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Wednesday, March 17, 2010
SXSW scene report: Wanda Jackson
What DOESN’T become a legend most? Try a big honkin’ post in front of center stage at your SXSW showcase. That, at least, was the situation that confronted rockabilly legend and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Wanda Jackson when she arrived at the Beauty Bar/Palm Door (aka the old City Grill) for her set with her band, the Green Corn Revival. Clad in a scarlet blouse and full of moxie, the original Fujiyama Mama and powerhouse behind “Let’s Have A Party” and “Right Or Wrong” persevered on Wednesday night. Peering at fans around the offending chunk of lumber, Jackson deadpanned, “I just LOVE singing to a pole!”
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SXSW scene report: Random encounters
Clark Parsons is attending for the first time since 1991, when he covered the festival for the Nashville Scene. Now he’s the managing director the Berlin School for Creative Leadership, an “executive education” school. “The last time I came here, I knew a far greater percentage of the bands,” Parsons said. “It’s overwhelming to confront the fact that I’m no longer au courant.” Parsons compares SXSW Music to the Berlin Film Festival. “Both do an amazing job for the people at whom they are aimed.”
Standing at the corner of Sixth and Trinity streets, Victor Ituarte, 23, continued what has become another SXSW tradition: free hugs. This is his second time giving away the arm wraps. He started at 5 p.m. when he got tired of waiting in the Pure Volume Line. “The vibe is that everyone seems really happy, there’s good humor and good energy all around,” he said after about three hours. “Everybody seems relieved that SXSW is finally here. It seems that the wait is longer every year and we start talking about it earlier.” Why the hugs? “It’s all about starting a positive change and making people feel better. Evil begets evil so it makes sense that good would beget good.”
Music badge registrant Bob Somers, from Winnipeg, Canada. is at his fourth SXSW. A former musician turned landscape architect, he comes just for the music. “It seems like it doesn’t seem to change much from year to year, which is something I like about it and why I keep coming, because I feel like I can count on it,” he said. “In Winnipeg, we never get any of the big indie bands and also it’s a size thing. South by gives me the chance to see artists in small venue and clubs that I wouldn’t usually get to.”
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SXSW review: Ten Out of Tenn at Maggie Mae’s Gibson Room
9 p.m. Wednesday: Nashville sometimes gets a bad rap, especially in Austin, where some folks like to gaze condescendingly down on Music City from considerable aesthetic heights. And if you think all there is to the Athens of the South is Taylor Swift or Kenny Chesney, then you can understand why.
But Nashville attracts songwriters like blue serge picks up lint and there is a creative community bubbling under the commercial surface that is as robust as any in the country.
A case in point being Ten Out of Tenn, a sort of rolling caravan of songwriters and performers who have traded songs onstage for some five years and three or four albums. Due to the brevity of the SXSW showcase time frame, listeners at Maggie Mae’s Gibson Room didn’t get the full-on TooT experience (Seven Out of Tenn, anyone?), but the group’s multifaceted performance was diverse and engaging enough to make you sign on for the full treatment.
Though the narrative traditions of country music are evident enough in the group’s songs, there wasn’t a cheatin’ heart or a tear in the beer to be found. If these guys have any allegiance to country music, it’s more the Neil Young than the Little Jimmy Dickens variety.
Rather, songs like the hook-filled “Rain Or Shine,” “Inside These Lines” and the ebullient “Something To Talk About” boasted a Southern indie vibe that was not in the least in conflict with the polished songcraft that lent a solid spine to each number. Even K.D. Rhoads’ largely improvised “Invincible Fortress,” which utilized electronic vocal and keyboard hooks and a snatch of lyrics, had a distinct interior logic to it.
Despite the diversity of material, none of TooT’s songs evidenced any arty self-indulgence, quite a feat for any six-pack-plus-one of songwriters. But the commercial and the artistic have always run in tandem in Nashville and the songwriter’s art is held in esteem. Ten Out of Tenn are heirs to an honorable tradition.
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SXSW review: Balmorhea at Central Presbyterian Church
7 p.m. Wednesday: “Contemplative” is not the sort of word one ordinarily uses upon plunging into the first night of the SXSW music festival. But that was the prevailing mood, at least on the part of this listener, upon commencing the first night of the festival with the intricate, mind-opening sounds of Austin’s own Balmorhea.
The six-piece group purveys a sort of athletic, classical-based instrumental sound which is at once expansive and inwardly-looking. In songs like “To the Order of Night” and “Coahuila,” tempos and melodies ebb and flow like cloud shadows drifting across the West Texas landscape from which the group take its name.
Folk and jazz inflections color the classical underpinnings of the group’s sounds, with vocalisms, stop-time sections and percussive effects on violin and cello lend nuance and surprise to the group’s supple arrangements. And hey, what other modern classical ensemble can count a banjo among its instrumental repertoire?
The modern yet austere nave of the Central Presbyterian Church made an ideal setting for the band’s complex, organic original material (though the bands playing on the Boulevard of Broken Dreams known as Sixth St. were still faintly audible through the walls). Inside, though, thanks in part to Balmorhea, there reigned an oasis of melody, craft and, yes, contemplation.
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SXSW scene report: WOXY lounge act
Venerable modern rock station WOXY, which broadcasts over the internet at woxy.com, was already settled into the SXSW groove by Wednesday — Day 3 of its 2010 live Lounge Acts broadcasts. The station is audio and video recording a host of artists in its “lounge” soundstage during the festival, including Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, Frightened Rabbit and Surfer Blood, and it’s also hosting four day parties and an official showcase. However, everything was functioning smoothly at noon Wednesday, when the Mynabirds played a live set and singer-keyboardist-songwriter Laura Burhenn chatted with music director Matt Shiv.
Burhenn, formerly of DC duo Georgie James, paired with producer-multi-instrumentalist Richard Swift to record the Mynabirds’ forthcoming “What We Lose in the Fire We Gain in the Flood,” but she has a proper band for SXSW and future tours. With her dusky, effortlessly dramatic voice and soul-inflected garage rock, she made the airy, modern WOXY studio seem like it was, indeed, a lounge, the kind of place Dusty Springfield might have hung out, listening to Neil Young on the jukebox from a back booth with torn vinyl seats, and the clock seemed to advance to some unspecified hour after midnight.
In previous years, WOXY borrowed a studio in East Austin for its SXSW tapings, but while SXSW is gradually expanding eastward, WOXY is now permanently headquartered on South Congress in the Texas Theater building (“the old porn theater,” to you 78704 residents), where it shares space with ME-TV. Founded in Oxford, Ohio, in 1983, WOXY was one of the pioneers of the alternative/modern rock format. It went off the air in 2004, but got a new lease on life as an internet station, where you can find all kinds of cool performance podcasts and SXSW archives dating back to 2007. Last year, the station moved its base of operations to Austin, although general manager Bryan Miller, who was manning a video camera, confessed to residing in Oakland, Calif., having moved there from the more expensive San Francisco. His job, he said, is “doing anything someone else isn’t doing.”
