Everyone has his or her crowning points for the year. For sports fans, there are those "bowls" and "playoffs"--which are really just excuses to sit around and drink beer. For racing enthusiasts, there's Indianapolis 500--which is really just an excuse to sit around and drink beer. And for music lovers, there's South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, Texas--an annual excuse to stand up and drink a lot of beer (and eat a lot of BBQ), sure, but for musicians, it's also an opportunity to show your stuff to record execs, publicists, writers, and music fans from all over the world.

The folks at SXSW are already narrowing down their choices for who's going to play their five-day conference in March. Many more bands apply to play at SXSW than actually get in, and tons of really great bands are turned away. That ain't right! To help make SXSW a little bit bigger and a little bit better, we want to give four Seattle bands who aren't able to go to SXSW (because they didn't get in or can't afford it) a chance to hit it big in Texas.

Here's the deal. We've chosen 14 buzzworthy local bands who want to play two Stranger SXSW showcases: a show here in Seattle for the home crowd, and a show down in Austin during SXSW. Using the ballot on page 45, cast your vote for the local band you think most deserves $2,000 cash and other fabulous prizes (including the honor of playing two Stranger showcases). Bring that ballot to one of the participating record stores listed on the ballot by closing time on Sunday, February 9. The four bands with the most votes will be declared the winners (along with two alternates), and you'll have a chance to see them play live at a show at the Showbox on March 8, with a special guest headliner.