SXSW ’13- Day 3

I guess today was my day of running all over downtown Austin. Even with starting the festivities at noon at CTC Garden for the Butch Walker documentary screening of Out of Focus, it’s been a long day. Kristen is still out and about. I’m not sure how she does it but after 8.99 miles, this lady is done.
Today turned out to be more of a sampling day which I guess is why I wandered from CTC Garden at 1102 East Cesar Chavez all the way to Waterloo at 600 North Lamar and back again. Well, it didn’t happen in that exact order. The first musical act I caught was Wild Feathers at Lusture Pearl but I didn’t manage to stay too long. From there, I wandered about with Kristen until we got over to Rusty’s for the Swinghouse event. I caught some of A Silent Film and hung out for a bit. After that, I caught some of Ambassadors at Brew Exchange on my way to catch a second round of Twenty One Pilots at Waterloo Records. It was only after watching Andy Clockwise and The Chevin play that I caught some Butch Walker at the Rachel Ray Feedback House. That place was one of the highlights of my night. Nice space, good food, and great music. My night ended with a few songs of Atlas Genius at a horrible and late venue and Civil Twilight at the lovely Hanger venue.

The thing I came back with today was how much I really enjoy acts that seem to bleed music. They eat, sleep, pray, live, breathe, and bleed music. Those are the artists that I truly enjoy and I’m realizing that with the more shows I see. Call me a cynic but I want to see how passionate you are about what you do. Otherwise, why do it?

Here are some random photos from my day. Enjoy!

SXSW ’13- Day 1

Today marks the unofficial beginning of the SXSW music madness. It was just a mere taster and sampling of the craziness that is to come. We arrived at 6:30pm in Austin, Texas after leaving San Diego at 10:15 this morning. The screaming child on the first flight notwithstanding, they were uneventful. We started the night at Burbon Girl to catch a band and after realizing they weren’t going on anytime soon, we bailed and headed to the Paste + Sennheiser Party. After a decent walk (I’ve done 11,113 steps today!), we arrived at an unassuming looking house to catch Moon Taxi and Free Energy. Both bands were high energy and fun. While I’ve never seen Moon Taxi before, I am definitely a fan of these Nashville natives!
Moon Taxi

 

After that awesome dance party was another dance party with Free Energy! What a way to kick off SXSW!

P1400471

 

Check out more photos from tonight in our gallery!

Pepper’s Ghost Countdown: 3 Weeks!

Happy New Years!! We are now only three weeks away from what will surely be one of the highlights of my 2011, the reunion show for my favorite local Philly band, Pepper’s Ghost. The show takes place January 22nd at The Grape Room in Manayunk. I hope to see you all there! It’s a bit sad really having what could very well be one of the best days of my year so early on. Really, it could all be a let down from here.
Or maybe this event is just indicative of what kind of year this will be. I think I’ll look at it that way!

So let’s really start this year off right…with some Pepper’s Ghost tunes! Enjoy!

~ Kristen

A Nico Vega Halloween!

What are your plans for the holiday? Might I suggest:

Can you imagine a better line-up? Nico Vega, Saint Motel, Imagine Dragons, and Queen Caveat!! October 29th at The Roxy…I’ll see you there!

To put you in the mood, Nico Vega recently released a video for one of my favorite songs, Million Years.

For the rest of Nico Vega’s headlining fall tour, go here.

~ Kristen

Hanson’s 12 hour SXSW4Japan Benefit: Album now Available!

So many things were going on in Austin the week of SXSW that it’s impossible to do/see/even know about it all. One thing I was tangentially aware of was Hanson’s efforts to raise money for those in Japan suffering from the tsunami fallout. Apparently the brothers put together a fundraiser in less than 24 hours that brought in over $100,000 worth of donations for the Red Cross.  The fundraiser was in the form of a telethon that took place on the last Saturday of SXSW and featured so many wonderful artists coming in and giving exclusive performances that were then streamed live.
Sxsw4japan.org is re-streaming the performances RIGHT NOW!: http://sxsw4japan.org/

Even more exciting, ITunes and Amazon.com are now selling a digital album called SXSW4Japan featuring nearly 50 tracks from the artists that participated. All proceeds are going to the Red Cross.

So, what are you waiting for? GO and get it!

http://www.amazon.com/Sxsw4japan/dp/B004UY1TSY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1302031272&sr=8-1

Some of my favorite artists featured include: Hanson, The Lonely Forest, Cary Brothers, The Boxer Rebellion, Laura Jansen, Alpha Rev, Jenny O, Keaton Simons, Anna Nalick, The Parlotones, Kina Grannis, Michelle Branch, and Rooney…but there are SOOOOOO many more!

Charlie Mars at the SXSW4Japan benefit:

Hanson covers “Lean on Me”

~ Kristen

Watch live streaming video from sxsw4japan at livestream.com

Pepper’s Ghost Countdown: 5 Weeks!

Every year, Pepper’s Ghost wouldput on a Halloween show. These were some of the best, most memorable shows. They even performed a Halloween song entitled “I Am A Ghost”.
Here’s a video from the Halloween show they did at Milkboy Coffee. Let’s relive this memory and prepare ourselves for some new Pepper’s Ghost memories created January 22nd in Philadelphia at The Grape Room…!!

SO EXCITED!!

~ Kristen