Chil to Rock Cleveland ... Again!

The four-man band from Stow, Chil, in the 2011 Tri-C High School Rock Off ... but they are back and ready to jam in front of a crowd again at Cleveland's House of Blues.

Chil, a pop-punk group with students from the and Archbishop Hoban, are performing in the fifth round Jan. 27 at the 2012 Tric-C High School Rock Off. The foursome is made up of vocalist and rhythm guitar player Nick Batton, 16, drummer and Nick's younger brother Ben Batton, 15, bassist Max Duffy, 15, and guitarist Eric Beaujon, 17.

"We are really excited that we were picked to compete in the Tri-C High School Rock Off again this year," said Nick Batton. " and we were up against some great bands. We were happy to see that two of the bands that competed on our night last year ended up in first and second place in the finals."

Although they didn't win last year, they put out a great performance and this year, it's going to be even better.

"It’s all about having fun and putting on our best performance ... but, we try to keep this competition in perspective," he said. "If you haven’t had a chance to see Chil perform in the past several months, you are in for a real treat. We have been concentrating on our song writing, practicing our instruments and running very structured rehearsals to give us the tightest possible performance."

Chil is competing against 66 other high school bands. 

"You can be looking at a really tough night of heavy competition but you also get to see these really awesome bands perform," said Batton.

Since the band's last performance at the House of Blues, Chil has not only been tightening up their show, but they've been working on their first CD.

"We hope to release it this summer. We have selected five of these originals to perform at the House of Blues on Jan. 27. Should we make it to the finals; we will probably select some of our other originals just to keep it fresh," he said.

Date/Time: Chil goes on stage Jan. 27 after AudaCity from Cloverleaf, Normandy and St. Ignatius High Schools. Chil is set to play second, but the actual performance times aren't announced until an hour before the doors of the House of Blues open at 5:30 p.m.

Ticket Information: Tickets are $10.00 for the semifinals and $10.00 for the Final Exam. Tickets can be purchased through participating Rock Off bands. (Get tickets from Chil by emailing ChilRockBand@yahoo.com) There are no service charges on tickets purchased through the bands. A limited number of tickets will be available through the House of Blues box office and Ticketmaster with applicable service charges and handling fees. If supplies last, tickets will be available at House of Blues on Rock Off performance days only.