A startling 171 Hamilton area acts have signed up for the CBC Searchlight competition, vying for their spot to be crowned Canada’s best new artist.

Searchlight is a massive, coast-to-coast competition that connects artists with fans in their community and across the country. Fans get to vote on their favourite acts in an effort to push them along and compete against other artists across Canada.

The grand prize includes $20,000 worth of music equipment from Yamaha Canada Music, a professional recording from CBC Music and an opening spot on a high-profile music showcase.

Hamilton folk/traditional band Poor Angus made it all the way to the finals last year, before losing out to Sherman Downey and the Ambiguous Case from Newfoundland. On the way, the band got lots of exposure leading up to the release of their new Album, Gathering.

This year there are quite a few standout artists on the Hamilton list, like Dundas folk duo Dawn and Marra, rock three piece Weekend Riot Club and Missy Bauman, who was picked to play Daniel Lanois’ Greenbelt Harvest Picnic a couple of years back.

There have been 4,100 entries submitted across Canada, and you can vote for your favourite Hamilton artists on the Searchlight Hamilton page.

And fans: just by voting, you are eligible for some great prizes from Yamaha Canada Music. So make sure you put your name in for some great prizes.

Voting for this round ends on April 6.