For four years now the Student Government Association has hosted the Battle of the Bands competition for student-run bands to not only highlight the local music scene, but also raise funds for the Joe Espy SGA Scholarship.
Allison and the Reds is one band participating in the competition. The band is fronted by Tyler Needham, a sophomore majoring in operations management who plays piano, and his sister Allison Needham, a junior majoring in accounting who leads the band vocally and plays guitar.
The other three members include Aaron Creel, who is in law school; Ethan Dykes, a senior in information management systems; and Johnathan Bennett, a senior majoring in kinesiology.
When talking about how the band came to fruition, Allison Needham said that she’s always been interested in the arts, but has “transitioned” into business.
“I used to be a music major. I was in musical theater,” Allison Needham said. “To have that outlet to be expressive and to just kind of show what we’re passionate about. Like music is one of the things that makes us happy.”
There is a special bond between the members of the band, and Tyler Needham said that the members were confident going into the Battle of the Bands because they have something “different” than other groups: a female singer.
“To my knowledge, we’re the only person that has a female singer that’s going to be there,” Needham said. “I feel like we’re going to have a lot of unique songs and a lot of unique things that are going to make people really kind of fall in love with the lyrics.”
For Allison and the Reds, the main reason for their participation in the competition was the proceeds going to benefit a scholarship fund.
“It just seemed like a really cool opportunity, and it seems like also a good cause as well, and a good thing to be involved with at UA,” Tyler Needham said.
Allison Needham is excited about a new song that the band will be closing their set with. She claims it’s a song that “everybody knows,” but she has never sung it live before.
The band has been preparing for the final round of the Battle of the Bands through performances at local bars and rehearsals.
“We have some private events and some philanthropy stuff for Greek life. We play out in Birmingham as well. But in general, the local bar scene,” she said.
The pair’s favorite thing about playing music is the bond between them and their bandmates as well as the impact they have on the crowd.
“My favorite thing is when I sing a song and it affects somebody emotionally, and they tell me that,” Allison Needham said. “I guess that’s the highest form of a compliment I can receive.”
The band will be performing live at the Battle of the Bands on Saturday at Druid City Social, where there will be performances by other groups, a livestream of the football game versus Missouri, food trucks and more.