Burhenn, meanwhile, told Shiv she moved from DC to Omaha. She knew some musicians there, and it’s a much cheaper place to live, allowing her to make music her main gig.
Once the recession is over and Austin rents start soaring again, she can probably start a sideline up there as an apartment locator.
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Alex Chilton, 1950-2010
UPDATE:
Teenage soul savant, power-pop progenitor, indie rock idol and Memphis music legend Alex Chilton has died.
The Memphis Commercial Appeal confirmed the news Wednesday night, but rumors flew through South By Southwest, where Chilton’s influential 1970s band Big Star was scheduled to play Saturday night at Antone’s.
“Chilton, 59, had been complaining of about his health earlier today,” according to the Commercial Appeal. “He was taken by paramedics to the emergency room where he was pronounced dead. The cause of death is believed to be a heart attack.”
SXSW director Roland Swenson found out late Wednesday and said he was not sure about the status of Big Star’s showcase, which could become a memorial show. The other members of Big Star are scheduled to be on a panel on the group’s history and legacy Saturday afternoon. (Big Star co-founder Chris Bell died in 1978.)
Chilton’s singular career had a couple of distinct phases; each phase practically had its own fanbase.
Boomers might remember him as the 16-year-old whose gritty-beyond-his-years voice powered songs for the Box Tops such as the smash hit “The Letter” and the Memphis soul classic “Cry Like A Baby.”
When the Box Tops folded in 1970, Chilton joined with songwriter/guitarist Bell, bassist Andy Hummel and drummer Jody Stephens to form Big Star. Chilton scrapped his gruff soul voice for a higher, thinner tone, as Big Star’s British pop-rock obsessions demanded Beatles-style harmonies.
Big Star was a commercial failure, but their 1972 debut album, “#1 Record” and the 1974 follow-up “Radio City” aged into cult classics, worshipped as precision-tooled power-pop perfection by bands from the Replacements (who wrote the song “Alex Chilton” about their hero), to R.E.M. to Cheap Trick (who turned Big Star’s “Out in the Street” into the theme song for “That 70s Show”).
The final Big Star album “Third/Sister Lovers,” is essentially a Chilton solo album with Stephens on it. Largely a collaboration with the late Memphis producer Jim Dickinson, it’s a dark, strange album, its fanbase a cult within the Chilton cult. An excellent Big Star box set, “Keep an Eye on the Sky,” was released last year by Rhino Records.
In the mid-’70s Chilton changed again, making tossed off sounding EPs and albums that fascinated some fans and annoyed others - instead of using his sweet Big Star voice, he often mumble-sang like he just fell out of bed.
But for fans, albums such as “Like Flies on Sherbet,” “Bach’s Bottom” and the brilliantly named bootleg “Dusted in Memphis” embodied a falling-apart, spit-and-bailing wire song-style that very few bands could quite master, though Pavement came the closest.
He also dabbled in production, helming brilliant early records by the Cramps and the Gories and playing the sideman in rockabilly weirdos Panther Burns.
Chilton continued to record and tour sporadically throughout the ‘80s and ‘90s, his and Big Star’s cult building fan by converted fan.
In the mid-’90s, Big Star reformed with a newly minted line-up including Chilton, Stephens and Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow of the Posies. That band performed often over the next decade-plus.
In the Replacement’s fastasia “Alex Chilton,” Paul Westerberg sings of a place where “Children by the million sing for Alex Chilton when he comes ‘round.” That never happened in the real world, but his cult loved his music with the passion of a million fans.
Chilton is survived by his wife, Laura, and a son Timothy.
— Joe Gross
EARLIER:
Expect to hear a lot more Big Star covers this year than usual. The news shot through SXSW Wednesday evening that Alex Chilton, who was scheduled to appear with Big Star Saturday at Antone’s, has died of an apparent heart attack. He was 59.
SXSW director Roland Swenson said he just found out and has not been told the status of Big Star’s showcase, which could possibly become a memorial show. The other members of Big Star are scheduled to be on a panel on the group’s history and legacy Saturday afternoon.
Although Chilton was not well-known aside his cult of followers, he helped create the alternative music that made a festival like SXSW possible, if not inevitable.
— Michael Corcoran
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SXSW panel: ‘TV Resurrects the Radio Star’
5 p.m. Wednesday
Panelists: Joel Beckerman, founder of music service company Man Made Music; Keith D’Arcy, Senior VP of Music Strategy for EMI Music Publishing; Gary Calamar, producer, music supervisor and president of GO Music, as well as a KCRW radio personality; RIch Isaacson, co-founder and president of LOUD Records, COO of SRC Recordsand CEO/Owner of R I Entertainment; Alicen Schneider, Vice President of Music Creative Services at NBC Universal Television.
The gist: Licensing music for use in television, film and other media is an increasingly important part of marketing an artist.
Takeaways: Licensing a song to a TV show might not make you an overnight success, but a good placement can cause a “domino effect,” bringing other licensing deals and raising your profile — something record labels have less and less power to do. Although network programs once had more prestige, they can be short-lived nowadays, and cable shows likely offer better opportunities to establish longer relationships with music supervisors (the ones who help find the right song to make a scene work). Film trailers provide “the most bang for the buck,” due to the wide exposure they receive. Licensing fees have gotten smaller, but the number of licenses has increased exponentially. Music supervisors are always looking for great music to use in other media, but they are inundated with submissions, and it’s easier if you have good representation. The Hollywood Reporter has a twice-yearly music issue that lists key music people at the film and television studios. Do your homework and find out what shows music supervisors work with and whether your music would be a good fit for them.
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SXSW interview: We Were Promised Jetpacks
We Were Promised Jetpacks, along with Frightened Rabbit, Codeine Velvet Club and Unicorn Kid and others, are part of a Scottish invasion happening this week during SXSW. WWPJ play stripped-down rock, with pounding bass lines and rough vocals that recall the rock and punk of early-80’s Britain. At last year’s festival they were relative newcomers; this year they’ve matured a bit, with a full length album and a new EP under their belts. We caught up with lead guitarist/vocalist Adam Thompson in the lobby of the Hilton, where the band was getting ready for the Scottish Arts Council showcase Wednesday night at the Parish.
How was your show at Levi’s Fader Fort this afternoon?
It went really well as far as SXSW shows go. We were here last year so we kind of new the deal—turn up, plug in and play. As long as no disasters happen when we play we’re usually pretty happy.
What has changed since the last time you were here for SXSW?
We’ve made the transition from part-time band, not that we’re making any money at it, but this is a full time thing. When we came over last year, three of us were still at university. From the start of September it’s been pretty much non-stop touring. We’re slowly making the transition to being a real band.
We haven’t a a chance to walk down sixth street yet. We played the gig, did an interview, got our jeans from the Fader Fort and then drove over here. Last year it was a bit of a surprise because we didn’t know what was going on, but this year were more prepared for it.
