Three months ago, 45 marching bands from the nation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) began the journey down the “Road to the Honda,” all competing for a spot in the 2010 Honda Battle of the Bands (HBOB) Invitational Showcase.

Out of 45 competing marching bands from the nation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), eight have been chosen to perform in January at the 2010 Honda Battle of the Bands (HBOB) Invitational Showcase.

Representing varied music and performance styles ranging from precision to high-stepping, the eight headlining bands are:

• Albany State University “Marching Rams” (Albany, Georgia)

• Clark Atlanta University “Mighty Marching Panthers” (Atlanta, Georgia)

• Florida A&M University “Marching 100” (Tallahassee, Florida)

• North Carolina Central University “Marching Sound Machine” (Durham, North Carolina)

• Prairie View A&M University “Marching Storm” (Prairie View, Texas)

• Southern University “Human Jukebox Marching Band” (Baton Rouge, Louisiana)

• Tuskegee University “Marching Crimson Pipers” (Tuskegee, Alabama)

• Virginia State University “Trojan Explosion Marching Band” (Petersburg, Virginia)

On January 30, 2010, the bands will perform for a crowd of 60,000 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta and prove why they are the best of the best.

Marking its eighth year, the Honda Battle of the Bands is the only national scholarship program that showcases an important facet of HBCU heritage and culture – music education.

The eight winning band programs chosen to participate in this year’s Invitational Showcase will be awarded $20,000 by American Honda for their music programs in addition to the $1,000 grant they received for participation in the pre-qualifying fall campus event tour. Through this program Honda is awarding a total of $205,000 in scholarships to HBCU music programs for the 2009-10 academic year, and since the beginning of the program, has awarded grants in excess of $1 million.