Battle #3 Recap: A cover band and a tribute

One thing we're not short of at Sun Valley Jams is a diversity of acts playing in our Battle of the Bands series. You want the blues? We got it. Country? Check. Garage rock? Yep.

And it's always tied together by the veteran, professional musicians who know how to entertain the hell out of us with a solid set of covers.

Sunday, we had two of those acts.

Recap of Battle #3: Country music and the blues

You already know by now that Slick Ice Blues was the winner in the band's encore performance at Sun Valley Jams' Battle of the Bands. The blues quartet from Caseyville, IL, improved on a third-place finish in Battle #1 to take the Battle #3 prize.

On their heels were the day's two country-music acts in a tie for second place.

Divide the Empire has a new video

Our friend Randy Shanks of Echo Trace, who played at Battle #2 in June, also is in a band called Divide the Empire. Shanks has been bombing his various Facebook pages the past couple of days with a new Divide the Empire video for the single "Weight."

"Weight" will be on DTE's album Three Winters Vol. 1, which should start circulating soon. Shanks also has been at work on a new Echo Trace album.

Here's the video for "Weight":

Battle #3 is complete: Slick Ice Blues wins

Slick Ice Blues returned Sunday to the Sun Valley Jams stage and was named the winner of Battle of the Bands #3.

The quartet of Will "Slick" Garner, Dave "Ice" Collins, Markus Pfile and Bill Wolf was a late addition to the lineup for Battle #3. But the band came on strong, introducing a handful of original tunes that mesmerized the judges and the appreciative audience.

Countdown to Battle #3: The bands

Happy holiday weekend, everybody. We have some time before the first band hits the stage at Battle of the Bands #3, a perfect opportunity to sample the bands that will be performing Sunday afternoon into the evening.

The weather gods have smiled on us. We're going to be rain-free the entire weekend. Go see the fireworks show of your choice Friday and Saturday nights. Then come out to Sun Valley Sports Complex on Sunday and enjoy some great music under some wonderful partly sunny skies. It all starts at 1 p.m.