What have you learned being on tour? We’ve learned to look after ourselves on the road, eat well, try to get a good night’s sleep. We’ve learned a bit more about what kind of band we want to be and how we want the next record to sound. When you play the songs all the time, there’s parts of it that you get tired of.
What kind of band do you want to be? We don’t want to be so intense all the time, with all of this dense sound. We want to let the music breathe a little more on the next record.
Your new EP is pretty dark, though. When we were on tour in the UK, we visited our label and they said it would be a good idea if you had an EP to bring out. We had two weeks, and I had two new songs that I hadn’t completed at all. We didn’t want to do a rubbish version of our album as an EP. We wanted something that sounded a bit more elegant, where we tried to use some different instruments.
Have you noticed a difference between touring in Europe versus the United States?
Playing in the UK is not very good for us. We play (expletive) venues and don’t get paid very much. We come to New York and play the sold-out Bowery Ballroom and it’s pretty much chalk and cheese.
There are a lot of Scottish bands here this week.
It’s great. There are a lot of good bands playing music that’s a bit more honest, and not so centered on wearing skinny jeans and playing dance music for clubs with people on ecstasy.
What about Franz Ferdinand?
There has a been a bit of a fallout from the number of bands that were doing that and not doing it well.
What is your songwriting process like?
I do a song up until I get stuck, sometimes I’ll just have a couple of parts, and we all work on it together, and everyone has an equal say on how it goes. Everybody gets to invest in the song, it’s a real team effort.
What are you hoping to get out of being in Austin this week?
We’re looking to see our friends, and stay here more than a night. We got here (to the U.S.) on the 9th of February and have pretty much played every night. We aren’t really thinking to much about whether this is going to help us musically, it’s more about getting out and having a nice time, playing some shows. We’ve got a lot of momentum here, and we really want to keep that going. We don’t want to tour here too much, and have people get sick of us.
What bands are you excited about seeing?
There’s a band, Born Ruffians, from Canada that we saw a couple years ago, and they’ve got a new record out. Frightened Rabbit as well.
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SXSW preview: The Maldives
At peaks, the Maldives’ muscular alt-country bruises and balms within the same song (“Blood Relations,” “Tequila Sunday”). The Seattle-based nonet, whose “Listen to the Thunder” deeply shades Gram Parsons’ shadows, debuts at SXSW this week.
“I’m looking forward to hanging out with our friends the Moondoggies and getting some barbecue,” lead singer Jason Dodson says. “I really wanted to see that band Death from Detroit, but we’re leaving Sunday morning to play Fort Worth.” (Official showcase: 9 p.m. Friday at the Continental Club)
American-Statesman: ‘Tequila Sunday’ is upbeat for such an introspective song.
Jason Dodson: I’m not the most talented guitarist and usually write three-chord songs, but that’s one of my early forays into making a pop song. There is a string of ideas - a theme, I guess - about wanting to go home. Keep the home fires burning.
Who were you drawing on while writing?
You know, like Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.” The whole album is joyous and danceable and all that, but the lyrics are pretty dark. It’s heavy stuff. I was trying to figure out how to write a song with darker elements that’s still fun for people to listen to as opposed to making them depressed. It was a good try, I guess (laughs).
What exactly is a ‘tequila Sunday’?
I’m not really sure. There’s a line in there about “Honeysuckle Rose,” because we were pretty obsessed with Willie Nelson, and the whole band is obsessed with that movie. The title “Tequila Sunday” came out of playing on a Saturday, and the next morning we all got together to watch “Honeysuckle Rose” and drink tequila.
Obviously, Willie’s a big presence around here.
The big (influences) for me are Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings. That’s the music I was raised on. Definitely Neil Young and Bob Dylan, especially his Rolling Thunder Revue and “Desire.” Of course, Robbie Robertson’s songs for The Band were definitely influential. I’m also a big Townes Van Zandt fan.
What’s the EP (‘Tequila/Someday’)’s relationship to ‘Listen to the Thunder’?
Well, we took about two years to record the album, but we’d already started to play the songs live. So, we had the live set all worked out, and we toured on an album that hadn’t been recorded. We put out the EP beforehand as a thank you gift to our fans, for the people to have something to chew on before we hit them with the album.
iTunes must be especially great for a band with an album out of print (2006’s ‘The Maldives’).
Yeah, we put that out ourselves, so once it was done, it was done. We’re lucky for modern technology. That album was more of a singer-songwriter album. It definitely wasn’t the band as it is now. It was an odd little creature.
How have you evolved as a singer and songwriter since then?
The singing’s definitely more confident, and the songwriting has evolved. I wasn’t ready to play out a lot when we made the first record. I think the first album sounds more personal and lo-fi, but unfortunately the recording quality is (bad). I guess I’ve learned to use my experiences and grow with them. The songwriting has gotten more complex. Hopefully, I won’t stop growing.
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SXSW tidbits: Steve Martin, Sarah Jarosz to tape ‘Austin City Limits’
“Austin City Limits” producer Terry Lickona took a host of journalists on a tour of the upcoming new home of the TV show and let on that Steve Martin and Sarah Jarosz will both make their “ACL” debuts in late April. Spoon and Patty Griffin will also return to the show, with Cheap Trick taping tomorrow.
Suzanna Choffel has signed a management contract with Rainmaker Artists, who also handle Blue October, Bob Schneider and Bowling For Soup.
Actress Sissy Spacek was spotted at the Austin Fleah St. Patrick’s Day Party, digging the Lost Brothers from Ireland. Oisin Leech from the Brothers said it’s “bittersweet to be away from Ireland on St. Paddy’s Day, but we’d rather be in Austin today, to tell you the truth.” The weather back home is cold and freezing, he said.
The Lost Brothers play Bull McCabe’s on Red River Street tomorrow and then perform at an Irish Breakfast Friday at 11 a.m. at B.D. Riley’s.
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SXSW scene report: Beatles Complete on Ukulele Day 1
We walked up to the patio at Jaimie’s Spanish Village just as producer Roger Greenawalt, the Eggmen and others were playing “Happiness is a Warm Gun” with Greenawalt playing uke, as he will do from noon-6 p.m. at Jaimie’s as they play the entire canonical Beatles catalog with Greenawalt front and, well, to the right and sitting in a chair.
We also heard “I Saw Her Standing There,” “From Me to You” and more. Ex-Austinites Chris Masterson (Son Volt, Jack Ingram and soon to be a member of Steve Earle’s Dukes) and wife Eleanor Whitmore did “All You Need is Love” and more, with Masterson playing a beautiful cream-colored Gretch hollow-body with gold hardware.
“Singing those six songs is the most fun I’ll probably have at SXSW,” he said.
“That was a blast,” Whitmore said. “There’s no better music, really, than the Beatles.”
In case you want to see if they do have more fun later in the week, Masterson and Whitmore are playing the Indiesounds showcase at the Hideout Theater, 617 Congress Ave., at 4:35 p.m. Thursday, the Cactus Cafe Songwriter Showcase at 6 p.m. Saturday and elsewhere.
