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Artist Mention
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New York Times, Artist Mention >>
Amid the SXSW Avalanche, a Chance to Discover
Everybody wants in on South By Southwest Music, the annual convention and showcase that runs through Sunday in Austin. The vast majority of the more than 1,200 acts performing on, it seems, every level surface in Austin — clubs, outdoor stages, warehouses, ballrooms, garages, backyards, a bridge — are still hopefuls, trying to reach beyond a local following or a do-it-yourself Web presence. Official SXSW showcases are surrounded by unofficial ones with yet more performers. (Hail The Austin Chronicle and sched.org, which have — bless them — collated both official and peripheral events. ) Amid this avalanche of music, there’s still some chance to get discovered or discover something by serendipity.
But at the 21st-century SXSW, the new contends with the established. At a time when musicians are learning to consider themselves not only as artists but as brands, SXSW has become the place to renew, relaunch or reconfigure those brands. That’s because, in a way, you don’t have to be here (for anything but the food). Nearly every event that matters to anyone is recorded and webcast, from YouTube to NPR. And all that media attention — mea culpa — makes SXSW a good place to promote a comeback, a new album, a reunion, a remember-me moment.
So this year there are million-sellers alongside the zero-sellers. Bruce Springsteen is giving a keynote speech on Thursday — which is being webcast and broadcast on many public radio stations — and it’s likely he’ll play an unannounced gig somewhere to follow. Norah Jones is showing up with two bands: the Little Willies, her country-music covers band, as well as her own band, to play songs from her album due in May. 50 Cent has decided to join the repertory-album movement; tomorrow he’s performing his entire 2003 album “Get Rich or Die Tryin’,” recorded 10 years ago; it will be broadcast live on the Fuse cable channel. A band that was a local legend in Austin in the 1990’s, Cotton Mather, is reuniting.
And Fiona Apple, who hasn’t released an album since 2005 and has one due in late June, is re-emerging on Wednesday at SXSW with material from an album due in June. She’s keeping it local, though, appearing at an NPR event but not allowing it to be broadcast. I’ll be there.
My own SXSW schedule is a long and impossible wishlist; I’m concentrating on bands new to me while trying to balance them with big newsworthy events. I’m mixing new and known today, heading for Santigold, Ms. Apple, a Kenyan band named Sauti Sol, the songwriters Foy Vance, Mirel Wagner and Bahamas, the rapper 2 Chainz, perhaps Cotton Mather and a dozen more possibilities. But we’ll see what happens in the fray. Naturally, I might miss a few bands. You’re invited to fill in the record on Twitter, with the hashtag #mysxswreview. 03/14/12 >> go there
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