October 27, 2026 | By Roxy Vanderhoff | Community News Service
Following a girls volleyball quarterfinal win down the hall, Harwood Union Middle & High School’s auditorium was filled to the brim Friday night for the annual Sonic Futures Battle of the Bands.
The event invites student musicians from all around the state to share their talents and compete on stage.
Hosted by fellow students, this year’s battle kicked off with a band from Randolph Union High School, RU Rockin. The group started its set with some jokes as the band members set up, and an invitation for the audience to mosh.
Students and competing bands complied, starting the night with a mosh pit at the front of the auditorium and keeping the energy going throughout.
Bands competed for awards in four categories, including best emerging act, best solo or duo, best interpretation or cover, and best original song. Five acts were selected to perform at Higher Ground in South Burlington in May, and one overall winner was selected to record their music at a professional recording studio.
Harwood's Glam Cowboys took top honors at Sonic Futures Battle of the Bands on Friday, Oct. 23, at Harwood Union High School. Photo by Gordon Miller
Winning the grand prize was Harwood’s own Glam Cowboys, a five-piece band featuring Eliza Whitehair, Cora Potts, Tarin Askew, Cali Neville and Eireann McDonough. After three years of competing in the battle, and twice finishing as runners-up, the bandmates said they were overjoyed to have won in their final year.
Decked out in their signature style of pink cowboy hats, the band took the stage on Friday to sing an original, “In My Dreams.”
In their first-ever performance together three years ago, the band sang “Wanted Dead or Alive” by Bon Jovi.
“That's where the (band) name came from,” said McDonough, the lead singer. “We wanted a name that matched the vibe of the song, and this is what came of it.”
“I didn't really have a passion before coming into the band, but now I do, and it's music,” McDonough said.
The band's singers, McDonough and Askew, have been writing music together since before high school, and said they have been called the Lennon and McCartney of Harwood.
They joined with the rest of the band, and the five have been writing and performing ever since.
This summer the quintet hit a major milestone when they scored an opening spot on the lineup for National Life Group’s Do Good Fest music festival in Montpelier. The event runs an online contest to select a youth musical act to perform ahead of some big-name bands at the festival. It’s a unique opportunity to reach an enthusiastic audience of thousands and cross paths with some industry heavy hitters like this year’s festival headliners Neon Trees, Toad the Wet Sprocket, Smash Mouth and Augustana.
The Glam Cowboys continued playing at events and clubs around Central Vermont this summer, where they had the Battle of the Bands and its top prize in sight.
As the contest’s top winners, the Glam Cowboys will get a session with Vermont music producer Jer Coons at his jer&co studio in Jericho and mastering by Julia Rangel at Tank Recording Studio in Burlington.
“We've been talking about recording for a really long time, so this is the perfect opportunity for us,” said Neville, the bass player, after the band received its prize.
“So much fun!” the bandmates said in unison while talking about the night's performance.
“Going out and performing, it feels like we're just hanging out with our friends. It doesn't feel like we're on stage. It feels like we're together to just play some music,” Askew said.
“I know I made some mistakes. I don't even know if my microphone was on,” Askew added as the others laughed along. “But we had so much fun, and that's all the audience sees. It's more about having fun than being perfect for us.”
Brian Boyes is one of Harwood's music teachers, and the brains behind the operation. Starting his career teaching music at Cabot for 25 years, he came to Harwood four years ago and has been leading the music program since.
Last year, Boyes introduced the “Sonic Futures” element of the Battle of the Bands, in which music professionals offer coaching and workshops to students during the day of the competition. In addition, UVM music students are also part of the daylong effort, assisting with the workshops and the performance. This way, the event is also a networking opportunity, Boyes said.
“This year there were a number of acts with horn sections, so we brought in jazz trombonist Matt Avery to coach the students on tightening up their horn sections,” he said.
Boyes shared that his favorite part of working at Harwood is playing music with the students.
“It's an amazing privilege to support their growth as people and musicians, helping them to become leaders, strong communicators and creative problem solvers,” he said.
The winner of best solo/duo act, U-32 senior Mollie Mislak, performs. Photo by Gordon Miller
Students spent the night cheering for Boyes between acts, shouting his name and clapping. Many Harwood bands thanked Boyes and the Harwood music department for their support and commitment.
This year's judges were Jer Coons, Jeremy Urtz, Eric Maier, Paige Thibault, and Stefanie Weigand.
The winner of best solo or duo act was Mollie Mislak, a senior from U-32 High School in East Montpelier, who performed “The Climb” by Miley Cyrus. Mislak, who has performed at the event all four years of high school, said she sang the song with her father at her sixth grade graduation.
“I’m doing this for him tonight, and he doesn't know I’m singing it,” she said before the performance. “It feels like moving on. It's another step in my life.”
After finding out she won, Mislak shared a sense of accomplishment.
It feels like “everything that I’ve worked for is finally happening,” she said. “I’m a senior now, and it really means a lot to me. It's everything I ever wanted.”
After the show, Mislak said she hopes to share more of her original music.
“My dreams, I just want them to come true. I want everything to fall into place, and there's just so much more ahead for me. This is just the start,” she said.
The band composed of the night's youngest performers, The Voice Cracks, from St. Albans Town Educational Center, earned a standing ovation, the evening's biggest mosh pit, and title of Best Emerging Act for their performance of “Basket Case” by Green Day.
The Tones, from Spaulding High School in Barre, won for best interpretation or cover of the song “Crazy Cryin’” by the Tedeschi Trucks Band, and Blabber Mouth, from Middlebury Union High School, won for best original with their song “Hourglass.” Another young band from Harwood, Surf Green, also won a spot to perform at Higher Ground with the others.
The bands will perform at Higher Ground on May 22.
Members of the band The Tones, from Spaulding High School, celebrate their win for best interpretation or cover. Photo by Gordon Miller
Community News Service is a University of Vermont journalism internship reporting for Vermont news outlets including the Waterbury Roundabout.