Boston invades Austin

How Hub bands did at SXSW

ROUNDUP. Last week, approximately eight billion bands descended upon Austin, Texas, for a little musical get-together known as South by Southwest, or SXSW. Some of our city’s finest players went down south to rock out. Here’s what they had to report. Oh yeah, that eight billion number might be a little off, but a word many of our Boston friends used was “overwhelming.”

“SXSW kinda feels like going to Hampton Beach or Old Orchard Beach as a kid: kinda overwhelming, lotsa folks drinking and smoking and laughing and pretty exhausting.”
— Erik Wormwood, Tulsa

“I was definitely in the minority being a singer-songwriter without a band. Thrilled to be releasing my new record, ‘Come Up Full,’ with Red House Records this past week. I played the Red House showcase on Thursday at the beautiful old Driskill Hotel and then the party at Mother Egan’s on Friday. So great to hear all my fellow Red House artists, Eliza Gilkysen, Jimmy Lafave, Storyhill, The Pines and so many more. Stumbled onto some really great music too while I was here that I hadn’t heard before. I think there’s no way to properly prepare for SXSW; you just have to get down here and immerse yourself. I had no idea how many venues there were in this town. Great to see artists from all over the world gathering in one place. Very inspiring. Now I need a long nap.”
— Meg Hutchinson

“For the most part, this week has been very overwhelming for us. There are about 1,700 bands here, and even more enterprising individuals in the swarming masses. This is our first year, but the Secretly Canadian/Jagjaguwar/Dead Oceans showcase we played was the highlight. ... Bon Iver, Phosphorescent and Jens Lekman’s band was especially magical. Mostly, we feel really lucky to have been invited and welcomed in such great showcases.”
— Casey Dienel, White Hinterland

“I spent two days getting sunburned and seeing some really inspiring music. We played on a patio behind a BBQ dive, it was awesome.”
— Dan Boucher, Neptune