mtvU Honors Nashville College Band The Lonely Biscuits with Woodie Award

MTV's 24-hour college network, mtvU, announced today that The Lonely Biscuits from Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee took home the first-ever Chevrolet Sonic College Artist Woodie Award, which honors the best emerging musicians on campus. After winning the online voting competition, the band will hit the road to open the "2013 mtvU Woodie Awards" at the SXSW Music Festival in Austin, Texas on March 14. Later that day, HAIM, Timeflies, Trinidad Jame$, Travi$ Scott, Alt-J, Jake Bugg, and Joey Bada$$ will perform at the "Woodie Awards Festival," and Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, as well as twenty one pilots will take the stage at the "mtvU Woodie Awards," with additional performers to be announced. MTV and mtvU will air the "2013 Woodie Awards" special, hosted by Tegan and Sara and Machine Gun Kelly, on Sunday, March 17 at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT, and viewers will get a glimpse of The Lonely Biscuits during the half-hour show. The band's journey to Austin will also be profiled on-air on mtvU, MTV and on MTV.com.

When the mtvU film crew surprised the students on-campus earlier this week, they offered the band a deal with Hype Music. A first-of-its-kind music licensing partnership between MTV and Extreme Music, the production arm of Sony/ATV, Hype Music incubates and introduces some of today's hottest emerging, independent artists to professional music users.

"It's an honor to win the first ever Chevrolet Sonic College Artist Woodie Award," said The Lonely Biscuits. "This is huge for us. We've only been a band for a year and a half, so this is definitely the biggest opportunity we've gotten and we're just hoping to take advantage of it and have an awesome time at SXSW."

The Lonely Biscuits, formerly known as Gravy and the Biscuits, have been together since September of 2011. Founding members Grady Wenrich and Sam Gidley were random roommates at Belmont University where they started jamming and making music in their dorm room. John Paterini, current lead singer of the band came into the picture in September after hearing some of their tunes from his dorm room across the hall. Then, two months later, Nick Byrd joined as an official biscuit, playing bass guitar. Blending soul, funk, and pop with rap, The Lonely Biscuits have created a unique and chilled out sound that appeals to a wide array of people.

Each year the "Woodies" pay homage to the artists who are breaking through, and this year the show is partnering with Chevrolet Sonic to also spotlight the best emerging musicians on campus. Chosen by a panel of industry insiders including Matt Pinfield, the finalists included Kiah Victoria from the New York University Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music, The Madison Letter from Greenville College, and Little Sur from New York University and The New School. Each was profiled on-air on mtvU, MTV and on MTV.com. Fans can still check out all of the bands at Chevy.MTV.com.

The Woodies Festival and Award Show
To harness the power of live music, MTV and mtvU are touching down in Austin, Texas during the SXSW Music Festival on Thursday, March 14, 2013. The day will begin at 1:30 p.m. CT with a host of live performances by up-and-coming artists during the open-air "Woodie Awards Festival," which will feature two stages: the "Festival" stage, and the "MTV Jams" stage. Open to all SXSW badge holders and music fans over the age of 18, the performances will lead up to the "2013 mtvU Woodie Awards," which will take-over the Festival beginning at 7:20 p.m. CT on March 14, 2013.

Music fans without SXSW badges will need a "Woodies" ticket for entry. Tickets are free and available in the Austin Convention Center on Wednesday, March 13 from 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the top of the Rotunda stairs. On Sunday, March 17, 2013 at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT, mtvU will bring the best moments from the show to MTV and mtvU in the half-hour "2013 mtvU Woodie Awards Special." The hosted special will showcase some of the best "Woodie Awards" performances and celebrate the artists who are walking away with Awards this year. Additionally, the biggest celebrities, comedians and artists will join the special to give a nod to their favorite artists.

The ninth annual "mtvU Woodie Awards" promise to be an Unforgettable night of music and performances. The "mtvU Woodie Awards" originate from the indie tradition of giving a wooden record to those artists who generate a passionate response to their music. The show was established in 2004 and has since propelled numerous recognized acts to the next level of their careers - including surging record sales, headlining tours and mainstream acclaim. Examples include: The Killers (Breaking Woodie '04), Death Cab for Cutie (Best Video Woodie '05), Muse (Performing Woodie '07), Gym Class Heroes (Woodie of the Year '07), Lupe Fiasco (performed at Woodies '07), Paramore (Woodie of the Year '08), Kings of Leon (Woodie of the Year '09), Vampire Weekend (performed at '09 Woodies), Matt & Kim (Best Video Woodie '09), Wiz Khalifa (Woodie of the Year '11), Odd Future (performed at '11 Woodies), MGK (Breaking Woodie '12) and Mac Miller (Woodie of Year and Performing Woodie '12).

Official sponsors of the "Woodie Awards Festival" and "2013 mtvU Woodie Awards" include Chevrolet, Doritos, Express, The Hershey Company, Outlook.com, Pepsi and Taco Bell.

Eric Conte, Amy Doyle and Gina Esposito are the Executive Producers of the "2013 mtvU Woodie Awards." Joe Buoye is the Executive in Charge of Production. Produced by Tracy Hellerud.