Set your DVR, TiVo, VCR, kinescope, or whatever, because OurStage’s own Eclectic Approach is set to appear as the musical guest on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! on October 1st.

The winners of the second season of The OurStage Panel will perform their single “Cool” on the popular late-night show, becoming the first in a series of OurStage artists to be launched into this national spotlight.

Eclectic Approach, a high energy five-piece band out of Seattle, WA, were named winners of Season 2 of The OurStage Panel after a live performance at the SXSW Festival in Austin, TX, this past March. Part of their prize was a pro video EPK, which you can watch below. Click here for more details on OurStage’s The OurStage Panel Competition, which will provide even more emerging artists with the opportunity to go nationwide.

The Rock Yourself To Sleep Tour is back this year to melt a few more faces and scorch some more eardurms. The 2012 installment of the tour features some of the best young progressive and experimental post-hardcore acts out today, featuring Hail The Sun, The Orphan The Poet, I The Mighty, A Lot Like Birds, and headlining act Dance Gavin Dance! That’s a pretty stacked lineup, but OurStage wants to make it even better by adding one more band to the bill: yours.

OurStage and the folks behind the Rock Yourself To Sleep Tour have partnered up to bring you the “Rock Yourself To Sleep” Competition which will give seven bands the opportunity to play on the tour for a handful of select dates. Each leg of the tour will be represented in the competition by seven distinct regional channels. The winner of each channel will earn a chance to open for the tour at the show in their region. You can find the full rules and guidelines to the competition here. That said, hee competition is already open for entries so what are you waiting for? Get in there!

Here at OurStage, we’re committed to the independent artist—from the tireless rocker who spends their life touring and recording, to the rappers who are always on their grind. Still, we want to give some special notice to the Latin musicians out there today. That’s why we’ve partnered up with Tr3s to offer one worthy Latin artist the exposure that they deserve. We’re always on the lookout for the next artist who will win the title of El Headliner! But we don’t know who September’s El Headliner is going to be without the help of you, the fans!

Make your voice heard by judging in the “Tr3s Latin Music Channel” Competition by September 30 and you can help your favorite Latin artist become El Headliner!

This month Ernie Ball is sponsoring our Modern Rock Channel, which means one Grand Prize Winner will receive a year’s supply of Ernie Ball Strings and accessories! But we need your help to decide who that winner will be. If you think you’ve got an ear for the new era of of rock music and can determine who has the best modern rock song on OurStage, then put your judging powers to the test by clicking here.

Hey everyone, meet Jordan—also known as Munson The Destroyer—metal aficionado (as you may have guessed from the picture), and author of our long-running Metal Monday column here on Plugged In.

But don’t try to pigeonhole this music fan, friends. Jordan is happy to listen to anything new, from the softest adult contemporary to the darkest depths of black hell. He’d tell you the only pre-requisite is that it be “good.” Or at least “interesting.”

Jordan joined OurStage as an intern and has since held a plethora of posts at the company lo these many years, honing his skills and learning on the job, finally landing a crucial role with our Network Operations department. In this position, Jordan has his hands full as a QA specialist and a liaison and translator of sorts, directing traffic between the tech dudes, our users, and the Community team.

Talk music, stuff, and things with Jordan on Twitter @jordanmunson.

Last month Ernie Ball sponsored our Punk Channel, offering a year’s supply of strings and accessories to one Grand Prize Winner. You, the fans, judged to help us find the best punk song by an OurStage artist to take home this amazing prize. So without further adieu, it is our pleasure to congratulate the winning musician, Kingnaldo with his song “I’m Mad As Hell”.  Hailing from Dallas, Ga., this Puerto Rican solo artist has years of experience writing and performing within various genres including punk, metal, hard, and alternative rock. He recently recorded at Lavish Studios in Los Angeles, Calif. with producer/musician Doug Grean (Stone Temple Pilots, Velvet Revolver, Sheryl Crow). Now Kingnaldo can rock out harder than ever and not worry about breaking a string, because OurStage and Ernie Ball got him covered. Check out his winning song “I’m Mad As Hell” below.

Resident Canadians, this is your chance to judge the Intel® “Canada Superstars” Competition for a chance to win some awesome prizes! We have seven different channels that all need judging, but only you — the fans — can help us determine who the winners will be. If you do, you will be eligible for our sweepstakes in which one Grand Prize Winner will receive a Fender® Modern Player Telecaster Plus Guitar and a Fender® Mustang II 40 Watt Guitar Combo Amp — a retail value of $615.24. So what are you waiting for? Click here to select a channel and start judging now!

New music discovery is going big time. OurStage has announced a partnership with the hugely popular late-night show Jimmy Kimmel Live for a promotion designed to bring unprecedented national exposure to independent and undiscovered artists.

Starting September 2012, artists from around the U.S. will be able to compete on OurStage.com for an opportunity to be Jimmy Kimmel’s featured musical guest, performing on the same stage that has seen superstars like Adele, Kanye West, Gwen Stefani, Dave Matthews, and more.

The ongoing competition will empower fans on OurStage to help vault one new artist each month into this substantial spotlight.

This is what we call a game-changer, folks. From the small clubs to the national stage – the door will soon be open.

“Two heads are better than one” wouldn’t be such a well known cliche if it wasn’t a little bit true. Take urban duo Hancel y RiGo, for example. If the pair went solo as originally intended, then who knows where they would be today. Fortunately, their partnership lead to some great music. In fact, their song “Mi Corazon” was good enough to beat out the rest of the competition in the “Tr3s Latin Music Channel”, which means that the pair share the title of August’s El Headliner! For their efforts, Hancel y RiGo have been rewarded with some killer publicity: editorial coverage across MTV Tr3s on Top 20, Music My Güey, Blogamole, and Descubre y Download, reaching millions of new eyes and ears.

Congratulations again to Hancel y RiGo! Check out the winning track “Mi Corazon” below.

Can you navigate by the North Star, me hearties? Can you tell which way the currents will take you from just a gust of wind? Does the sight of the sea fill you with an inexplicable desire to yell “Yarr?” Well, you’re in luck, sailor, because OurStage and The Rock Boat have teamed up to give one OS artist the seafaring chance of a lifetime.

The Grand Prize winner of the “Rock Boat Lucky 13″ Competition will have the opportunity to rock the stage on the thirteenth outing of the Rock Boat cruise bound for Great Stirrup Cay, Bahamas in February 2013. The winner will play play two separate hour–long sets alongside Sister Hazel, NEEDTOBREATHE, Rusted Root, Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers, Will Hoge, Tony Lucca, fellow OurStage artists Bronze Radio Return, and many more. In addition to fully paid accommodations and meals, the Grand Prize will even include a travel stipend, just in case you want to knock back a cold one with a fellow lead guitarist after the show.

Enter the “Rock Boat Lucky 13″ Competition now, and you might just find yourself on the high seas come February. Now swab the deck, ye scallywag!