Band With Greenfield Ties Vying For Briggs & Stratton Summerfest Gig

Matthew Haeffel and his band have become finalists in the 2011 Briggs & Stratton Battle of the Bands, beating out hundreds of other bands from around the world.

The local band includes Dan Budziszewski, a drummer and keyboardist from Greenfield. Other band members are Matthew Haeffel (guitar/lead vocals) of Milwaukee and Peyton Lencho (bass guitar) of Whitewater.

Haeffel, a Greenfield resident, has been performing in the Milwaukee area for years and Budziszewski has been with him for the last two. Budziszewski, a 2000 gradate who now lives in Milwaukee, was the lead of a GHS high school musical years ago and was a member of the GHS band and choir.

He said the Briggs & Stratton contest is great for local bands who hope to get noticed by large audiences.

“Battle of the Bands is pretty nice because it gives us an opportunity we might not have,” to play at Summerfest, he said. “It would be huge. It’d be a decent (time) slot at a main stage.”

“It’s awesome to be a finalist. It’s all voting online. We have people who are backing us up. We just made a video thanking everyone for voting. It’s the last week of voting and we want to keep it up.”

Fans can vote on Facebook at www.briggsbattleofthebands.com through May 28 to determine which band will help open for country music star Phil Vassar at Summerfest on the newly renovated Briggs Big Backyard stage July 2.

Matthew Haeffel, a band described as acoustic folk rock with a worldly flair, is up against a A Hero en Route, a rock band from Evansville, Ind. and SLAMABAMA, a country band from Chicago.

Nearly 200 bands submitted songs during this year’s third annual contest. Online entries came in from around the world before the field was narrowed down by fans to a top 10. A committee of Briggs employees named the top three, and online voters will now determine the winning band by May 28.

“The quality of musicians in our Battle of the Bands continues to amaze us and we are thankful for all who have entered and voted in our Facebook contest bringing us to this point,” said Todd Teske, Chairman, President & CEO of Briggs & Stratton Corporation in a news release. “The top three bands are equally impressive and we encourage music fans everywhere to join the battle online and vote."

Fans can follow the contest via Twitter.