Nine bands competed on Sunday at the Nash Next Illinois Finale, and while the judges agreed that SEVERAL of them were ready for record deals RIGHT NOW, only one could be crowned the Illinois Winner and move onto the national competition, and by a margin of 2 points, the Natu Band scored that top spot! Aileeah Colgan took second place, and the Devin Clemons band came in third!

Our judges, Billy and Leon from Inked Entertainment (the minds behind Tailgate N Tallboys), and Wayne from Crusens, were SO impressed with the talent in Central Illinois, they were offering opening spots at Tailgate N Tallboys to the top SIX artists!

And now… we wait! The national competition will be listening to ALL the winners from across the country and picking the top 10 to invite them to Nashville to compete for that record deal! The top 10 should be announced on September 24th or 25th, so we’re all rooting for Natu!

Check out the other winners here!