SXSW 2008

Spoon scoops up seven awards

At SXSW, the music - and the party - start earlier every year

By Michael Corcoran
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Thursday, March 13, 2008

The omnipresent sounds of drums, bass and guitar pounded and screeched out of clubs on Sixth Street, and lines stretched outside Red River Street clubs such as Emo's and Red Eyed Fly. Black skinny pants outnumbered khakis 10-to-1 on downtown streets, signaling that the South by Southwest Music Conference and Festival had kicked off in stride. It was 2 p.m. on Wednesday.

It wasn't too many years ago that the mid-March madness commenced with the Austin Music Awards on Wednesday night.

But with more than 1,700 acts in town — 500 from other countries — trying to get noticed by the 12,000-plus registrants, the action starts earlier every year. Tuesday is what Wednesday used to be, and Wednesday is like Thursday.

Bands in town for the exposure play as many sets as time — and stamina — will allow. "We said yes to everyone who asked us" to play their party, said Hardy Morris, singer-guitarist of Dead Confederate. The Georgia rock band is playing 10 times in the four days of SXSW, ranging from day parties such as Wednesday's "Athens In Austin" at Bourbon Rocks on Sixth Street to the slot right before R.E.M. at Stubb's later in the night. "We've come all this way; we might as well play," Morris said.

The Canadian Blast party, featuring six bands from the Great White North, was in full swing Wednesday afternoon, with one table of Canadians taking their shirts off and facing the sky in sun-worshipping poses. The sunny weather received more positive buzz Wednesday than any band.

"South by Southwest is a key to promoting Canadian music to the world," said Jerry Leibowitz, who manages Toronto's Radio Starmaker Fund, which promotes emerging talent from Canada. Leibowitz, who's been coming to SXSW since it was considered a regional festival, marveled at how it's grown in worldwide significance.

"It's an amazing opportunity to be seen by people in the industry from all over the world," he said.

Though it's no longer the opening night focus, the Austin Music Awards are still significant to the local music community, which dresses up for the event like it's the scenester prom/high school reunion. To many, it's a last breath before diving into the craziness of SXSW, when Austin becomes an overblown hipster paradise.

Spoon scooped up the most awards. Their song of the year was called "The Underdog," but they were clearly heavy favorites at the rebuilt Austin Music Hall, winning top honors in seven categories, including band and album of the year.

The once mentally troubled Roky Erickson, in the midst of one of the most improbable comebacks in music history, was named musician of the year by readers of the Austin Chronicle, which sponsors the awards. Erickson performed at the awards show with best indie band winner Okkervil River.

The show this year was heavy on sentiment. Uncle John Turner and Gary Primich, who both died in the past year, were inducted into the Austin Music Hall of Fame as was Pinetop Perkins, the 94-year-old former Muddy Waters keyboardist who still keeps a busy schedule and won a Grammy Award last month.

Outlaw country holdover Rusty Weir, who's battling cancer, was named best country act.

Other than the Spoon sweep, the awards were spread around, with only Gary Clark Jr. (best electric guitarist, best blues act) and KISS-FM morning host Bobby Bones (best radio personality, best radio program) winning more than once.

But Wednesday was not without its first-day jitters. The registration system crashed around 6 p.m. and was down for two hours.

"We had already gotten through most of the line, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been, " said Nick Barbaro, co-founder of SXSW. "It's working now."

The award show lost much of its drama when the Austin Chronicle, with a list of the winners, was delivered early in the show. The alternative weekly newspaper usually waits until the end of the show to deliver them.

mcorcoran@statesman.com; 445-3652