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SXSW scene report: Paste party
Four guys at the urinals at the Galaxy Room working their iPhones: that’s multi-tasking SXSW style.
Lines were pretty long for the badgeless to get into Wednesday’s Paste magazine party, where the Afro- Applalachian string band, Carolina Chocolate Drops, and Roky Erickson and Okkervil River, both killed back to back. But what really showed that SXSW has arrived was the 30-minute waits for free beer and no waiting at the cash bar.
Playing songs they learned from their 91-year-old mentor Joe Thompson, as well as an amazing cover of Blu Cantrell’s “Hit ‘Em Up Style,” with Rhiannon Giddens proving to be a star in the making, Carolina Chocolate Drops were charming for days. The balance of showmanship with real playing ability had the crowd grinning like loons. My first great discovery at SXSW 2010.
Roky and the River played a heavier set than the material from next month’s “True Love Cast Out All Evil,” opening with a thundering couplet of “John Lawman” and “Two Headed Dog.” The set-closing “You’re Gonna Miss Me” really tore up the jampacked crowd.
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SXSW interview: Lemmy
5 p.m.
Phil Freeman, journalist Lemmy Kilmister, bassist/songwriter, Motorhead, living legend
The gist: An interview with Lemmy. Nuff said.
A quick spin through Lemmy’s history, from his time seeing the Beatles (“The Stones were just dressing up, Beatles were from a hard city”) to his time with Hawkwind (“You couldn’t see us for the lightshow….we had this naked women, 6’2” in her socks, 52 inche breasts, dancing. Lad would paint her before the show”) to forming Motorhead at the age of 30.
On punk: “My first take was ‘That guy can’t sing.’ Then I realized he wasn’t trying to sing, he was trying to be obnoxious. I was OK with that.”
On firing producer Ed Stasium: “He didn’t even ask if (he could put other instruments)> So he was outta there.”
On working with Bill Laswell: “He (expletive) the record anyway. Bad mix. So much for jazzmen….
On rocking vs. producing: “The only thing I ever got offered was free lunch. I’m not in that mold, you wouldn’t look at me and think, ‘there’s a budding producer.’ What advice could a 64-year old give a 20 year old? Make your own mistakes, (expletive).”
On writing: “We never write before we start rehearsing for the next album. I write on the clock. When Mickey joined he was horrified: ‘You can’t write like this?’ ‘Yes, I can. I’ve got a pen.’”
On songs that don’t sound like Motorhead: “A selection of madrigals by Motorhead? I come from Little Richard and Buddy Holly.”
On collecting conventions: “Every industry has these things where they get together and pat each other on the back.” (See also SXSW?)
On 360 deals: “Oh yeah, that’s a good deal, innit? It’s another con.”
On the movie: “I said ‘Just do something we can watch.’”
On having diabetes: “I just take the pills and keep drinking. You’ll pretty much die of something you like anyway.”
On the next record: “I have no idea. We haven’t started rehearsing yet….a month rehearsing, a month in the studio. We’ve got European festivals in the summer, England, Germany,”
And we’re done. About 30 minutes.
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SXSW panel: ‘Crowdfunding Music: Raising Money From Your Fans’
Panelists: Yancey Strickler - Kickstarter, Jamin Brophy-Warren - Kill Screen Magazine, Dick Huey - Toolshed, Ian Rogers - Topspin, Allison Weiss
The gist: Crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter offer new ways for musicians to not only finance their projects, but to build lasting, enduring personal relationships with their fans that will pay big dividends as they continue their careers. Although the digital music revolution means people are hesitant to pay for just music these days, fans are happy to pay money to help support an artist if they feel like they have a stake in the project. And music fans still appreciate a cool, tactile reward for getting involved. If artists offer incentives and do a good job communicating with their fans through updates - and make an effort to be creative - they’ll find that their fans will frequently support them.
Takeaways: Crowdfunding is not a silver bullet for the financial woes of musicians struggling to fund their albums, tours or other projects - it’s one more tool in the toolbox. Kickstarter co-founder Yancey Strickler argued that bands that operate on multiple fronts, using Kickstarter to pay for some creative projects while still using more traditional means for other goals (noting Shearwater and its companion book to album “The Golden Archipelago” as an example), are most successful. To succeed through crowdfunding, bands and artists such as Allison Weiss need to hone in on connecting with their audience and making them feel like part of an adventure. Ways to do that include creative incentives that people can’t get anywhere else or any other way aside from contributing. Ultimately, the key to a successful crowdfunded project is intimate connection between the artist and their fans. Often, the hardest part of a successfully crowdfunded project is simply getting the news out there - Strickler noted
that if a Kickstarter project reaches 25 percent funding it gets fully funded 92 percent of the time. Cheap incentives also help - projects with incentives costing $15 or less have a 60 percent success rate, compared to the standard 40 percent.
Quotes: “A lot of crowdfunding is about empathy, so instead of buying into a product a backer is buying into the person. Success is about you and who you are and what you’re doing and not market forces.” Yancey Strickler.
“We all know there is no silver bullet for the record industry. Crowdfunding is the not one thing that’s going to solve the industry.” Ian Rogers.
“The age of one-size-fits-all products is over. It’s about fan segmentation now.” Ian Rogers.
“It’s not that people are refusing to pay for music. They’re just refusing to pay for a commodity product that they can have for free. You have to offer them something extra and at a fair value.” Ian Rogers
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SXSW scene report: Nardwuar keeps it bizarre
Fifteen minutes after randomly hearing on the Twitters that Erik Estrada was hanging out at Peckerheads, my journey into surreal SXSW continued when I dipped into a panel called “Nardwuar’s Video Vault” at the convention center. The self-proclaimed “Human Serviette” shared a hysterical set of clips from interviews with everyone from Courtney Love to Snoop Dogg and Jay-Z.
He kept the room rolling.
Nardwuar will be down at a free show at Headhunters with Andrew WK tomorrow at 5:25 p.m.
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SXSW scene report: South Congress
The afternoon of SXSW Wednesday used to feel like the calm before the storm on South Congress. This year, it seemed more like the first small wave of an impending tsunami. Around 1 p.m., the sidewalks weren’t yet busier than a normal Saturday, and there wasn’t much of a wait at Hey Cupcake! or any of the other vendors in the church parking lot destined to one day, after the recession, become a really chi-chi hotel. A couple of hippie chicks sat on the church lawn, one yapping on her cell phone while the other constructed what looked like an arugula and avocado salad in a rectangular plastic grocery-store lettuce box. A Rihanna wannabe with a half-cockatoo hairdo half-stomped, half-wobbled by in her skin-tight black jeans and black lace-up stiletto boots, perhaps heading to CVS to buy a pair of flip-flops. A woman in a red minidress and black tights ran across South Congress, her SXSW badge flapping in her face.
