You might have heard of Ben Miles, frontman of the hip-hop group Mice & Musicians. The musician turned commercial litigator is giving back to Detroit’s music scene with a new battle of the bands-type event dubbed the Potency Test. 

But what does that have to do with cannabis? When working with a law firm in Michigan, Sobczak continued to see a drastic increase in the number of cannabis-related clients he was getting, and at one point, cannabis companies made up his entire clientele. This led him to leave the firm and work as the in-house general counsel for Pleasantrees in Michigan. 

When working with Pleasantrees, Sobczak found new ways to give back to Detroit’s long-running music scene with the Potency Test. The event is scheduled for April 2022 and will take place at the Crofoot in Pontiac, Michigan. Sobczak explained that cannabis is a “big part of the art scene,” and he wanted to impact the industry “again in some meaningful way,” reports Metro Times. 

Sobczak is using Pleasantrees as a platform to make good use of the knowledge he’s learned about promoting shows while receiving help from the many connections he’s made during his music career. He hopes the Potency Test will help individuals feel connected with music, “the way [he] used to” when he was performing as an eager youngster.

Sobczak will award the winner with recording time at The Village Studios, a high-end studio that he wishes would have been accessible to him during his music career. In addition to being awarded studio time, winners will also receive $5,000. The main factor of the new battle of the bands-type event is to support the local music scene and help bands and musicians feel appreciated.

If you’re in a band from Detroit or know someone who is, feel free to register for the event through Opnr, a company that works to help artists find performance opportunities in their local areas. The deadline for entries is Saturday, February 25. If your band is selected, you will receive information via email or phone and will be booked to perform at the Crofoot in Pontiac on Saturday, April 9. 

There’s also been some talk of notable guest judges to participate in the Potency Test, and Sobczak hopes to include White Boy Rick and Melanie Rutherford as a few names on the panel.