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SXSW 32: Official Austin Music Showcase at Ghost Room

By Michael Barnes | Friday, March 19, 2010, 01:12 PM

One can become so jaded in Austin. Live music? Scores of options every night. Why bother? The acts come and go. Who could keep up with all of it?

Even the experts can’t keep track. People think Rose Reyes, who oversees the music biz at the Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau, possesses an encyclopedic knowledge of local acts. She told me at the Official SXSW Austin Music Showcase, however, that when she asks folks their favorite band, she often hasn’t heard of them. There are that many worthy acts.

Well I was introduced to two that took my reason away at the Ghost Room, an astonishingly sensitive room for various genres of thickly layered music. First was Monarchs, a band Austin shares with Birmingham, Ala. The players run the gamut from rootsy to indie, but it’s frontwoman Celeste’s supple voice that elicits the most awe from an appreciative throng.

I thought, OK, so far three good acts my first night of SXSW (see House of Song Showcase post). How long will my luck hold out? That’s when Charanga Cakewalk squeezed all their instruments onto the small corner stage. Lordy. All manner of Latin dance music ensued.

I danced with friends. I danced with strangers. I danced until the Cakewalk ended their too-short showcase set.

Well, I wanted to end the night on a high point, so I started to leave, then Reyes told me about the other celebrated local talent that night — Zeale, Danny Malone, the Black, Carrie Rodriguez — and I mentally noted their names. If they are anywhere as accomplished as Monarchs and Charanga Cakewalk, then I will ferret out their club dates.

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