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How to enter:

It's simple! After you have joined Ampslam for free and uploaded your tunes, simply e-mail the Ampslam contest judges at contest@ampslam.com with your member and artist name and the name of the song that you uploaded that you want considered for the monthly contest. Winners will be notified by e-mail and featured on the Ampslam home page! See Contest Rules below for more information. ORIGINAL SONGS ONLY!

Official contest rules

Enter only one song per monthly song contest. You must be an Amplsam Member to enter.
Entered songs cannot be cover versions and cannot sample another artist’s work.
All songs must be original. Ampslam takes NO financial or ownership interest in ANY song.
Prizes will be delivered via PayPal.
Contestants must be at least 13 years of age. Entrants retain all publishing rights to their song(s).
Additions or deletions to these rules may be made at the discretion of Ampslam LLC, and may be enacted at any time.
The selection of contest winners by Ampslam, and its judges is final. Arrangements for receiving all prizes, unless otherwise specified, must be made within thirty days of announcing the winners. It is the responsibility of the winners to claim prizes within the thirty days provided. All unclaimed prizes will be forfeited, and Ampslam may award any unclaimed prize at the end of the thirty-day grace period to a contest runner-up. All prizes are nontransferable and void where prohibited by law. No cash substitution of prizes is allowed.

SOUTHLAND: Inspired Rock the US Marines Love!(read more)

By Thomas Giannini

November 26, 2013

SOUTHLAND's blend of Southern chain saw intensity combined with an alt-rock, bone jarring, fierceness strikes a chord with it's listeners - and it's a forceful chord. The band combines honest partriotism with comendable melodies evocative of Skynard and Hatchet, but with an origniality that puts the listener into a new vibe. Check out "Fever" and "Sneak Attack" for a lesson in clobbering bass lines and balanced percussion. The US Marines like the music too, as you'll see below. Originally from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and still located in South Florida, founding member Rick Recchi tells us his story. SOUTHLAND LOGO

"I picked up a guitar kinda late. I was 23 and had just had major major knee surgery. I was home stuck on the couch with pins through my leg and a cast on it. My roommate had an old cheap acoustic guitar he never played, so I just took it everywhere, and this was the mid 80's - the MTV time - so out of sheer boredom, I picked up the guitar while watching MTV and tried to copy what I saw the guitarists on MTV were doing. It soon turned into an obsession, and I was playing 6 to 8 hours a day"

The band was formed by Recchi in the early 2000's. Recchi concentrated more on writing and recording originals and putting out quality original music rather than playing cover tunes locally. The band's first song "The Americans are Coming" was written after the 911 attacks, and is obviously not a "boo hoo crying song". Singer Alex Whalen came from London to record some vocals on the band's first CD. Recchi plays most instruments and Whalen handled the great job on the vocals. The other vocals were covered with a new singer because Alex couldn't stay in the US due to immigration issues.

"The Americans are Coming" rang true with the US military as well. After sending a CD overseas to the military, Recchi got a call from a Marine sergeant from Kajistan, Iraq informing him they loved the song so much they were making it the official fight song of the 4th Marine Division. The Marines wanted 20 more copies for other branches of the military. Later the US Army contacted Recchi about making a short video using the song which is now on YouTube. The remaining tunes on the CD were recorded in a friend's digital studio with singer Marcel Pilon on vocals. The final song "Better half of Me" features singer Curtis Lema.

Recchi's early influences on guitar were Tom Scholz and Ritchie Blackmore - his later influences were Rik Emmet of Triumph, Steve Morse and Joe Satriani. Recchi also plays keys. He writes on guitar by playingt 5 to 6 hours a day, hoping to be inspired. Recchi himself describes his music as "plain old rock." A SOUTHLAND fan told him she thought it was "meat and potatoes" rock, just the good stuff and none of the bad.

SOUTHLAND is going through some personnel changes at the moment, but as soon as the line-up is back in order, the band will again be playing around South Florida. (Recchi is looking for a drummer.)

A new CD is currently in the works.

Let's all give them our ear. Click here for some awesome tunes!

Thomas