SXSW Music 2008

South Congress, Guitartown, and the Austin Music Awards

Started out (noon) at the Bandango Party at Yard Dog where we saw John McNicholas and grabbed some (free) beer. Took in the sights on So. Congress.

We watched Mason Jennings at Jo's and headed over to the big Guitartown party at Mother Egan's. The 5 hours we spent there were spent listening to really solid outstanding Americana, alt-country, or alt-what-have-you bands. We saw Tom Freund, Shawn Mullins (first time to see him and he was awesome!)

Jon Dee Graham played a hard rocking set and was absolutely great! I was not familiar with Chip Robinson, Eric Ambel, and Blue Mountain (more about them in Thursday's post) but we really enjoyed them a lot (it's so nice, if you don't travel, when these things come to your doorstep as they do during SXSW). Then came the late addition to the lineup: Bela Fleck, appearing as part of Abigail Washburn's Sparrow Quartet, which also features Casey Driessen and Ben Sollee! All outstanding musicians. Bela might be the best banjo player in the world. What a treat to have seen all these folks at such close range, in the daylight but in the shade, and merely for the price of a couple of glasses of Guinness.

The Sparrow Quartet was a bit late showing up, so we were very pressed for time in getting over to the Austin Music Hall for the Music Awards (we were on foot, which isn't necessarily slower considering the parking situation). Lots of upsets and surprises in the Awards themselves, enough for a whole new topic. The show was held in the newly-remodeled Austin Music Hall, which sucks as much as ever, in our opinions. Same bad acoustics and they've added a mezzanine with a shaky railing, so big whoop.

Show highlights:
Lyle Lovett, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, and Colin Gilmore performed with offspring and relations of Uncle Walt's Band (the talent is inherited). Gary Clark Jr. WOW! OK, I really hope this kid is the "next big thing out of Austin." We have been seeing him in these clubs since he was too young to be in them. He was damned good back then, playing traditional blues styles, but has really blossomed with his own style in the past year or so. He appears in the 2007 movie Honeydripper (dir. John Sayles, starring Danny Glover). Also in the show... The Judys and a set with indie sensations Okkervil River with Roky Erickson (13th Floor Elevators) sitting in. Spoon made a major sweep at the Awards, and on our way out of the Hall, we were right by Britt Daniel of Spoon, so we got to shake hands and congratulate him. That was pretty cool. Then we hoofed it back to the car... 10 blocks... but we can't complain about free parking. A great kickoff day!!

Art Outside, Propaganda Media Party at Enchanted Forest

We had every intention of going downtown and trying to catch either Kim Richey or Billy Bragg and Carrie Rodriguez, and did succeed with the "going downtown" part of it. A combination of active construction, day party street closures, normally free lots charging money, and people actually trying to work in their offices (it was a weekday, after all), we had one hell of a frustrating time just driving around, much less finding a nice free parking space. So... we ditched those plans and headed to south Austin.

Started at Opal Divine's Penn Field where we saw Jo Carol Pierce (with Mark Andes) and the Jitterbug Vipers.

Then we went over to The Enchanted Forest where they were have a music party and an art fair. We had seen only the edge of this place before, where DaVine Foods is, and maybe a little beyond. We were stunned at how large and beautiful that place was back behind the gates. I would describe it on this day as if Elrond had decided to locate Rivendell in the heart of South Austin and construct it from found objects -- and Vilya, his Ring of Power, could not have conjured up any better weather! Also, it's hard to imagine a LESS-corporate event than this one. Such a relief. Do check out the photo gallery. You're not in Kansas anymore.

Oh yes, and there were bands!. All the bands we saw were really good. From the UK, there was Hey Negrita, Alabama3, and People in Planes. From Spain there was Jet Lag. From San Antonio there was Buttercup. From Austin, The Summer Wardrobe and Dustin Welch. We ran into a band we saw Wednesday, Blue Mountain, and got to chat with Cary Hudson, the guitar player. He was there to see his friend Tommy Womack from Nashville, and was right about him -- he is quite a songwriter.

Dirty Dog Downtown and Sin City Party

Quite a different day than Thursday! After yesterday's debacle with parking downtown, we decided to get Dillo-savvy and did the park-and-ride free Dillo shuttle bus. We couldn't believe we hadn't done it sooner. What a brilliant idea! Oh well, live and learn.

We spent several hours at the Yep Roc party at the Dirty Dog (which used to be held at the Yard Dog -- so it's a whole different Dog) down on 6th Street. It started at noon with free Lone Star beer and BBQ (nothing for us veg-heads to eat but cole slaw, but we didn't need food yet anyway). Really excellent bands, some I'd seen and some I hadn't. Started off with the Iguanas, a favorite from New Orleans. Then a bluegrass band from North Carolina called Chatham County Line. Next up was Chuck Prophet. We hadn't seen him before but we've heard him a lot on KGSR. Liam Finn is the son of Neil Finn (I love Neil Finn) and a member of Crowded House. I heard a lot of his dad in his voice. He put on a wild and energetic set with just enough cowbell! Our Dirty Dog visit ended up with The Sadies, a kind of an alt-country alt-surf hard-rockabilly band from Ontario. We saw them a few years ago opening for our beloved Jayhawks.

After walking many, many blocks we caught the Dillo back to the car (and just in time as I had begun to get blisters on the soles of my feet), and went over to Maria's Taco Xpress on So. Lamar for the Sin City Party. The name "Sin City" is taken from the Gram Parsons record, and is run by a family friend of his from L.A. A friend of MrB's was expected to meet us there, and if it hadn't been for that we might have left soon after we got there. It was just jam-packed, too loud, and no place to sit where the bands were playing, and my feet advised me not to do any more standing. But things worked out almost magically... he showed up, we went out to the patio, and managed to borrow 3 chairs near the stage... and all in plenty of time for the Mother Truckers! Perfect. Teal's got one hell of a voice, and Josh plays some great rockin' guitar! They are California transplants, now known as as an Austin band, and proud of it. Check out the photo gallery for a pet iguana shot too. Next up was the Band of Heathens, and the week wouldn't have been complete without seeing these guys, they are a favorite. So, two short but great sets from local favorites, and nobody held back. Outstanding! We called it a day after that, and went home to our lonely and cranky cats.

RajiWorld at Enchanted Forest

The only place we went was back to The Enchanted Forest for the RajiWorld party. It was another perfect day with perfect weather and lots of good local bands (including AJ Croce (son of Jim), Friends of Dean Martinez, Mario Matteoli, and Billy Harvey) and other entertainment. The Art Outside show was still going on, with some pieces added or still evolving since being there on Thursday. A sampling of art and people: Roggie Baer (it's her party), Cody and Willy from Reckless Kelly, Billy Harvey, who has one of the weirdest and coolest websites ever!

Twinkly evening paths, flora/fauna sculptures in day-glo, dancers and the fire show turned the final day into a fairy tale. It was a great 4 days for us. The weather was beautiful and it was quality time.