One of my favorite parts of SXSW is the crazy things you see and hear along the way. Here are a few choice selections. We’ve got about 20 minutes to make you love us. Chris Masterson stating what could be the SXSW mantra. One in, one out. The other SXSW mantra, overheard at the men’s […]
SXSW 2014 — The Sounds, Part 2
DAVE AND PHIL ALVIN I’m a big Dave Alvin fan. Unfortunately for me I discovered the Blasters, the seminal band co-founded by Dave and his brother Phil, after they went their separate ways. I was hooked, though, on their encyclopedic knowledge of American music — everything from folk to country and from blues to vintage […]
SXSW 2014 — The Sounds, Part 1
THE HOLD STEADY While I may not be as crazy as my friend who chased the band around Austin for the band’s 7 planned shows, I wasn’t going to pass up a chance to see the Brooklyn rockers celebrate their first album in 4 years. I accompanied said friend to the front of the stage […]
SXSW 2014 — The Scene
For me, the true harbinger of spring is the arrival of the SXSW Music and Media Conference in Austin, Texas. Or rather, spring begins for me when I arrive in Austin for SXSW. With upwards of 2,500 bands and 20,000 attendees from around the world, SXSW is the world’s premiere music conference. Even better, it […]
Monday Morning Video: The True Believers
Here’s a flashback to this year’s SXSW. Austin rockers The True Believers — featuring singer-songwriter-guitarists Alejandro Escovedo, Javier Escovedo and Jon Dee Graham — let their guitars ring out at Mellow Johnny’s Bike Shop in this set recorded for Seattle public radio station KEXP. This band was meant to be played LOUD. The set list […]
Wednesday Morning Video: SXSW 2013 Highlights, Part 3
We wrap up our SXSW 2013 coverage with a final set of videos. This collection features several up-and-comers that we’ll be hearing great things from in the years to come. Dawes performing their brilliant song “When My Time Comes” You Won’t playing a song whose title I don’t know (can someone help me and Shazam […]
Tuesday Morning Video, SXSW 2013 Highlights Part 2
We continue our celebration of SXSW 2013 with a special Tuesday edition of our Morning Video series. We’ll call this the SXSW classic rock and country showcase, led off by a three-fer featuring Alejandro Escovedo. The True Believers let their guitars do the talking on “She’s Got” and “All Mixed Up” Bobby Bare Sr., joined […]
Monday Morning Video: SXSW 2013 Highlights, Part 1
This week and next week I’ll be featuring some videos from SXSW. We’ll start with a mostly acoustic set, featuring: Steve Earle performing “Someday” The Waterboys performing “Will the Circle Be Unbroken” Billy Bragg performing “Handyman Blues” Chuck Ragan and friends performing “Revival Road” Frank Turner covering Blink 182’s “Dammit” Josh Ritter and Emmylou Harris […]
SXSW 2013: Say What?!
One of my favorite parts of SXSW is the crazy things you see and hear along the way. Here are a few choice selections. ON ARTISTS You laugh, but finding a good band name is still the hardest fucking part, I hope you know that. I mean, Foo Fighters is the stupidest fucking name in […]
SXSW 2013: The Sounds, Part 2
The True Believers Austin’s The True Believers were high on, if not at the top of, my list of bands to see at SXSW. Nearly thirty years ago they established a reputation as a powerhouse rock and roll band. Given that I wasn’t attending many rock shows thirty years ago so I was downright giddy […]