by Michael Todd

A little bird told us maurices is searching for the best undiscovered band in the country (hint: one might be from Nebraska). The clothing store is sponsoring a Hometown Sound contest that would grant an official SXSW gig as well as a music video shoot in Los Angeles.

Here's the news: Omaha’s indie-pop group Blue Bird has been chosen as a top four finalist after garnering enough votes to make the top 50. A panel of judges, made up of members of the music industry and maurices executives, whittled that list down to four. On Feb. 6, voting will resume to choose the big winner.

Out of 815 bands, Blue Bird advanced and hopes to grab enough votes by the contest's end on March 4 to bring home the prize.

“We were on cloud nine when we got the news,” said Blue Bird singer and songwriter Marta Fiedler, "especially since we didn’t get an invite to play SXSW after submitting to the festival last fall.”

During the final voting period, Blue Bird’s music will be playing in all 800-plus maurices stores across the country, and shoppers will be able to vote for the band by scanning a QR code with their phones via posters on display in the store. You can also vote via the Hometown Sound competition website: www.mauricesmusic.sonicbids.com. Each person can vote once per day.

Michael Todd is a Hear Nebraska contributor. Another blue bird told him you can hear about these bits of news first by following Hear Nebraska on Twitter. Reach Michael at michaeltodd@hearnebraska.org.