Taylor Guitars and Elixir Strings are giving emerging artists the unique opportunity to kick their careers and guitar rigs into high gear with Test Drive Electric 2010. Together with the band-promoting website Sonicbids.com, Taylor and Elixir are bringing back the “fan-favorite” contest to award five select artists with world-class Taylor SolidBody electric guitars, the ultimate in strings and cables from Elixir, and a Crybaby Wah pedal and Max Grip Nylon Picks from Dunlop. The winning artist or band will get the chance to show off their musical prowess and new gear in a recording session at a world-class music studio.

Contest submissions are free and easy, as the fees are covered by Taylor and Elixir. Now through November 23, musicians can upload their electronic press kits to the Sonicbids Test Drive website, where fans will vote for their favorite artist. From the initial submissions, the 50 top-voted artists will qualify for the next round. A panel made up of the artist relations teams from Taylor and Elixir will then select the top five artists from the pool of 50. These five finalists will be outfitted with new gear from Taylor, Elixir and Dunlop, and will be challenged to create a short video that showcases how they used their new gear. The videos will be posted on the contest website for a second round of voting in mid-February.

At the end of the voting period, the band with the most votes will receive free recording time at a marquee studio along and enjoy an artist relationship with both Taylor Guitars and Elixir Strings.

To enter, please visit: www.sonicbids.com or www.sonicbids.com/Opportunity/OpportunityView.aspx?opportunity_id=100554