The sidewalk tables at Guero’s were full, but diners still had a leisurely air, and the sidewalk was still passable. The action, for the moment, was down in the parking lot of the Hotel San Jose, where I had apparently just missed the Trishas, but ran into neighbors who had enjoyed them greatly. Easily half the crowd seemed to be people-watching locals, some with babies and dogs, enjoying the free music and the spectacle, including a guy in a Christian Death T-shirt who didn’t know you’re not supposed to tuck your mom jeans into your new cowboy boots, and a woman with an indefinable accent dangling a cigarette with distinctly European disdain. Ethan Azarian’s somewhat tuneless mope-folk didn’t mesmerize many of the adults, who were busy shopping the vintage clothing booths, working on their iBooks at the tables in the back or socializing. However, one tiny girl in pink-and-brown polka dot leggings started gyrating next to the soundboard, waggling her hips as though dancing to the rhythm of a Beyonce song in her head, but making avant-garde shapes with her arms.
Over at the Continental Club, there were still seats to be had, although Greensboro, N.C.’s Holy Ghost Tent Revival captivated the small crowd. They ended their set with a ferocious cover of the Beatles’ “Don’t Let Me Down,” notable not only for including banjo and trombone in the arrangement, but also for the intensity of the vocal harmonies.
By 3 p.m., the oak garden at Guero’s was filling up with margarita drinkers and people checking out Elizabeth McQueen, who actually got some of them to shout along at the appropriate junctures on a cover of Chuck Berry’s “30 Days.” Negotiating the sidewalks was already becoming more difficult, with badge people heading purposefully north, and fliers posted on any spare pole gave notice of the explosion of shows starting Thursday in the parking lot of just about any establishment with a South Congress address, with the possible exception of the tax accountant.
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SXSW interview: Cheap Trick
True story: In 1982, my friend Rob and I — massive Cheap Trick fans both — made a pilgrimage to the band’s hometown of Rockford, Il., where we visited guitarist Rick Nielsen’s parents’ music store and the home of drummer Bun E. Carlos’ mom before getting tickets (and backstage passes!) to the band’s show the next night in Peoria.
I told Nielsen that story Wednesday morning. His reaction: “This guy’s a stalker.”
My goal in doing a sit-down with the greatest power pop band ever was to not be like Chris Farley interviewing Paul McCartney: “Remember when you wrote ‘Surrender?’ That was awesome.” But three-fourths of the band (Carlos was elsewhere) was funny and gracious and generous with their time. The guys are in town for an appearance at Waterloo Records, a taping of “Austin City Limits” and headlining a free show at Auditorium Shores Friday night with the BoDeans and Cracker.
We talked about working once again with producer Julian Raymond on last year’s imaginatively titled “The Latest,” which includes originals, a song written for Robin Zander’s solo album and a killer cover of Slade’s “When the Lights are Out,” with Nielsen quoting himself from “Elo Kiddies” from his own band’s first album. “He’s like a fifth member of the band,” vocalist Zander said. Nielsen added that, unlike some unnamed collaborators the band has hooked up with before, “He doesn’t have us tame down anything.”
They’ve had their share of producers for sure. The band has long had a beef with the sound of their second album, “In Color,” which producer buffed to a poppy sheen. The version of “I Want You to Want Me” was “so wimpy compared to how we did it live,” Nielsen said.
Yeah, there’s a reason the live version from “At Budokan” is the one that became a hit.
More recently, the band did a short stretch performing the entirety of the Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” in Las Vegas and at the Hollywood Bowl. Any chance they’d book a return engagement, or do they not want to turn into Celine Dion.
“We’re up for anything,” bassist Tom Pettersson said. “It meant a lot to us.”
“They’re gonna have to pay us a lot of money,” Zander cracked.
For those of you who’ve lost track of time, the band’s self-titled debut came out in 1977. Since then they’ve sold some 20 million records, racked up about 40 gold and platinum awards and played countless thousands of shows. The only thing not scratched from the to-do list is “ACL,” the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (rrrrrr) and papal canonization. So what keeps them going?
“This is what we do,” Zander said. “We’re a rock band.”
“All of us are music fans anyhow,” Nielsen said. “I said years ago if I wasn’t in Cheap Trick, I’d be a fan of Cheap Trick.”
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SXSW preview: Trampled by Turtles
Trampled By Turtles’ “Palomino” (due April 13) fortifies nuanced narratives (“Bloodshot Eyes”) with fiery fretwork (“Feet and Bones”). The Minnesota-based bluegrass quintet learned songwriting craft from a revered Texas-born folksinger.
“Townes Van Zandt has been a huge influence,” lead singer Dave Simonett says. “It’s an abstract thing, a feeling that he gives out. I’ve listened to songs of his where I just want to (give up) and break my guitar. I don’t feel worthy to try.” (Official showcase: 8 p.m. Friday at Red Eyed Fly, 715 Red River St.)
American-Statesman: When did the songs on ‘Palomino’ come together?
Dave Simonett: They’re all brand-new songs written within the last year, which is a new thing for our band. Before this, we’d been playing and touring on the songs long before we got into the studio. I can’t really give a point of view for the whole album because each song came from a different place.
Where did you find the opening track (‘Wait So Long’)?
I probably wrote that last winter. The subject matter is vague, but it started as looking at a good friend going through something very stressful and me not being able to help in any way. A lot of the songs ended up having that underlying theme. I guess I didn’t even notice that they were connected in that way until they were put together.
‘Palomino’ is your fifth album in six years. How long can you keep up that pace?
Man, I have no idea (laughs). It was never really planned to put out so much so fast, but the songs just came. We tour all year so much that it doesn’t feel like such a short interim between records. After about a year, we’re ready to have some new material. If it keeps up, I’ll be very happy with it. But long can you put out an album every year?
Was recording live in the studio a new approach?
Well, we’ve done a handful of that on all of them, especially the one prior (“Duluth”). I love the studio, but our band is at its best live. It’s always been a real challenge to capture the energy we have playing together when you take it off the stage.
How close can you get to the spontaneity of a live show?
I think we’ve gotten closer this time than we have in the past. I really don’t think it’s possible to match since the environment’s so different. There’s just something about being in front of a crowd and the feeling of singing in a bar at night doesn’t transfer into the studio.
So much attention is paid to instrumentation in bluegrass. As a songwriter, do you wish there was more focus on lyrics?
Yeah, selfishly, I do. It’s always been my focus. I’m not technically a good guitar player; I’m definitely not a bluegrass guitar player. I can’t keep up at a bluegrass jam. That being said, a lot of modern bluegrass isn’t necessarily focused on the songwriting.
It must’ve been a thrill to play with Del McCoury for the first time (opening in Louisville last month).
It was great. For some of us, it was more of a religious experience than others. I dig traditional bluegrass and I really like the form and the rawness of it, but I don’t sit at home and listen to it that much. But Del played with Bill Monroe, for God’s sake. He’s kind of the elder statesman right now, and seeing how those guys do it was awesome. Their generation’s musicianship is kind of a lost art.
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SXSW panel: ‘1,000 Digital Tools & Strategies: Which 3 Work?’
