By Rachel Belle

Listen to Feature: A Seattle Blues Band is Springsteen Bound

Ayron Jones and the Way are a bunch of blues loving boys born and raised in Seattle’s Central District. Like any band, they want their music heard by the world, so they entered a contest put on by the Hard Rock Cafe and Reverb Nation.

“It’s a worldwide battle-of-the-bands that started out with over 12,000 bands and we made it to this point now, which is down to 86 bands in the world. The grand prize is to open up for Bruce Springsteen in Hyde Park.”

Ayron Jones said they first had to beat out 11 other Seattle bands for the local title and now they’re going up against the world.

“We’re probably one of five blues-rock bands in the competition, probably the only band who’s playing the exact style of music we’re playing. It’s all across the board: There’s punk rock, there are brass bands in this competition. It’s all over the place.”

Now they’re looking for your vote so they can open for Springsteen in London. They’re currently ranked eleventh in the competition, but they need to be in the Top 10 to have a chance at winning.

“The leading band is from Bali, Indonesia. There’s a band from Krakow, I’m not really sure where that is! There are bands from all over: Bangkok, Thailand, London, France, every major country you can think of.”

Ayron says the band is out and about playing as many shows as they can, to get the votes they need. They’re playing tonight at Central Saloon in Pioneer Square, and on Friday at the Kirkland Performance Center at 7:30pm.

“This will be my 14th show in a row. My hands, you can see my finger splitting from my nail there, it’s from bending the string. So we’re tired, we’re hurt, but we’re going to keep fighting for it. We really want these votes, we’re going to get the word out.”

While a lot of young, 20-somethings in Seattle are playing indie rock or hip-hop, Ayron takes inspiration from Jimmy Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughn.

Click here to vote for Ayron Jones and the Way!

Who is Rachel Belle?