Roll Credits

Before I say, "thank you," here are a few highlights from my Saturday:

Sarah Jarosz – in the parking lot of Waterloo on the coldest day of the festival. She performed most of the songs from her album, Song Up in Her Head, and covered Patty Griffin’s Long Ride Home as well as her new song Coming Up. She also found out that day that she was awarded Best Female Vocalist, Best Country/Bluegrass Artist, and Best Folk Act by the Austin Music Awards.
 

I also caught Le Loup, a DC band that sounds a bit like vampire weekend, Dengue Fever (pictured) a psychedelic rock bank with a Cambodian singer, and Austin natives Grupo Fantasma, a Latin rock orchestra.

Credits, Thanks, Etceteras...
(in random order)




Jason Wehling - The last time I had that much bacon in one breakfast was 1997 with my relatives in Tyler, Texas.

Dana Lynn McGrath  - Thanks for braving the Tex-Mex at Pavlo's with baby on the way.

David J Williams - If we had gotten into Austin City Limits and hadn't rambled around the city, would we have seen how bad ass the staff at Magnolia are for kicking out someone who says "faggot"?

Rose Vincelli - I wouldn't have gone to the film fest without you. Thanks for the Bloody Mary and all the love you always give.
 

Amanda Mortl - SXSW 2010 BEST POULTRY

Joe Malony, Layla Fry, & Gustavo - SXSW 2010 CUTEST BABY Can't wait for the next time I get to see you guys and get my knuckles gnawed on.

Elise Foster - I will forever thank you for Yes Giantess (and for bringing the UU party).


Deva George - SXSW 2010 BEST TEXTS: on hipsters "the skinny jeans prevent their nuts from vibrating from the reverb"


Elizabeth Oehler - SXSW 2010 BEST CHANCE MEETING


PJ Oehler - Can I move to Austin just for your massages?

Leigh Ann - Thanks for the uke playing, randomly handing me beers throughout the night, and looking so hot in that hat.

D-Mo - Woke up this morning with your new song in my head, over and over again, uh-huh. Thanks for saying you'll miss me too.


Raina Rose - SXSW 2010 FOLKSTER WHO MADE ME CRY FIRST

Rebecca Loebe - SXSW 2010 BEST COVER for Kayne's Stronger. Thanks for taking me to Grace Potter, I needed that. And thanks for touching my red bracelet like you love me.

John McGee from the Blue Hit - Nice jam on Saturday, let's do it again please.



Matt Weston - Thanks for making me feel like it was 1996 with you and Ciro smiling back at me.

Louie Whitfield - Oh my new silly, loud friend, thanks for liking good music, and not getting grossed out when I make you try on stranger's hair accessories.


Daniel McCormick - SXSW 2010 BEST BACKUP DANCER



Leital Molad - it wouldn't be Southby without another pub-radio music critic. Thanks for the heads up on Spring Standards.

Greg Fitzpatrick - SXSW 2010 BEST LAST MINUTE MEETING


 

Adult Rock Music Meeting

Yup, it was the usual suspects of pub-radio music direction at the Adult Rock Music Meeting this year:

Bob Boilen - All Songs Considered
Rita Houston - WFUV
Jim McGuinn - The Current
Bruce Warren - WXPN
Norm Winer - WXRT
Sean Coakley - Songlines (Moderator)

The format was simple, listen to a minute of a song and evaluate it for possible airplay. The audience as well as the panel had cards 1 through 10 to give each track a score. Coakley tried to pick songs that the panel had never heard, but of course that's impossible.

Here are the artists we listened to:

1. Eli Paperboy Reed – There was the general consensus that when you revive an established sound, in this case R&B/soul, you need to be prepared to do it just as well if not better than the greats. It's a big risk and they weren't sure if Eli pulled it off. Some of the comments were that he sounded forced.


2. Jesca Hoop – "Annoying and intriguing at the same time" ~ Boilen.Warren wondered if the initial novelty of this track (Four Dreams) would grate on listeners after the 3rd listen. To my ears it was the most innovative and fresh song played at the session. Jessa blends crunchy guitars and whimsical voices quite well.


3. Chief - Again the danger of comparison, Warren warned that classic singer/songwriter records from the 70s will be compared to it. Boilen felt he needed a better sense of songwriting.

