“Midnight Clear,” representing Georgia and the greater Atlanta area, moves to the semi-finals of a national network 'battle of the bands' competition.  Online voting gave “Midnight Clear” their victory on CBS News’ The Early Show’s summer battle of the bands series, “Living Room…Live.”

"'Midnight Clear’ is the only band from Georgia to be selected from thousands of entries, and they won Week Nine with over 49 percent of the vote,” said Tammy Caputo, Producer, The Early Show. "The next step for "Midnight Clear" is to compete against two other Finalists on September 10. Online voting starts at 9 a.m. Eastern time and ends September 12 at noon Eastern time.

The winner will be announced September 13 and will move into the Ultimate Finals for the last round of voting, which takes place from 9 a.m. September 17 until noon, September 19. The grand winner will be announced September 20 and will play live on The Early Show on September 24,” Ms. Caputo stated. “There is no limit to how often the public can vote, and we encourage people to vote for their favorite," she added.

“We’re overwhelmed and very grateful that fans and friends from all over Georgia networked and came through for us,” said bandleader and drummer Rory Knapton of Dahlonega, who has been in bands since he was 10, growing up in the Brunswick, Georgia area. (As an adult, Rory lived in Atlanta for over a decade.)

In addition to Rory, “Midnight Clear” includes guitarist Derrick Gaddis of Dahlonega, Jeremy French, vocals, of Helen and White County, and Brant French, bass and keyboards, of Savannah.

“Midnight Clear” recently completed two successful United Kingdom tours, including an unprecedented hold over at The Cavern Club, hallmark of the Beatles and many other British bands, in Liverpool, England. Originally booked for only one night, the band was held over for five nights at the world-famous concert club, which was unprecedented for an American band.

To see a clip from Midnight Clear, visit the link below and scroll to “Week Nine:”

www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/03/13/earlyshow/main2563124.shtml

Band websites: www.midnightclearband.com  and www.myspace.com/midnightclear