold 'Em High, Jordan Bailey, The Transit Message, and Tritium are the bands performing at this year's OHA Battle of the Bands on March 28.  For more info, contact the Gaylord-Pickens Museum at (405) 235-4458.