With nearly 2,000 acts playing across five days at the South by Southwest Music Festival (March 16-20), Austin will again serve as the cultural epicenter of the world. Standing out from the pack isn’t easy. Some bands will offer free beer and barbecue, attach themselves to corporate sponsors or hitch their wagons to showcases and parties hosted by visiting dignitaries like Rachael Ray, Yoko Ono and Perez Hilton.
Traditionally, Texas-based artists — there are more than 350 on the schedule — enjoy something of a home court advantage: they perform free of jet lag and can draw huge audiences of locals who prefer the tried and true to checking out the supposed next big thing from Scandinavia.
Here are picks from across the state, ranging from the obvious to the relatively obscure.
Sarah Jaffe
WHO Ms. Jaffe is celebrated for how comfortably she conveys palpable vulnerability. Last year’s “Suburban Nature” earned her comparisons to early Cat Power and a series of dates as Norah Jones’s handpicked opening act.
START HERE “Clementine,” a heart-on-her-sleeve tale of youthful indiscretions, is a complex but thoroughly hummable meditation on regret and indifference.
Check out the full article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/06/us/06ttshuffle.html?_r=1&scp=6&sq=SXSW&st=cse
Sarah’s “Clementine” was also on the short list for NPR’s SXSW 2011 sampler where NPR selected 100 of their favorite songs by SXSW artists. http://www.npr.org/blogs/allsongs/2011/03/04/134236667/the-austin-100-about-npr-musics-sxsw-2011-sampler
Sarah is also set to nationally release her first ever EP – Even Born Again – on March 8th through Kirtland Records. Catch her at SXSW and other dates this spring!
Confirmed Tour Dates:
March
10th NX35 Conferette Denton, TX
17th SXSW – Paste Party Austin, TX
18th SXSW – KUT Party MoMo’s Austin, TX
19th SXSW – The Ghost Room – New Grenada Party Austin, TX
April
14th Shady Grove – KGSR Concert Series Austin, TX
15th Bronze Peacock @ HOB Houston, TX
16th Club Dada Dallas, TX
27th WFPK’s Waterfront Wednesday Concert Louisville, KY
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