Top Eight Bands in the Rolling Stone Cover Contest Announced

Your votes have been counted and the 16 original bands from the Do You Want To Be A Rock & Roll Star? contest have been cut down to eight. A quick recap: Unsigned bands have been competing with each other to win a recording contract with Atlantic Records and to appear on the cover of Rolling Stone. It will be the first time that an unsigned act has been on the cover of the magazine.

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The eight acts to survive the cut are Skyler Stonestreet, Fictionist, The Romany Rye, Mod Sun, Empires, The Sheepdogs, Lelia Broussard and Tha Boogie. Last week they all flew to New York where they played a live showcase in front of Rolling Stone editors, music executives and Brent Smith from the band Shinedown. Then they went into a studio to record tracks with a major producer.

Photos: Random Notes

The eight groups will later be cut down to four and then just two, who will both play at Bonnaroo in June to compete for the grand prize. Jimmy Fallon will announce the winner of the contest on his show on August 1st.

Check out this video to see some of the artists respond to the news that they've made it to the final eight.

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Song Stories

“(We're Not) The Jet Set”

George Jones and Tammy Wynette | 1973

George Jones and Tammy Wynette were still married when they recorded the tongue-in-cheek "(We're Not) The Jet Set." The lyrics, written by Nashville songwriter Bobby Braddock, who also penned Wynette's "D-I-V-O-R-C-E" and Jones' "He Stopped Loving Her Today," make fun of the good life by declaring, "We're not the Jet Set/We're the old Chevrolet set." Braddock recalled that while writing the song, he needed the name of a city that evened out the rhyme he had with "Riviera" and "Missourah." “I got out a Rand McNally atlas," he said. "In the first part are the maps. The last part is an alphabetical listing of cities. I wanted a rustic, small-time sound. I went to the listing for Missouri. And I found 'Festus.' I loved the sound of it."

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