MOVE over Eurovision, the Tweed Battle of the Bands is coming.

The annual event gets under way at the Cudgen Leagues Club next week and among the entrants will be a Fingal band with strong family ties, Third Stone.

Comprising brothers Jarulah, Banaham and Bijang Slabb and their uncle Kaleb Slabb, the band will be among 11 others vying for a place in the final on June 23 and a chance to win $2000, plus performance spots at Buskers by the Creek and the Bluesfest Busking Competition.

There will also be a paying gig at the Cudgen Headland Surf Life Saving Club at Kingscliff on offer.

For Third Stone lead singer and rhythm guitarist Jarulah Slabb, the opportunity to get their brand of reggae music out to the public and gain exposure for the band has been the main motivation for their participation.

"We haven't been together officially as a band for too long but have been playing together at home for a while,” he said.

"The chance to play in front of a crowd and possibly go on to win is a great incentive for us so we are pretty pumped about competing.

"For us, reggae has always been our music of choice - probably thanks to our parents, who have always listened to it.

"The competition requires us to play a 25-minute set, which must contain two originals, so we have been working on some new songs and think we have a couple of tracks which will be all right.

"We're hoping to get plenty of people from Fingal along to our heat, which will be on June 9 at the Leagues Club, to cheer us on.”

This year's battle will involve two heats, on June 2 and 9, with the final on June 23 - all at Cudgen Leagues.

There are 12 bands who have entered and organiser Kriste Headley said the interest in the competition had been so strong that she had several groups on a waiting list.

Heat One includes Minority Wives, an acoustic rock duo from Ballina; Cecilia Brandaloni, a Byron soloist; Gold Coast alt rock band Sav Blonk; the Gold Coast blues rock band Stingin' Rogers; an all-girl pop/rock band Chasing Velvet, from the Gold Coast; and Blindmouth, an alt rock group from Byron.

Heat Two will feature Maple, a sister folk duo from Byron; Third Stone, from Fingal; an alt pop new wave band Bligh, from Robina; Catchpole, a Cabarita/Gold Coast rock band; Bronte & Tom, a Kingscliff indi rock acoustic; and Brisbane instrumental guitar soloist Zac BNJMN.

The judging panel will be made up of organisers of major music events as well as professional musicians, who'll be looking for artists who show potential to carrying on in the music industry.

For more information: www.facebook.com/tweed battleofthebands/.