For seven weeks now, three Franklin County boys have been on prime-time TV.

But you probably didn't know. Neither does the rest of the country.

The picking and singing Clark Brothers -- Ashley, Austin and Adam -- are trying to climb back to the upper limits of the music charts. They've been there before -- back then, they were known as the Clark Family Experience. But a record label dispute ended with a Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing, and the six-brother band eventually became three.

These days, the three are wowing judges and audiences on Fox TV's "The Next Great American Band," which airs Friday nights at 8. But ratings have been poor for the show, which was the brainchild of the producers behind monolithic "American Idol."

The Clark Brothers are putting their bluegrassy, pop-country spin on songs by the Rolling Stones, Billy Joel, the songwriting team of Lieber and Stoller and more. Judges, including Goo Goo Dolls frontman Johnny Rzeznik and hitmaking percussionist/singer Sheila E., have praised the band's performances of cover songs and originals.

Last week, the Clarks' version of the Rod Stewart hit "You're in My Heart" reportedly brought Sheila E. to tears.

If you missed it, you weren't the only one. The show has been last in ratings, and declining, on a night that has included CBS's "The Ghost Whisperer," NBC's "Deal or No Deal" and a showing of the animated "The Polar Express" on ABC, according to zap2it.com's look at the Nielsen ratings.

The Clark Brothers are among the last five of the 12 acts that began the reality show. They've gotten this far thanks to approval from the judges and live audiences.

How do they feel about their run so far? If the Clark Brothers make it past this week, we hope to talk to them, barring the publicity boondoggle we suffered this week. They should hope for better P.R. handling if they win.

On the Net: nextgreatband.msn.com/ngb/bands/theclarkbrothers

myspace.com/ashleyclarkmusic

Roanoke band in Bodog band battle

Chris Shepard and his Astronaut Love Triangle are in the Bodog Music Battle of the Bands competition. Bodog also is in the fight game, hosting mixed martial arts competitions.

It started when Shepard added his Roanoke band's profile to the Bodog Web page. The band was one of 12 selected from the Washington region, to travel to D.C. and play three songs for what Shepard calls an "audition." His band and five others were selected by the judges -- from the Bodog Music record company -- and the audience, and have to play another round in D.C. to "impress the judges," Shepard said.

Down the line, the band could have a shot at being on a reality show. Last season, judges on the cable TV show included ex-Sex Pistol Johnny Rotten and pop-punk frontwoman Bif Naked.

On the Net: battle.bodoglife.net/home www.myspace.com/chrisshepard