Popular local band Joy Buzzer is one of five bands chosen from regional competitions for the Jim Beam One Shot to Stardom music competition, a search for the best unsigned modern rock band or artist. Joy Buzzer will now compete against The Plants (Detroit), The simpletons (Cleveland), Shonie Wells (Chicago) and The Pills (Boston) on Saturday, June 6 at the New Orleans House of Blues for a shot at winning a national music tour this fall. During the final competition, bands will perform a 15-minute set of original songs before a live audience and a judging panel or record industry executives and music writers. The winning band receives a 10-city trip aboard the Jim Beam tour bus where they will serve as an opening act for a well-known band to be announced at a later date. Jim Beam will also provide the winning band professional studio time to record a demo CD.

On another front, the Jim Beam company has invited all unsigned country music bands and musicians to submit their best performance on audio or video tape for selection as one of five finalists in the national Sixth Annual Jim Beam Country Music Talent Search. Acts selected as one of the five finalists will perform in Nashville on Nov. 12 at the Wild Horse Saloon. Contestants must submit a performance tape (audio or video) by August 22 to participate in the contest. Official rules and entry information may be obtained by calling 1-800-290-2604.

Vision Pictures, a Chicago-based independent film company, is seeking all types of music for possible inclusion in their upcoming film releases. Vision Pictures’ Music Supervisor John P. Scholtes, Jr., says that the company has two features scheduled to be filmed this summer and one that has just been edited (Sacrifices) and is being readied for the film festival circuit. Scholtes asks that all music be on CD only, no cassettes please. Write to him at Vision Pictures, 1013 S. DesPlaines Ave., #201, Forest Park, IL 60130.

On Tuesday, June 16, Friends of New Orleans Cemeteries will present a reading by Brenda Marie Osbey, winner of the 1998 American Book Award for All Saints: New and Selected Poems (LSU Press, 1997). Her work explores New Orleans history and cultural traditions, much of it focusing on death and burial traditions peculiar to New Orleans. The reading starts at 7 p.m. in Palmer Hall, 5401 S. Claiborne Ave., and will be followed by a reception and book-signing. The public is invited.

The New Orleans Swing Dance Extravaganza (“The Big Dance in the Big Easy”) will be held in New Orleans July 9-11 at the Radisson Hotel. Tickets are $45 a piece before June 9 and $50 after that. Call (504) 885-7767 for more information.

Van Broussard was presented with a certified gold sales award on April 26 to commemorate the sale of more than 500,000 copies of his rendition of, “Lord, I Need Somebody Bad.” The award was presented by CSP Records and the Louisiana Hall of Fame.

A couple of out-of-state festivals worth checking out: Gumbo Jam, a New Orleans-style festival of music and dance featuring a powerhouse line-up of Cajun, zydeco, blues and bluegrass, will be held on July 17-19 at the Anne Arundel County Fairgrounds in Crownsville, Maryland. Daily admission for the general public is $25 at the gate. Advance tickets for adults are $20 per day and tickets for seniors are $15. Fans will be able to enjoy the music of BeauSoleil, Nathan & the Zydeco Cha Chas, Filé, Buckwheat Zydeco, the Sam Bush Band, Geno Delafose and more. Call (877) GUMBO-JAM for more information. Out west in Kerrville, TX it’s the Kerrville Folk Festival which kicks off on May 21 and runs through June 7. The festival features over 100 song writers and their bands from Texas and 23 other states as well as those from Scandinavia, Italy and Canada. Call 1-800-435-8429 or check out the festival’s home page at www.kerrville-music.com. for more information.

Remember that the Creole Tomato Festival will be held on Sunday, June 7 in and around the French Market in the Quarter. And one of our other favorite festivals is also this month — the Smoked Meat Festival — in Ville Platte, June 26-28. Music, crafts and, of course, plenty of smoked meat makes this festival a winner every time.

Up-n-coming band Agents of Good Roots stops in New Orleans on June 3 for a show at Tipitina’s Uptown. Predominately rock, jazz and R&B, Agents of Good Roots have been described as a cross between Morphine and Phish. Go to the show and judge for yourself.

Rounder Records will release the new CD, Bayou Ruler, by Steve Riley & the Mamou Playboys on June 9. This collection of tunes was produced by Lafayette swamp rocker C.C. Adcock and London native Tarka Cordell. Look for record release shows at Mid City Bowling Lanes in New Orleans on June 11 and at Grant Street Dance Hall in Lafayette on June 12.

Three R&B divas hit the road in June in support of their Rounder release, Sing It! Marcia Ball, Irma Thomas and Tracy Nelson kick off their month-long tour at the House of Blues in New Orleans on June 18.

Michael Ray & the Cosmic Krewe signed an exclusive recording contract with New Orleans independent, Monkey Hill Records, just prior to this year’s Jazz and Heritage Festival. The group went into Audiophile Recording Studio to lay down basic tracks for their new album expected out later this year. The new CD will feature John Medeski of Medeski, Martin & Wood (who was in town to produce the new Dirty Dozen CD at Kingsway Studio) as well as other celebrity “krewe members.” In addition, Ray and his Krewe will be playing the Ultimate Gumbo Festival (where they’ll join Dr. John, Nightcrawlers and Klezmer All-Stars) in London during August.

In a five-week “battle of the bands” contest featuring four of New Orleans’ female-led groups, Peabody won the $5,000 top prize in the Virginia Slims Dueling Divas music program. Local music fans selected Peabody — who competed against Issac’s Guns, Love Grin and Kim Carson — by popular vote while also raising $10,000 for the NO/AIDS Task Force.

And speaking of Kim Carson, she recently released her second CD, Tonkabilly, a 14-track effort that features songs co-written by Carson and John Thomas Griffith (Cowboy Mouth), Caleb Guillote (Deadeye Dick) and Jim McCormick (Bingemen).

Cox Communications’ weekly live music show, Louisiana Jukebox, has taken home the coveted CableACE Award for the second year in a row. A winner in last year’s “Best Music Series” competition, the show won in the newly-created “Entertainment: Single or Series” category.

Country music sensation Junior Brown will perform in New Orleans at the House of Blues on Wednesday, June 17 at 9:15 p.m. And the Moody Blues will play only their very best stuff at the UNO Lakefront Arena on June 3.

And finally this month, look for the first studio release from Pistol Pete & Popgun Paul. Fine Red Wine will debut at the Funky Butt on June 10 with a record release party starring the duo that’s been called “the gay Everly Brothers.” The CD reportedly reveals a new maturity — a more polished Pistol Pete and Popgun Paul. So, there you be. Stay cool.

And lastly this month, in our April feature on Roy Carrier, the name of one of his CDs was incomplete. We should’ve said that Carrier’s Offshore Blues and Zydeco is available on Chubby Dragon Records. There, we said it. See you in July.