The hugely popular band Down With Webster recently captured the prestigious Rogers’ inaugural Redpipe Award as Canada’s Best Unsigned Artist, a prize that carries with it a $25,000 recording contract with Fontana North Records, a division of Universal Music Canada. The seven-member band, which has its roots right here in the Beach (remember the crowds they drew when they played the Jazz Festival a couple years ago?), captured more than 300,000 votes on the Redpipe website. The contest, sponsored by Rogers Wireless, attracted more than 150 bands from across Canada during the six-week process.

“As a company with a strong focus on delivering the best in mobile music content to our customers, we are also committed to developing indie music in Canada,” said John Boynton, SVP and Chief Marketing Officer with Rogers Wireless.

“It’s awesome!,” said Tyler Arms of Down With Webster. He said the band is looking to go into the studio in August or September, and might have a five-song EP out by the end of the year, if all goes well.

Down With Webster is a seven-man band that began as a high school talent show band. Over the last 10 years, it has gone through some personnel changes, and managed to enlarge its sound and create a powerful crowd-pleasing stage show that has been jamming clubs wherever they play.

Arms said they just finished playing the Docks and at the time of the interview was looking forward to the gig at the Tattoo night club on June 26. That, he figured, will be the last show in the Toronto area for awhile as he and the rest of the band concentrate on working up some new material for the fall recording project.

You can check out Down With Webster at their website: www.downwithwebster.com, or at www.MySpace.com/Down With Webster. There you can listen to some of their tunes, and see their winning video.