4. The Black Keys – These guys are alreadycore artist for most stations, which means that they know that their listeners will want to hear it and will enjoy it in general. We heard a cut from their yet to be released album, Brothers. "Loved the top of that song, but hated the words", Boilen. Houston found it to be an authentic, proper nod to older stuff. McGuinn felt that you can hear the fact that they spend a lot of time traveling in the van

5. Steel Train – Warren gave it a 9 if it’s Modest Mouse, 1 if it's someone else, cause they need to find their own sound. Boilen loved it. McGuinn noted that his listeners have different uses our products and overall a Modest Mouse copycat could be good for PPM ratings.

6. Hayes Carll – Houston, "That wouldn’t have gotten much time played in the office". McGuinn felt that it's echoing or quoting is good, but there's no need to slavishly recreate Highway 61. "Knowing it’s Hayes I’d give it another listen cause we did really well with him in the past, " ~ Warren. "Is he good looking?" said Houston, "Oh yeah," replied the audience.

7. Nathaniel Rateliff – Houston felt this was a "gimme more kinda song". 

8. Justin Vernon (aka Bon Iver) - The panel went absolutely crazy over this forthcoming track from the John Prine tribute album. They absolutely loved it. Warren gave it a 9. I was like, "eh".


9 . Villagers – McGuinn thought the bass sound was great. Winer liked the lyrics and the rhythms, and was impressed that it wasn't the "typical" rhyme sceme. Houston found the melody haunting.

Overall I was surprised by the lack of female artists presented. Also, I felt that there was very little straight ahead rock or innovative sounds presented, instead, a great deal of throw-back music (R&B or singer/songwriter). I called the panel the "usual suspects" because they've become the entrenched taste-makers for public radio and are defining successful music to some extent for the 30-50 somethings of the U.S. Is this a good thing? I'm not sure. Most of the people on the panel have been music directors in  some form for 20 years. Will we see a changing of the guard of Adult Rock radio anytime soon? Probably not. Will we see another format or even media rise up to take it's place? I think so.

The Fading Memory of Friday

I managed to drag myself to the very first panel of the morning, at the insultingly early hour of 11am. The easy 20 minute bike ride helped me wake up.

I'll create a separate post on the Adult Rock Music Meeting, a music evaluation session with a panel of public radio music directors. Truly the usual suspects: Bob Boilen (All Songs Considered), Rita Houston (WFUV), Jim McGuinn (The Current), Bruce Warren (WXPN), Norm Winer (WXRT).

Then Daniel and Louie joined me at Cuba Libre to hear...

Rebecca Loebe – extremely intelligent songwriting with a emphasis on love. Her clear & beautiful voice at first made it hard for me to recognize her cover of Kanye West’s Stronger - she rocked it. One of her newest, High & Lonesome, got stuck in my head the next morning, "You-u be High and I-I'll be Lonesome..."

After Rebecca, I made it over to the "family" friendly bar, The Rusty Spurs...

Grace Potter and the Nocturnals – The Nocturnals provided solid country rock, while Grace channeled Janis Joplin when she screeched and affectionately called the audience, “Motherfuckers”. One More Goodbye Kiss & Apologies were my two favorites.

I met up with Leital Molad from Studio 360 and took her suggestions for early evening bands...

Spring Standards –  Americana group with some lap steel,  a standing singing drummer & keys player, and various stringed instruments that got passed around stage. I enjoy stomping to a band who's good at that heavy downbeat.

Band of Horses – straight ahead rock band with predictably pleasing harmonies. The coolest thing was to see them play at Central Presbyterian. It's a beautiful sanctuary with acoustics that accentuated the group's signature reverb. We couldn't figure out what we had to do to get in the choir loft.


jj – Nor could Leital and I figure out all the buzz about this Swedish duo. Because, seriously girl, why were you so sad and bored for your SXSW showcase? Did performing in a church offend you? Did you have a cold? Whatever it was it made for a bad performance. Slumping over in a chair, singing karaoke style to your video tracks is not cool. And that posture made you flat. It’s strange to me that your album is on Waterloo’s weekly top 50 list.

Court Yard Hounds – 2 of the 3 Dixie Chicks (minus Natalie), nothing new, lots of gear for a simple sound. The magic is gone, sad but true.

