PORTLAND – Twenty-two high-school bands from across the state will converge at McAuley Performing Arts Center Saturday, April 14, and Sunday, April 22, when Reindeer Records presents the 23rd Annual Rock-Off Competition.

Teen rock musicians will crank out original tunes and get their acts together in hopes of winning $1,000 and being named the Best Young Band in the State of Maine.

The popular musical event has been a driving force for many homegrown garage bands, as well as a launching pad for young music careers.

“The Rock-Off experience has been an integral motivation for many aspiring local young musicians who benefited from the event’s extraordinary exposure and networking opportunities,” said Louis Philippe, Rock Off executive producer and president of Reindeer Group Inc.

“Artists such as Trooper, Illegal Jam, Aerial Suite, Rustic Overtones, Howie Day, The Bottle Rocket Kings, Ransom, Jeremiah Freed and more have all strutted their great stuff on the Rock-Off stage. … Some won. Some didn’t, but they all learned a lot and developed their act for successful results,” Philippe said in a prepared statement.

More than 50 bands have responded to this year’s competition, slightly more than in previous years. But getting to the Rock-Off stage is not an easy task. Registration criteria is intentionally more challenging and based on general recording industry standards rather than popularity. Each band is judged on numerous elements in three major categories: live showcase performance, original material and marketability. Each category is evaluated by a separate panel of judges. The bands with the top five highest overall scores will make it into the finals, slated for Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 13.

This year, one additional band will be “saved” as the MaineToday.com wildcard band – the band with the highest combination of online poll votes and text messaging votes.

All shows are open to all ages. Tickets are $10 per showcase, with group discounts for youth organizations. Tickets are available from any participating band, by calling Reindeer at 857-9002, or online at www.reindeergroup.org.

Bands will play for 20 minutes, starting at 3:10 p.m. Saturday and at 2:10 Sunday.

McAuley Performing Arts Center is at 637 Stevens Ave.

MaineToday.com will provide complete online coverage. For a schedule of which bands will play on what day and at what time – plus band photos, bios and soundclips – log on to entertainment.mainetoday.com/rockoff/.