Last year's winner of the Jewish Community Center's battle of the bands, White Picket Fence, entered for a simple reason: They needed the prize money. The $100 they won helped the Marcellus and Camillus alt-rockers record their first CD, Willowmakers, at the Square Studio in Marcellus.

On June 5, all decked out for their senior balls, White Picket Fence won the Syracuse New Times Syracuse Area Music Award (Sammy) for Best New Artist and the Best Pop CD category. And now, they're on tour in Florida, slowly making their way back to Central New York after a Jan. 17 gig in Maryland. And it all started at DeWitt's JCC.

"Winning the battle of the bands was our first real success," says singer Elise Miklich, talking on a cell phone inside the band's glamorous 1995 Chevy conversion van/tour bus. "It was when we realized the people actually liked us. That really gave us the confidence to go on and do all the other things we've done. That win sparked our motivation to try to do bigger and better things."

Success at the next level is likely a reason some of the 10 bands entered the 2010 version of the battle of the bands, the JCC's eighth annual high school music blowout. For others it could be the chance to try out what they've got in front of a vocal and enthusiastic crowd. And the odds of winning, one in 10, aren't so shabby either. In fact, the top three bands, as selected by the judges, will have another opportunity to play when the JCC opens a teen center at Shoppingtown next month.

"Any style of music is welcome," explains Lori Innella-Venne, who organizes the event. "The only thing we review is lyrics. We had a record number of people interested this year-14 bands applied and the first 10 to meet the deadline got in."

The event kicks off at 7 p.m. and every band gets 30 minutes on stage, including setup and breakdown. The order of bands is randomly selected. The last band goes on at 11:30 p.m. Judges this year are Michael "Tots" Heagerty and Emmett VanSlyke from the Redhouse and Jeremy Johnston from SubCat Recording Studio. Grand prize is $200, a video shoot donated by the Redhouse and studio recording time from SubCat.

All 10 bands, which must be composed mostly of high school students, will receive a DVD/CD recording from the event. Not only does the battle of the bands raise money for the JCC, but it's a way for each band's home school to earn some cash as well-$1 from each ticket sold gets donated back to each school's student council.

"This is my fourth year involved with the battle of the bands," says Innella-Venne, "and my third year running it and it's becoming more popular each year. When I came on board I thought it was important to not just have a place for high school kids to go to play or hear live music, I also thought it was important to make it a true musical event."

The 10 bands competing this year are: SEB from Bishop Grimes High School and Christian Brothers Academy; Sovereign from Tully High School; Brickyard Falls from Fayetteville- Manlius High School; Crimson Six and Cinema Chaos from Jamesville-DeWitt High School; Chains of Honor from Cicero-North Syracuse High School (CNS); Potentially Essential from Onondaga Central High School; Roman Revival from Baldwinsville's C.W. Baker High School; The Soul Within from Liverpool High School; and Seventeen Come Sunday from CNS and Onondaga Community College.

The eighth annual JCC Battle of the Bands takes place Saturday, Jan. 16, 7 p.m., in the Schayes Family Gymnasium, 5655 Thompson Road, DeWitt. Admission is $6; $9 for VIP view. For more information, call 445-2360.