Estonut wrote:christie1111 wrote:Um, what is SXSW?
Clearly I can't help you answer your question even after you answer mine or I would not need to ask my question.
Clearly.
South by Southwest. It's a HUGE, annual music festival/showcase that attracts
thousands of bands every year. I think it's about a week and a half long (two weekends and the week in between) and takes place in 75 (or so) venues in the Austin, TX area.
Yeah, but
that's just the official part. There are a few thousand more bands from around the world that weren't selected for the official showcases, but come anyway to play almost around the clock at unofficial parties and showcases in back yards, parking lots, and any other available space around town. It's pretty overwhelming, because about 98% of the bands are people that most people have never heard of, so unless there's someone specific that I really want to see, I mostly just walk around and see random selections of free showcases, which often include free beer and food.
I got a call on Thursday afternoon that my nephew from Athens, Georgia was in town with his band and would be playing several gigs this weekend. This was news to me, but I wound up driving them around town last night in the back of my pickup truck, and tonight I went to see them play a parking lot gig at a thrift shop on the poor side of town, which is becoming quite popular with young creative types. I hope to see my nephew again before they load up the GMC van and head back to Georgia, but keeping track of where they'll be and when is a challenge. The band's name is "Quiet Hooves," and here's their MySpace page with music samples:
http://www.myspace.com/quiethooves
My nephew is Greg O'Connell and he's playing bass for now because the regular bassist is in Thailand for a while, but when he gets back, Greg will switch to clarinet.
I just got home from seeing
Ian Mclagan and the Bump Band, who live in Austin, but they happened to be playing at my favorite Irish pub when I stopped by. Anyone who cares about the Faces, before and during the Rod Stewart era, is missing something wonderful if they pass up an opportunity to see them perform. The connections that band has with the legends, icons, and events in rock history are amazing.
Since I know the ToLiveIsToFly is a big music fan, I need to put in a plug for Brigid Kaelin, whom I met Thursday night. You may have heard of her. I think I had heard her name, but was not familiar with her music. She was relaxing in the audience at The Tiniest Bar In Texas between acts and she noticed my Louisville t-shirt. She said she was from there and asked if I was too, and I said yes, many moons ago, but we started talking and exchanged business cards and it turned out that we know some of the same people. She talked about playing accordion with Guy Forsyth, so I figured that was pretty cool, but when I got home and looked at her card, I saw that it has a photo of her playing musical saw, which is something you don't see every day, and she also bills herself as a singer, songwriter, pianist, guitarist, yodeler, player of various stringed things, and a redhead. After a brief look at her web site, I see that she was being modest about her career accomplishments. She has also played with Elvis Costello, played on Prairie Home Companion, released her own albums, toured extensively, etc. I still haven't heard her music, but I plan to when I get a chance. If you check her out, let me know what you think. Her site is:
http://www.brigidkaelin.com/
I like Raul Malo (of The Mavericks) a lot, and he did a free outdoor show downtown tonight, but I had to skip it to see Quiet Hooves. Other people I've seen who might be familiar to some music lovers include Exene Cervenka, The Waco Brothers, Rosie Flores, some of The Drive By Truckers, and a bunch of other stuff I forget. I don't keep up very well with who's supposed to be the next big thing, so I tend to pay more attention to people I've actually heard of. I'll be adding Quiet Hooves to that category.
I hope that gives you a flavor of what SXSW is about. It's so big that everyone's experience will be different.