Panelists: Michael Feferman -C3 Presents, Ryan Matteson — Pabst Theater, Aaron Ray — The Collective, Mike Rosenthal — Rosenthal Consulting (OK Go), Gabriel Levy — UMGD
The gist: As a band your biggest asset is your fans. Relationships with labels come and go and tools are just tools. Whatever tools you are using, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc, make sure you own them. Use these tools to connect directly with your fans in a personal way.
Quotes: “Bundling is the future. Anything that can’t be pirated is worth money. Limited editions, personalized photos …(etc.) are things that can be monetized.” Aaron Ray.
Takeaways: Any effective strategy to promote brand awareness must have a viral component. OK Go famously got into a huge dispute over viral distribution of their most recent video “This Too Shall Pass” that contributed to the band leaving their label EMI. That video received 8 1/2 million views in a week and a half.
Personalization is also important. On their last tour OK Go lead singer Damien Kulash took a photo of the crowd from the stage each night then posted it on the band’s Facebook page. This led to hundreds of fans flocking to the page the day after the show to tag themselves and make comments on the pictures.
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SXSW preview: John Hiatt
John Hiatt’s “The Open Road” matches equal parts spirit (“Go Down Swingin’ ”) and sentiment (“Wonder of Love”). The celebrated songwriter, who has been covered by Paula Abdul, Bob Dylan and Iggy Pop, is eager to present new music at South by Southwest. “It’s one of the great music festivals in a great music town,” Hiatt, 57, says. “I’m excited this year that my daughter (Lilly Hiatt) and her band (The Dropped Ponies) are going to open the New West (Records) party (tonight).”
American-Statesman: You sounded great on Letterman (Hiatt performed on ‘Late Night’ last week). How did that song (‘The Open Road’) come together? John Hiatt: Well, how’d I look - old and mean?
No, young and spry. I like the sound of that! ‘The Open Road’ came together like they all do. I pick up a guitar and voilà ! (He laughs.) I took (last year) off from the road and started writing last January and February. I wrote about four or five songs then, but that was the first one that popped out.
Which other songs came out early? It seems we did the first sessions in May. “The Open Road” was the first we cut, and it set the tone for the proceedings. I think two or three songs hit the cutting room floor from that batch, but we had a direction. “Haulin’,” “Go Down Swingin’ ” and “Like a Freight Train” were in that first batch. We had a groove established.
Describe the album’s lyrical theme. The theme always seems to come later. It’s just a group of songs, after all. Once they start hanging together, they start to take on a theme. I guess it’s whatever the open road would suggest to people. Horizons? However you want to interpret that is fine by me (laughs). When I’m on the road, I’m always writing about coming home; when I’m at home I always writing about the road.
The lyrics and melody in ‘Homeland’ work particularly well together. Which is generally most essential to a good song? I think it’s the melody and the feel of the song. If you don’t have that, you don’t really have anything. The way I write, it’s mostly the music coming first. The words - I mean, you have to have something to sing — they come from the feel that the music creates. Music suggests a lyric.
Is there still a mystery in how you discover songs? Nothing but mystery, are you kidding me? I don’t know how the (expletive) that happens! If I did, I could just crank them out and make millions. We could have a hit tomorrow. It never ceases to amaze me when I get one in the boat, so to speak.
Who has covered you best? Do you have a couple hours? There are so many I enjoy. Willie (Nelson)’s take on ‘Most Unoriginal Sin’ is great. Emmylou Harris’ ‘Icy Blue Heart’ was beautiful. B.B. King and Eric Clapton doing ‘Riding with the King’ was great. Buddy Guy’s ‘Feels Like Rain’ was great, so was Rosanne Cash’s ‘The Way We Make a Broken Heart.’ Want me to go on? I have a lot of favorites (laughs).
8:30 p.m. Thursday at La Zona Rosa, 612 W. Fourth St.
If you like John Hiatt, check out:
1. Joe Pug
2. Tim Easton
3. The Mother Truckers
4. Hayes Carll
5. Susan Cowsill
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SXSW preview: Those Darlins’
Those Darlins style hill country melodies with boots made for rocking. The Tennessee-based female trio, whose new self-titled album draws liberally from both Patsy Cline (“Mama’s Heart”) and the Ramones (“Hung Up on Me”), relish the lost highway’s freedom.
“Living out of a van is kind of like being a gypsy,” singer and ukulele player Nikki Darlin says. “It’s an experience. I’d much rather be doing this than being at home with a steady job making money.” (Their official showcase is 11 p.m. Thursday at Billboard.com Bungalow (Habana Bar), 708 Sixth. St.)
American-Statesman: What do you remember from your SXSW shows last year?
Nikki Darlin: Absolutely nothing. I was trashed the whole time. Just kidding! Man, it was jumping from one venue to the next. We have five shows this year, but I’m hoping to check out some friends, too. Our producer (Jeff Curtin) did Small Black, but we’ve never seen them play. We’ve played a couple shows with Shannon and the Clams. We just played with Natural Child, so I’m psyched about seeing them.
Your blog shows recent photos of you guys at (Go Music president and ‘True Blood’ music supervisor) Gary Calamar’s place.
Yeah, but it wasn’t for anything specific. We were just out there to meet and hang out and play for him.
Gary’s on a panel (TV Resurrects the Radio Star, 5 p.m. Wednesday) about placing music on television.
It’s definitely very helpful! As depressing as it is, more people watch television now than go out to see live shows to check out new bands. It’s a helpful way to get your music out there to the masses.
Twenty years ago, people would’ve said that’s selling out, but today…
Oh, I don’t believe that. Sure, maybe 20 years ago, but it’s helpful for the band because you’re getting the music out there and heard. Maybe (it’s selling out) if it’s affiliated with something you don’t believe in, a terrible corporate gas company or something. Everyone has their own beliefs and opinions.
Your song ‘The Whole Damn Thing’ might fit well in a (Quentin) Tarantino movie.
I’d love for that to be in a Tarantino movie! It’s a true thing that’s happened to me. It’s stupid, whatever, but I wasn’t planning to ever play that song for anyone, and then (bassist) Kelley (Darlin) heard it through a friend of mine. I wrote it after New Year’s 2005. It was about getting wasted after being at my mother’s house. She’s a vegetarian, so there’s never meat there.
Then you went home…
…And there was an entire rotisserie chicken in the refrigerator. I was trashed and devoured it. Apparently, it’d been there for two weeks. It was old and gross, but I didn’t know. (The next morning), I was just hung over, didn’t get sick. People like that song. People like stupid and silly.
Covering the A.P. Carter songs (‘Who’s That Knockin’ On My Window,’ ‘Cannonball Blues’) on the new album is serious business, though.
When we started playing together - before we were a band - we pretty much just covered Carter Family songs, the three of us playing acoustic. We’d do two-hour sets of tons of Carter songs, so those songs really mean a lot to us. We formed over our love of them. Those two on the album are our favorites, and we want to represent that.
