Taylor Guitars and Elixir Stings are giving emerging artists the unique opportunity to kick their careers and guitar rigs into high gear with Test Drive 2009. In cooperation with the band-promoting website Sonicbids.com, Taylor Guitars and Elixir Strings will hold a “fan-favorite” contest to award five selected artists with world-class Solidbody guitars from Taylor Guitars and the ultimate in strings and cables from Elixir. The winning artist or band will get the chance to show their musical prowess using their new Taylor guitars in a recording session at a marquee studio.

Contest submission is free and easy. Now through July 31, artists can simply log on to the Sonicbids promotion site, www.sonicbids.com/taylorelixirtestdrive, where they can upload their Sonicbids artist profile.

Sonicbids helps bands get gigs and promoters book the right bands, offering a diverse range of gigs for every kind of musician at a variety of subscription levels. Artists new to Sonicbids are eligible for a no-strings attached three-month membership and can enter the Test Drive 2009 promotion.

Submission fees for the contest, which is open to all registered Sonicbids users, are sponsored by Taylor Guitars and Elixir Strings.

Beginning in August, artist profiles submitted on Sonicbids will be posted on the Test Drive 2009 website, www.TestDrive.TaylorGuitars.com, where fans will have a chance to vote for their favorites. From these initial submissions, 50 of the top-voted artists will move up in the competition. A panel made up of the artist relations teams from Taylor Guitars and Elixir Strings will then select the top five artists from the top-voted 50. These five finalists will be outfitted with Taylor Guitars’ much-acclaimed SolidBody electric guitars, a supply of Elixir Strings, and Elixir Cables. The five artists will then produce a video giving this high-end gear a “test drive,” profiling how they are using the gear on stage and in the studio.

The five artist videos will be posted on www.TestDrive.TaylorGuitars.com and put to a second round of voting. The winning artist or band from this vote will receive time in a marquee studio to record an EP using their new Taylor guitars and Elixir strings gear.

For more information about Elixir Strings, please visit www.elixirstrings.com

To view a complete list of rules and regulations, please visit
www.sonicbids.com/taylorelixirtestdrive