Local bands vie for spot in Life is Beautiful festival

Six local bands will showcase their talent Wednesday in an effort to win a spot in a new local festival planned for the fall.

The bands - Rusty Maples, American Cream, Same Sex Mary, Coastwest Unrest, Play for Keeps and The Perks - are scheduled to perform a free concert at Artifice, 1025 First St. Each band will play for 30 minutes beginning at 8 p.m., says Craig Nyman, the head of music for the festival’s curator, Aurelian Marketing Group.

A showcase will be held monthly at different downtown venues in the months leading up to the Life is Beautiful festival, a two-day celebration of art, food and music, festival organizers say.

“Life is Beautiful is giving a tremendous amount of opportunity to Vegas,” says Rehan Choudhry, CEO of Aurelian Marketing Group. “Local talent finally has a festival that will catapult them the same way that Coachella does for L.A. bands and South by Southwest does for Texas bands.”

While a date has not been set for the festival, Choudhry says it will take place downtown. A map and additional details will be released in the coming weeks.

The festival “will give us a chance to showcase what we find in the city,” Nyman says. “We live in a city with an extremely deep and talented music scene.”

The monthly showcases will give festival organizers a chance to see musicians in action, onstage. It will give them an idea of how audiences react to their music, too. Original material is one of the main things that organizers are looking for, Nyman says.

Each showcase will feature a theme, such as a jazz and soul evening, indie rock bands, country and disc jockey/hip-hop. The theme this coming Wednesday is a mix of a couple of different genres but will be rock-heavy, Nyman says.

The showcase is open to the public. Admission is free but attendees must be 21 or older. Musicians interested in performing in a showcase can apply at lifeisbeautiful festival.com. Those selected to participate in the festival will be informed 30 days in advance.

Contact reporter Sonya Padgett at spadgett@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4564. Follow @StripSonya on Twitter.