Ciro joined me for the end of the night to behold...

Rye Rye – Baltimore rapper, she brought two matching dancers and a dj with her onstage. She managed not to sweat as much as the boys as she danced half and rapped half the show to extremely fast beats.  The audience, including myself didn’t know how to dance to it, as much as we tried to shake it, to the ground, shake it shake it, then bring it back up.

No trip to Austin feels normal without food at Magnolia. Ciro and I finished up the night by stuffing ourselves with queso, pasta, and a hearty pot pie with flaky crust and a playful hint of cinnamon.

Thursday Flew By

I started the day out with my Unitarian Universalist friends Deva and Elise at free show at Mohawk...

Bowerbirds - the subtlety of this group was unfortunately lost at the show I saw at Mohawk (too much reverb), but check out the link for mandolin, accordion, guitar and vocals. Deva was so frustrated with the sound that he left, which was a bad idea because up next was...

Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings - This R&B/Soul group is the definition of entertainment... well at least for people with ears. 2 saxes, trumpet, lead & rhythm guitar, bass, kit drummer, congo player and of course the mean, loud, vocal stylings of Sharon Jones. She grabbed a young cute boy from the audience, Justin, and sang up on him about how to get a woman.

After Mohawk, Elise and I headed to Headhunters for cheap Stoli drinks and...

Melissa McClelland - Fun Americana artist from Canada (is that an oxymoron?), Melissa has a powerful voice and fills her songs with repeated word choruses to make sure you get the point.

And I took a brief break in the middle of the day to walk around the South Austin neighborhood, Bouldin Creek. The 60 year old Green Pastures Restaurant has a restored Victorian House and a lawn filled with albino and regular peacocks!

Jim Lauderdale with special guests Patty Griffin, Buddy Miller - The Americana Music Association kicked off their showcase at Antone's with Jim Lauderdale and his fabulous pants. He played tunes from his new project with Greatful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter, Patchwork River. I was struck by the title track, particularly the bridge, it felt like it came out of left field yet fit with the song perfectly, as only Jim can do.

After Jim, I met up with Ciro for...

Nneka - a bit more mellow than I had expected, Nigerian Nneka uses her high pitched breathy voice to create percussive effects with lyrics, sometimes stretching a word out over several measures of marcato notes.

And after some street tacos, I hooked back up with the UU crew (Jay, Jessie, Louie, Daniel, Elise, and Deva) for some more fun. We caught the band Home Video, danced to some DJs, Daniel and I danced on top of a shark filled tank at QUA, and finally headed to Lamberts for...

Yes Giantess - I finally got my dance party band... in spades. These Boston guys ripped it up around 1am with funky falsetto vocals, tight drums, and fun lines on the microKorg. The crowd was hot and dancey and friendly. I will go see these guys whenever I have the chance.

And the perfect ending to the night was biking back to Ciro's in the cool air at 3am to pass out on his wonderfully comfy guest bed.

Austin is a great town.

Wednesday

The mayhem of SXSW Music Festival officially began on Wednesday and the easiest way to tell is the mob of men with shoulder length greasy hair in skinny jeans, v-neck t-shirts,  and neon sunglasses. My favorite "ensemble" so far has been a red haired guy in a sleeveless tunic style kids nightgown over his skinny jeans. I am not kidding, it was a neon orange nightgown, scooped at the bottom with a picture of a kitten on it. I know that rock and roll is all about "rebellion", but he just looked silly. And I'm sure his lil' sister is tired of him raiding her wardrobe.

OK, back to the Music...


The Trishas - 5 women & 1 man, fiddle, guitar, mandolin, drums, lots of auxiliary percussion. But the real story here is the beautifully blended powerful vocals. They don't have an album out yet, but Jamie promised to send it to me as soon as they did.

Trespassers William - Shoe-gazer duo from Seattle, their music isn't necessarily something you have to see live as much as something you'd hear playing in the background on Grey's Anatomy when someone dies. That's not supposed to be an insult, just a fact. The mellow and haunting vocals and guitar lines would also be perfect for your meditation at the beginning of yoga class.

Benjamin Rose Band - From Cologne, Germany this up-front rock band isn't doing anything new, but they are doing it well. The front man has an amazing voice. The keyboard player is a bucket of energy and even wandered around the audience playing the accordion on one song, which was entertaining. Their cover of Radiohead's High and Dry was way too literal and strangely misplaced for a SXSW showcase, unless, of course, they're trying to get gigs at weddings.