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SXSW preview: Harper Simon
Harper Simon spins yarns with equal parts dare (“Shooting Star”) and desire (“Berkeley Girl”). The 37-year-old songwriter, whose self-titled solo debut follows tenure in the London-based indie outfit Menlo Park, returns to SXSW for the second time.
“I played once many, many years ago with Joan Wasser from Joan as Policewoman,” Simon says, “but I imagine the festival is very different now.” The Los Angeles resident showcases at 9 p.m. Friday at live.create.lounge, 503 Neches St.
American-Statesman: Who are you planning to check out this week?
I see that I have a lot of friends who are playing. I’m going to see my friend (Sonic Youth’s) Thurston Moore, my friend Adam Green, Broken Bells and the Chapin Sisters, who are going to sing with me. I have a stripped-down band with my bass player and a character named Farmer Dave (Scher), who will play lap steel and organ.
Steel works especially well on ‘Tennessee.’ Where did you write that song?
I wrote that down in Nashville. It was such a straight-ahead country track that it was hard to know how to approach the song from a lyrical point of view. It turned into one that I wrote with my dad (songwriter Paul Simon), and I think he enjoyed it. We wrote the lyrics from a sort of ironic Randy Newmanesque point of view.
Your love of country music is unmistakable throughout the new album.
Country music is a great American art form, no doubt about it, but I really don’t know why it has always appealed to me so much. My mother is a southerner from Tennessee, so I have a little bit in my DNA, but it’s not like I grew up with her playing a lot of country music. My dad was never that drawn to it. I’ve just always particularly loved country music from the ’50s and ’60s.
Which songwriters?
Oh, you know, the classic songwriters: Hank Williams, Willie (Nelson), Merle Haggard, George Jones. I love bluegrass and anything that’s honky-tonk, too.
What did (steel guitarist) Lloyd Green bring to the album’s dynamic?
Well, he brought a hell of a lot. He’s such an extraordinary player. I had a lot of great players on the record, but Lloyd Green! I like every single thing he played, every single note he chooses. He’s an astonishingly economic and tasteful player.
He’s everywhere.
I think he takes four solos! I don’t know how many other people in rock and roll are having that many pedal steel solos on their record, but that’s just how this one turned out.
Why did you self-release the album?
My label put it out, but we had a distribution deal with Universal. I made the album myself outside of any studio system, and there were some possibilities with merging with other labels, but it was just taking too long. Starting a label was something I wanted to do anyway. I think a lot of people are finding that these days.
The do-it-yourself approach certainly has been gaining momentum.
Well, there are so many things that I could not do myself. People need marketing money and tour support and to be developed as artists. That’s something that a major label should provide. Unfortunately, because the record business is in such bad shape, I think a lot of projects that have artistic merit but not a lot of commercial potential are neglected by the system. That’s maybe just a reality of the market place today.
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SXSW scene report: Ray Benson’s birthday bash
As the SXSW music festival inexorably expands to inhale an entire week of festivities, a new benchmark for local music fans has emerged as the kickoff to the festival at large — Ray Benson’s annual birthday celebration. Held for the past few years at La Zona Rosa, the event also serves as a fundraiser for the Health Alliance for Austin Musicians (Benson is on the HAAM board).
Tuesday’s event, like its predecessors, was a conspicuously local gathering of friends and fans and, as in the past Benson and Asleep At the Wheel served as the de facto house band for an array of musicians and singer-songwriters. This year’s crop included the reunited Texas Tornados (whose new album is being released under Benson’s Bismeaux Records marque), Raul Malo, J.D. Souther, Kat Edmonson, Tim Curry (from the cast of the play “Ride With Bob”), Gary Nicholson, Carolyn Wonderland and Shelly King, Dale Watson, Band of Heathens and Radney Foster.
After a short opening set by the Wheel, the Tornados twisted through a hit-laden mini-set that stitched together “Is Anybody Goin’ To San Antone,” “Hey Baby, Que Paso” and “She’s About A Mover,” among others.
J.D. Souther, the songwriter at the hub of the Eagles/Linda Rondstadt L.A. country-rock axis dueted with Kat Edmonson on the Eagles’ hit “Heartache Tonight” and with Benson on the Everly Brothers’ hit, “Dreams.” Raul Malo used up most of the oxygen in the room with a yearning cover of “I Fall To Pieces” and a ferociously rocking “All You Ever Do Is Bring Me Down.”
Nashville songwriter Gary Nicholson managed to silence the crowd with his version of “Fallin’ and Flyin’,” a song from the “Crazy Heart” soundtrack and the last song, he said, he wrote with the late Stephen Bruton.
Band of Heathens turned more than one head with their Band-esque version of “No More Cane,” and the evening romped toward a rocking conclusion with Carolyn Wonderland and Shelly King dueting on “Honky Tonk Heroes,” Dale Watson’s tender cover of Merle Haggard’s “That’s the Way Love Goes” and an improbable blow-out of Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition,” featuring the Wheel, Tim Curry and a full-tilt horn section. Go figure — a Western Swing band complete with fiddle and steel guitars blowing the doors off with a Motown classic. Only in Austin, right?
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SXSW preview: New Orleans bounce with DJ Jubilee and Katey Red
I first stumbled across New Orleans bounce music back in the late ’90s when DJ Jubilee’s track ‘Get It Ready, Ready’ became a slow-burn urban club hit locally. Clocking in at nearly eight minutes, the song strung together a series of chants, snatches of song and shouted refrains over an irresistibly catchy 808 groove. It sounded like a full-force block party captured on tape and it instantly set a club off something fierce. I had never heard anything like it.
‘Bounce was in its full swing at that time,’ DJ Jubilee recalls. ‘We did (that track) in a studio (with) maybe 50-75 people. We brought a big old crowd. It was the first time in our neighborhood that somebody was doing something like that and they were so excited.’
Characterized by the repetitive drum machine grooves and a call-and-response song structure, bounce music sprang from the inner city streets and the projects in New Orleans. It has myriad sub-genres spanning everything from reggae to gansta rap. ‘We just incorporated every different kind of music in New Orleans and put it behind bounce music and it worked,’ Jubilee says. ‘We put Mardi Gras music behind it, a second line band behind it. We put every New Orleans flavor behind it and that’s what made Bounce more widespread.’
Dance was DJ Jubilee’s twist. His music drew on local dance crazes, calling out names of moves, cajoling the crowd to participate. While Jubilee never had a major break that put him on MTV or BET, his music traveled through the U.S. South on the collegiate circuit, and he has toured extensively through Texas and Louisiana. Signed to New Orleans-based Take Fo records, at the height of his popularity he was moving thousands of units through mom-and-pop shops and larger music stores.
Now with 18 years of experience in the music business, Jubilee spends his days as a special education teacher and recreation leader at a New Orleans public high school. The New Orleans crew heading to SXSW used an account on kickstarter.com, a fundraising Web site, to help finance their trip. Jubilee attributes the decline in bounce music’s profitability to changes in technology and the music industry in general as much as anything else. In the age of the Internet it’s hard for anyone to sell records. Nonetheless with a new album in the works he says he believes 2010 will be a special year. ‘The Saints won the 44th Super Bowl, Barack Obama’s the 44th president and I’m 44 years old,’ he explains, noting that his appearance in Austin will be his 793rd live performance. And the audience, he warns, will ‘need to be energetic and ready to dance.’
