Standing in line to get into a show at South by Southwest (SXSW) last week, the guy in front of me proclaimed, “There are two kinds of music: music that sucks, and music that don’t suck.”
The 10,000 plus people and musicians who descended upon Austin, TX for the city’s annual SXSW festival were there for the latter kind of music. With over 1,500 bands playing the four-day festival, music that “don’t suck” is more than plentiful. It’s everywhere!
What started in 1987 as a festival to attract the music industry to Austin, the capital of live music, has blossomed in size and scope. SXSW includes a film festival and tech/interactive festival, in addition to the music showcase. In the music industry, SXSW can be a make-you-or-break-you opportunity, where indie bands are celebrated, noticed, discovered, and signed.
While the Internet has been cutting into this process of discovering and promoting musicians—with blogs, digital music, and MySpace pages taking the place of what the music industry used to do in person—the festival remains an important milestone for any up-and-coming band.
SXSWers who purchase a badge or wristband have access to all of the official shows, including big names like Tori Amos, The Decemberists, Echo + The Bunnymen, and Andrew Bird. Unofficial shows during the day, though, are usually free and open to the public, and while a big-name act may grace the stage, the hundreds of bands—mostly indie rock, but including hip-hop, electronic, experimental, blues, and other genres—on the brink of finding their own fame and fans are not to be missed.
Long lines may be had, and expect to share your space with hundreds of other fans, especially at free and popular shows. SXSW’s official website offers daily schedules of all official shows, but the best bet for finding free and unofficial shows is the handy Showlistaustin.com, a website that lists all unofficial shows and parties by day and night for the whole festival.
My own SXSW experience (without badge or band, but not without a lot of luck) included seeing over 30 bands in four days. From hip-hop rap mistresses to bluegrass punk to British indie rock, here are four of the best bands you’ve (probably) never heard of, but seeing how they rocked the stage at SXSW, you certainly will.
The Avett Brothers (pictured at left)
Fans were buzzing under the tent at Radio Room, waiting for the Avett Brothers to play. “They’re kind of bluegrass,” one woman told me. “But also you can’t really classify them as bluegrass.”
Bluegrass classified or not, they put on an incredible show. Three handsome dudes from North Carolina (plus a handsome fiddle player who jumped on with them later on) playing bluegrass inspired pop rock—every song was a love song, the kind of song that probably made girls swoon and wish they would be crooning to them.
Their music had the force of Neutral Milk Hotel’s songs, with charismatic pop vocals yelled by the lead singer with his banjo painted with skulls and roses: badass bluegrass? You could definitely head bang to it. Straight women and gay men should get their crushes on because these boys were all eye candy, to boot.
Theresa Anderson (pictured above)
Sweden is known for its great export of outstanding music, but when you cross Swedish heritage with the soul of New Orleans, you end up with the one woman band and force to be reckoned with: Theresa Anderson.
On stage, Theresa Anderson played snare drum, fiddle, guitar, dulcimer, xylophone, and tambourine—sometimes all at once. Using a loop to record one instrument (she performed barefoot to better hit the pedals and buttons while juggling instruments), she would set up a sound before bouncing on to the next one. By the end of the song, she could be banging on a drum, guitar slung over her back, vocals harmonizing and shouting over and over.
Her energy was high, her music sweet, full and infectious, and her talent was boundless. For one song she told the audience, “My drummer for this next song is Smokey Robinson,” while gesturing to a record player and Smokey album on a stool, which she played and looped during the song.
Most of her songs she recorded in her kitchen in New Orleans–videos of which are on her MySpace page, along with info about her tours and some of her tracks. The music outlets Paste Magazine and Pitchfork have both given her glowing props, and her sophomore album Hummingbird Go! can be purchased on iTunes and elsewhere.
If you crossed M.I.A. with Salt N Pepa, you might get something like Rye Rye, the Baltimore rapper backed by a female DJ (ala Spinderella) and featuring the same hard dance beats of the Sri Lankan darling. At the tender age of 18, she’s the first musician signed to M.I.A.’s own record label, N.E.E.T.
Having worked with DJ Blaqustarr and others, Rye Rye’s first single available on iTunes, “Shake It To The Ground,” is an old school ode to rap with fast paced rhymes and slick vocal loops serving as beats. At SXSW, she shared a bill with the likes of Little Boots and Kanye West, and delivered as hard as any other veteran hip hop act could.
During her live performance, her words move as lightening quick as her body, with dancers flanking the petite rapper with infectious African-style moves. Her debut album Go! Pop! Bang! is coming out this May.
Standing on the rooftop space at Maggie Mae’s, I noticed a man holding a megaphone. When I gave him a funny look, he smiled and told me in a charming British accent that the megaphone was for his band, Black Cherry. This was their first time in the States, and their first showcase at SXSW. Soon after our conversation, he took the stage as drummer, and proceeded with his four band mates to bring the house down.
I was hoping to see some bands at SXSW that have that vibe of being the next big thing, and Black Cherry totally fits that bill. The lead singer, Meg, sang and strutted like a more rough and British version of Karen O.
Their solid and heady rock, with pop and synth tones, was totally tied together by this woman’s charisma–she jumped around, threw her shoes off, shouted into the megaphone, and made comments like, “It is important to our lives and yours that you remember our name.” Her badass vocals and stylings were completely addictive. While they currently only have a demo album under their belts, like Meg demanded on stage, Black Cherry isn’t a band to be forgotten.
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