Jenny Owen Youngs (pictured) - My friends know I'm a huge fan of this woman and it was great to hear some new songs from her. Jenny's lyrics are filled with self-deprecating realism and humor, her guitar work stays on the beat while her vocal lines push and pull in front and behind it. And of course, her stage banter is entertaining, "how's everybody doing?" *audience cheers* "yeah, I find most shows everyone's doing really woooo". The only sad thing was that she didn't do her cover of Nelly's Hot in Here.

Nneka - Afro-beat and soul from Nigeria, I caught a few songs from this group at the day stage inside the convention center. I hope that I can go to one of their club shows later, because my assumption is that there will be a crazy dance party. 

Minor Mishap Marching Band - I closed out the night on East 7th St. and caught the beautifully dressed in black and gold community marching band at the East Side Show Room... a fun bar and a fun band.

Thursday I'm looking forward to the Americana Music Association showcase which starts out with Jim Lauderdale and ends with Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. Should be a blast.

Oh and here's some chickens for Echo, she wanted a photo of a feather. The ladies belong to my dear friend from Rice, Amanda Mortl.

Morsels of My Tuesday

Music

I caught an amazing acoustic show at Trophy's Bar & Grill on Tuesday night, here are some of my favorites...

The Blue Hit - Cello, acoustic guitar and vocals, they sound surprising full for a trio. The singer, Grace, has an even and haunting voice with immpecible precision and use of range. Her voice leapt around and swelled with the bowed cello lines. Her and cello player, D-Mo, also wore bitchin' hats.

John Elliott - quirky writing and detailed finger-picking. It sounded to me like making fun of himself and life in his songs was the way to deal with its depressing reality. Everyone would yell, "ELAY, ELAY!" at him due to his recent emigration from Austin to Los Angeles.

Anthony da Costa - talented writer and lead guitar player, his singing sounds as if its almost forced out of his mouth to more directly hit you in the head.

Jack Wilson - "Careful, he stops his feet a lot," was the appropriate warning I was given about this forceful Americana guitarist.

Jimmy Dreams – guitar player with Cyril Neville, Jimmy and friends laid down some funky funky bass, guitar, drums and banjo.

Film

The Canal Street Madam - I only caught one film on Tuesday. The documentary by Cameron Yates provided a raw and honest look at the life of Jeanette Maier, a suprisingly self-aware woman who went from successful brothel operator to felon and sex-worker advocate.

Shopping

maneki - Austin jeweler Sarah Eastep has been a favorite of mine since 2006. This trip I bought a whimsical locket necklace at Parts and Labour on South Congress. Now I just have to find a secret letter to keep in it.

Food 


Butternut Squash Pizza - made by PJ Oehler, Raina Rose, and Leigh Ann (pictured).

Charmed Monday

First a note on the end of Sunday:
I saw The Taqwacores, a narrative film about the hardcore Muslim scene. It was brilliant. Adapted from the book of the same name by Michael Muhammed Knight, the film tackled the difficult subject of being an outcast in a restrictive religion while not succumbing to the clichés of modern cinema: there was no redemption of the main characters, a love story did not conquer all, and no one achieved peace via “understanding”. In addition the film was beautiful. The coloring was at once drab shades of gray with intense reds and blues, like an old sailor tattoo. After seeing the film yesterday, Mr. Nice seemed insignificant in its frivolity.

Overall Monday felt rather charmed. We stopped at Bouldin Creek Coffee House for brunch and I was initially dismayed to discover that they no longer had tofu migas on the menu. The veggie chorizo and tofu scramble tacos more than made up for it though.

The most beautiful surprise of the day was running into my dear friend from Rice, Elizabeth Oehler. We had one of those wonderful, if somewhat annoying to observe, encounters in the line for coffee filled with screaming and hugging and kissing and “oh my god, Jen Hitt!” “ELIZABETH! I love you!!”

Then we headed off to the Airport to exchange the rental car. The back right tire had been losing pressure and we’d been filling it up to no avail. Budget was quick to fix the problem and upgraded me from the Focus to the Mustang. It’s been raining though, so I haven’t had a chance to open her up on the highway... don’t worry I have two more days.