‘It’s gonna be a party,’ he declares. And his characteristic NOLA drawl has an implicit knowing wink.
‘Sissy’ rappers
New Orleans is a mighty unique place, and in 2000 as the bounce scene was booming, DJ Jubilee did something that would be considered unthinkable in much of the notoriously homophobic national hip-hop community — he persuaded his label to sign an openly gay rapper. Katey Red, the original ‘sissy’ rapper, is a 6-foot-2 transsexual. When Jubilee DJ’ed block parties in the projects, she used to show up with her posse to dance. ‘I didn’t know she was getting into the music business until one day I heard a street tape,’ says Jubilee. ‘I liked it because it was something different. It was going to add on to something to New Orleans. I knew it was gonna be a big hit.’ When he brought the tape to Take Fo the label execs were reluctant to take a chance on it, worried about how a rap outfit that signed a drag queen would be perceived. But Jubilee was persistent. ‘I kept saying man this is something new, something different. Watch, Katey Red she gonna set a new trend and everybody who call themselves a sissy would want to be a rapper. And that’s what happened. She set the whole tone, the whole movement of what’s going on.’
Incongruously, Sissy rappers rapidly became some of the most popular figures in the heterosexual bounce scene. ‘It’s just that the Sissies that are doing the bounce the people in New Orleans like,’ Katey Red explains. ‘Because the Sissies really know how to make you shake. They make the (women) shake like a dog, get on their knees and shake their (derriere) everywhere.’ Katey Red, who performs in full drag, is clear about the impact of her presence on the rap scene.
‘The message that I’m sending out is be yourself no matter who you are, no matter what you are, be yourself and be the best at it,’ she says. ‘I think if the bounce music gets around like it supposed to, like it should, you’ll see a lot more openly gay people (in rap).’
‘This is why bounce is still moving,’ Jubilee says. ‘Because bounce music is so intertwined with so much different flavor.’ — D.S.S.
1 a.m. Saturday at Submerged, 333 E. Second St.
If you like ‘Bounce,’ check out:
1. Bun B
2. Chalie Boy
3. Paul Wall and Chamillionaire
4. Killer Mike
5. League of extraordinary gz
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Live video: Roger Greenawalt plays Beatles tunes with his Ukulele
Ukulele changed Roger Greenawalt’s life. And it might change yours Wednesday and Thursday when he and a passel of friends perform the entire Beatles catalog on uke during the South by Southwest Music Festival. Click here to read more.
We’ll be live-streaming a portion of Greenawalt’s performance outside Jaime’s starting Wednesday, March 17 at noon.
Live streaming video by Ustream
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Bob Schneider and Sarah Jarosz score big at the Austin Music Awards
Hometown hero and local icon Bob Schneider scored big the in Austin Music Awards, announced in today’s Austin Chronicle and available online here. Schneider won Austin musician of the year, male vocals, songwriter, band of the year (with Lonelyland), album of the year (for “Lovely Creatures”) and song of the year (for “40 Dogs (Like Romeo and Juliet)”).
That’s a clean sweep that demonstrates ample evidence — as if anyone needed it — that even after all these years, Austin continues to love Bob Schneider. Also scoring an armful of awards was Grammy-nominated sensation Sarah Jarosz, who won country/bluegrass, folk and female vocals.
Other notable winners include Speak for best new Austin band, Los Lonely Boys for best rock band, the Bright Light Social Hour for best indie band, Antone’s for best live music venue and the Ghost Room for new live music venue. Inductees to the Austin Music Hall of Fame this year include David Garza, Ponty Bone, Bruce Robison, Sarah Brown, Brannen Temple and Denny Freeman.
The Austin Music Awards show, traditionally kicking off SXSW on opening night, will instead take place on the last night this year, taking over the Austin Music Hall on Saturday. Performances include a tribute to Stephen Bruton, the Explosives, Sarah Jarosz and best blues band winners Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears.
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Time changes for Friday’s gospel showcase
A couple acts have been added, so the Jones Family Singers have been pushed back an hour to 10 p.m. for Friday’s SXSW gospel show at the Carver Museum’s Boyd Vance Theater. The show is free and open to all.
New times:
Toni Ringgold - 6:30 p.m. - 6:50 p.m.
Sir Smith - 7:00 p.m. - 7:20 p.m.
Josh Caldwell - 7:30 p.m. - 7:50 p.m.
Mwangaza Childrens Choir - 8 p.m. - 8:40 p.m.
Double Portion - 9 p.m. - 9:40 p.m.
Jones Family Singers - 10:00 - 10:40 p.m.
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SXSW Scene Report: Datapop 3.0 at the Highball
Houston’s Sievert performs as part of Datapop 3.0 at the Highball Tuesday night.
Ary Warnaar, guitarist for the New York chiptunes band Anamanaguchi, famously described 8-bit music as “the punk of electronic music.”
It was hard to dispute that claim as Datapop 3.0 kicked off the first of its two nights Tuesday at the Highball. The third annual event celebrates 8-bit music — a distinct brand of electronic music that’s composed and performed through the use of old computer consoles from the 8-bit era of video games. Imagine techno performed entirely through samples culled from your dusty, trusty old Nintendo Entertainment System and you’ll be in the right ballpark.
8-bit music may not have the rage — or even the lyrics — of punk music, but it does share the same sense of youthful innovation and wild, giddy abandon. Also like punk, it’s the sort of thing that’s likely to be appreciated only by those of or below a certain age — if you’re not young enough to recall just how fiendishly addictive the melodies in, say, “Mega Man 2” were, there’s a solid chance 8-bit music might just sound like so many computerized bleeps and bloops to you.
But the crowd at the Highball clearly appreciated the music as Austin’s the Mysterious H kicked off the event at 8 p.m. with a high-energy set. Houston’s Sievert followed, pumping out jams on a series of heavily sliced and diced Game Boys, taking chugs of Pabst Blue Ribbon — seemingly the beer of choice for Datapop artists — between queuing up samples. The impressive laser light show and video projections added a needed dose of visual energy — without some multimedia accompaniment, the sight of even the most energetic 8-bit performers can grow a bit dull — particularly during the performance of Sweden’s Random, who apologized for his garbled English to a sweaty, constantly animated crowd who likely couldn’t have cared less. Crowd-surfing abounded.
This year represents a breakthrough for Datapop, a with a lineup featuring renowned 8-bit musicians drawn from all over the world, thanks to money raised through crowd-funding platform Kickstarter. Night two goes down Wednesday night and is free and open to the public — if the large-but-manageable crowd Tuesday is any indication, it might be one of SXSW’s easier-to-get-into free nighttime events. If you’ve ever found yourself absentmindedly humming the theme to “Super Mario Bros.,” you’d probably find it worth your time.
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