SXSW

SXSW Day 1: Quick Recap

Posted on by Kristen

Day 1 at SXSW was a rousing success! Don’t have time to write an entire post (as we’re about to start day 2), but here are some of the highligts

* following suggestion of fellow band passenger to go see The Head and The Heart (from Seattle)…they were fantastic! (very Mumford and Sons)

* seeing The Kin (TWICE). They have all new songs that are fantastic. Isaac also used a random pole for a substitute didgeridoo

* discovering the lineup at Lipstick 24 (The Stone Foxes, Empires, Saint Motel, Dead Sara, etc…)

* The Silent Comedy tearing it up at The San Diego Hoe Down

* the massive dance party we created at The Silent Comedy show at The Austin Rox Showcase

* finally seeing AWOLNATION (and living through the riot they nearly brought to Rusty Spurs)

* meeting new people who suggested new bands to check out

* being interviewed by All Together Now Showcase about this website

* ending the evening in a Dead Sara mosh

 

Today is Saint Patrick’s Day so I’m guessing today will be particularly insane. Who am I most looking forward to? SOOOO Many, but let’s go with Mother Mother who play at Lipstick 24 at 2:30 for the All Rights Reserved Showcase.

 

 

~ Kristen

SXSW Day 0: A Story

Posted on by Kristen

If you don’t know anything about SXSW, you might, at first glance think that it is all about the music. But you’d be wrong. SXSW is really all about networking. You might think that someone only peripherally involved in the music industry (AKA The Scientist who moonlights as a music enthusiast) would not benefit as much from this aspect of the conference, but you’d be wrong.

Also, the idea that the bar is the best place to mix and mingle (a concept I’ve never really warmed up to) might not be entirely correct.  I feel like the van rides back and forth from the hotel to the conference center downtown might be the new “bar”. Last night’s transport back, lead us into conversation with a professional “foodie” (from the food network) and someone who works at Bryn Mawr College of all places (my alma mater). So I may not have been able to whisper the names of my favorite bands into some big executive’s ear over a couple of whiskey sours, but I know the best place to go eat in downtown Austin AND I got some top secret intel regarding my 5 year college reunion coming up in May.

Such random encounters really gets me excited about the unknown and unexpected possibilities for the rest of the week!

 

But back to the music, TONS to look forward to today! The Kin, The Silent Comedy, Twin Atlantic, Oh Land, AWOLNATION, The Blue Pages…all on my list for today.

 

AWOLNATION plays 10pm at Rusty Spurs for the AustinROX showase…

 

~ Kristen

(Unofficially) Day 1: SXSW Part Two

Posted on by Amanda

My oh my what a day it’s been! As you can tell I’m writing this post at 2:46 a.m. (central time) and I’m not even in bed yet. Although, I do have my pjs on.

Needless to say, it has been one crazy day full of line waiting, wristband/badge picking up, music, and food. We actually retired to the hotel around 11 to get rested, charged and ready for tomorrow. We just spent the last few hours going over our schedules for tomorrow and who wants to see what and where.

I really should be in bed right now but I just wanted to check in a share a few photos from today…

 

This was how the line looked after we spent 2 hours in line for our wristbands. I’m super glad we got there at 12 instead of any later.

 

Fader Fort Line- After our pickup

 

This is one of the four members of Viva City. Chelsea and Trina boasted about them so we decided to go see what the fuss was about after we picked up our Purevolume badges. I’m super glad we got to see them. They remind me of a hybrid of Parade of Lights and Kill Hannah but with a harder edge. I dig.

 

Viva City

Until next time.

~Amanda

p.s. Follow us on Twitter @_localmusicnat if you don’t already! We will be updating throughout the day as much as we can 🙂

On the Road…. SXSW: Part One

Posted on by Amanda

This has got to be one of the most unique and important posts I’ve ever done so far.

In case you haven’t heard, LMN is heading to SXSW (aka: South by Southwest), which is a huge music/film festival in Austin, Texas. I’m not talking about Coachella or Bonaroo size. Think bigger. Bands come from all over the world to play as many showcases as possible in the hopes of breaking out and making it big. Anyone who is anyone has been through and come out of SXSW. According to the SXSW website….

“The SXSW® Music and Media Conference celebrates its 25th Anniversary in 2011. Reaching a quarter of a century of being the biggest and most anticipated convergence of all things music, SXSW is ready to keep the reputation alive by programming the best event yet.

By day, thousands of conference registrants network in the halls of the Austin Convention Center on their way to do business in the SXSW® Trade Show, sit in on informative panel discussions featuring some of the industry’s key players, gain insight from legendary keynote speakers or plan out their abundant party schedules. At night, SXSW showcases hundreds upon hundreds of musical acts from around the globe on over eighty stages in downtown Austin. All this and so much more, combine to make SXSW one of the most revered music events, year after year.”

AND

“With numerous avenues for exposure to over 36,000 key industry representatives, SXSW® 2011 is the most valuable addition to any marketing plan.”

So there you have it. And we are on our way there as I type this. It’s been interesting so far as I only just met up with my cohorts last night. I drove out of San Diego yesterday with local photographer geniuses Kevin and Rebecca Joelson who are riding to SXSW with The Silent Comedy. We met up with them in Tempe and had quite a few adventures along the way including an impromptu photo shoot at an empty car wash and a stop at a Waffle House. Other than that, it’s been a whole lotta desert and some cool looking trees (even one with Christmas decorations!).

Kristen and Brooke drove out of LA and met up with me at the Marquee Theater last night and we’ve been together since. We got some rest at a Comfort Suites last night so we would be fresh for our 12 hour drive today. We are currently in New Mexico and are Austin bound. I’m hearing we will be in Texas rather soon!

In the meantime, I’m going to leave you with Hugo’s 99 Problems video. And you can check him out at The Force’s Texas Tornado Showcase at Red Eye Fly @ 3:30

[youtube LloIp0HMJjc]

<3 Amanda

p.s. Be sure to follow our Twitter feed. We will bring you pics and updates along the way as often as we can!

SXSW ’13- Day 3

Posted on by Amanda

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

Posted on by Amanda

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!

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

Posted on by Kristen

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