The rocker, the singer-songwriter, the guitar hero all sprung from this holy trinity, who recorded before any of the more celebrated Mississippi Delta deities. And yet, because they played gospel, not the more collectable and researchable blues, Arizona Dranes, Washington Phillips and Blind Willie Johnson had been woefully bypassed by musicologists and historians until recently. […]
Celtic soul lion Van Morrison kicked off a short U.S. tour in 2008 with two shows in Austin on March 11 and 12, the first a private concert at the Austin Music Hall with tickets sold and the second an official SXSW showcase at La Zona Rosa. Morrison was promoting the new album Keep It […]
From 2013 By Michael Corcoran The wild child who grew up in Austin and would probably be a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame if not for the Runaways and runaway egos. The woman, the mother, who takes college English and history classes at St. Edward’s University and who recently got her […]
Who’s been the biggest “get” of SXSW thus far? Johnny Cash in ’94 and Tom Waits in ’99 really helped put the Austin conference on the map. Norah Jones had the No.1 album in the country when she played SXSW in 2002, Metallica at Stubb’s in ’09 was huge, as was Bruce Springsteen in 2012. […]
by Michael Corcoran Was that Russian band serious about wanting to defect after a SXSW showcase? Or did they just want to stay in Austin for free as long as they could? It was in the early ‘90s, soon after implementation of SXSW’s international housing 0program, where bands from overseas are put up in local […]
The self-penned “You Send Me” launched Keen Records in a gorgeous shower of woah-woah-ohs in September 1957, selling nearly two million copies and perfecting a gospelized-pop template for soul music.
(published on sxsw.com in Sept. 2015) Pt. 1 (1987- 1994): From baby acts and first steps to inspiration from the man in black If you want to see how old South by Southwest is, look at volunteer coordinator Lizzie Brenner, who was born in April 1987, a month after her current employer. SXSW […]
The stories of huge headlining acts playing SXSW when they were nobody are well-told, with Billy Ray Cyrus (year two) leading a breakout army that includes Green Day, White Stripes, John Mayer, the Strokes, Uncle Tupelo, Florence + the Machine, Gary Clark Jr. and so on. Then there was a folk-rock band from England that […]
Kevin Russell has played SXSW promiscuously, as a member of the Gourds and now Shinyribs. But you never forget your first time. Russell played the second SXSW in 1988 with his punk/ new wave band Picket Line Coyotes. They were from Shreveport and SXSW’s then-booker Louis Meyers managed a band (Killer Bees) whose members were […]
They’ve gone on to sell millions of records and tickets, but not many people had heard of the Killers or Brandon Flowers before they played SXSW in 2004, three months before the release of debut LP Hot Fuss. The Las Vegas-based band debuted at the Caucus Club (now the Mohawk) on Thursday March 18, then […]
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