Friday Pilots Club is Cumulus' 2018 neXt2rock Winner

RADIO ONLINE | Tuesday, October 9, 2018 | 5:18pm CT

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Friday Pilots Club, from Chicago, was announced as the winner of Cumulus Media's second annual neXt2rock competition -- a national and local grassroots search and artist development program for Rock music. The final competition event featured live performances from the top five national finalists, and a special performance by Roc Nation recording artist Dorothy.

Caleb Hiltunen, Friday Pilots Club lead singer, said of the band's experience, "neXt2rock was an absolute dream come true. We're endlessly thankful for the entire experience - from being in LA and performing at the Roxy to the immense hospitality of Cumulus Media, Chicago's WKQX, and everyone involved with neXt2rock. To everyone who supported us on this journey, thank you for flying with us."

The winner of neXt2rock was selected by a panel of Rock music and industry professionals, including, Big Machine Label Group President & CEO Scott Borchetta; fashion designer and record label head John Varvatos; musician, songwriter and producer Desmond Child; Korn frontman Jonathan Davis, and Fozzy frontman, actor and wrestler Chris Jericho.

The four runners-up who performed at finale event included:

• The Zealots representing Des Moines, IA (KGGO)
• Black Rock Revival representing Memphis, TN (WXMX)
• No Resolve representing Saginaw, MI (WILZ & WKQZ)
• Late Night Savior representing Salt Lake City, UT (KBER & KHTB)

Cumulus Media Executive VP/Programming and Content Mike McVay commented, "The Next franchises discover artists, enabling 1,000+ of contestants to have their music heard by industry professionals, and take advantage of an amazing opportunity to reach a massive audience. We just wrapped up our Rock version in naming Friday Pilots Club the winner of neXt2rock, and on October 11th, we will host our 4th annual NASH Next finale to name this year's Country winner. We are relentlessly committed to music discovery, and radio is the one true platform that connects music to a massive audience and can make or break a song."