I did a quick loop of the shops on South Congress and discovered where all the ladies are picking up their hair flowers or “fascinators” as Rose pointed out they are called.

In the evening, we caught one of Jason’s films, The Happy Poet. Filled with dry humor and subtle dialogue, the movie was thoroughly enjoyed by the sold-out audience. Discussions and drinks with the producers afterward will hopefully lead to the posting of their eggless egg salad sandwich recipe on the film’s website.

A brief stop by the Austin Chronicle Film Bash resulted in free food and a good rendition of Dr. Feelgood by the Kashmere Stage Band.

Our final stop of the evening was Flipnotics to catch a warm room of acoustic music from Raina Rose and AJ Roach and band. Alerted to the show by Elizabeth Oehler, her music and harmonies made my heart travel to that place of endless possibility and redemption through sound. Heavy, I know, but written descriptions of music are rarely adequate to describe the sensation. I hope to catch more of her and the other grassers later this week.

Sunday So Far

Jason helped me start the day off right with homemade egg tacos. I hopped in the car to hear none other than the Gibson Brothers, Ring the Bell on KVRX 91.7, on my way to the convention center. We hit up Once Over Coffee on the way for some seriously strong java.

The panel on audience building held a few tips and tricks for filmmakers, simple stuff like having the director record custom welcomes for each theatrical screening.

Now I’m wandering around the trade show floor, indulging in free swag – Shiner, bubbles, and photo booths. There’s a monkey and a banana running around the floor (cue Monty Python music) and I’ve seen more than one person with their twitter trending topic written on their arm (#myrightforearmiscoolerthanyou).

In a few short hours, it’ll be time for some film – Mr. Nice is the pick for 6:30. I’m particularly excited about the Austin City Limits show and party tonight, hopefully I’ll run into some of my pub-casting compatriots, including Leital from Studio 360, and, of course, hear good music.

Small fashion note: big sequined flower hair accessories are all the rage, can we blame it on Mo’Nique?

SXSW 2010 Cast of Characters (partial list)

Rose Vincelli – baker of yummy things, documentary expert, labs coordinator for Independent Filmmaker Project out of Brooklyn, cracker of sly smiles, met her when I worked for SILVERDOCS ’06, family.

Jason Wehling – known for his stunning works of art and his ridiculous adventures when we were at Rice, perpetually bouncy, filmmaker with two productions screening at SXSW: The Happy Poet & The Grown Ups, impressive lawn gardener.

David J Williams – Sci-fi author of the Autumn Rain Trilogy, secretly run by his cats via neuro-implant, screenwriter, spontaneous singer, SXSW virgin.

Ciro – Engineer, Brazilian-Japanese soccer player, initially soft-spoken, the guy that makes everyone catch his giggles, first-time wrist band holder, Austin resident.

Late Night Reinforcement Captain, Houston Division- John Burwell

Hot UU Dance Party Coordinator – Elise Foster

Sarcasm, Realism, and Hospitality Expert – Dana Lynn McGrath

Long-lost Coworker – Greg Fitzpatrick

ok here's the plan

I'm sitting on the plane waiting for the overhead bin stuffing drama to subside. I'm gonna have to roll my eyes and ignore the self-righteous guy who's been loudly blaming this all on baggage fees. Then in a few hours I'll be transported into the big Texan sprawl of sunshine to eat my way through a week of art.

Soon to come: cast of characters.

Echo requested a picture of a feather, a story involving an insect, and an ancedote about an article of clothing. What do you want from SXSW this week?

Surprises Along The Way

I found a few things while walking Monday. First, on my morning walk to Union Station on E St NE I found a completely unused sheet of stickers - dump trucks, back hoes, cement mixers. I looked around to make sure there were no crying toddlers nearby and snatched up the sheet. It proved to be excellent motivation for getting a bunch of 30-somethings to happy hour on a Monday night. Who knew?

Then, on my walk from work to Chadwicks I found some art, at the corner of 41st and Garrison NW: a lamminated index card ziptied to an old metal post and a new wrench sitting on the box.  Anyone know of a street artist working with the theme "ps I love you"? There was nothing on the back of the card and my searches on the tubes were fruitless. And what were those metal box posts used for originally?