Chris Cowan: SxSW Music

Friday, March 14, 2008

A third straight day of fantastic weather, what could be better.

Panels

I attended 2 panels.

What is the Future of Record Companies and Artists Deals - actually a CLE for the lawyers. I just found out from my friend Alissa, that this was the first year they were open to non-lawyers. Kind of funny, I never realized that in previous years, and attended anyway.
Mobility, Ubiquity and Monetizing Music - great talk. Only Pearlman really got it. Had interesting stats from Ed Felton out of Princeton and China. 30 Million classic music hobbyists and aficionados.

I was very annoyed at the typical rhetoric against the Free Market, from some of the pundits on this panel. If I hear another lawyer arguing about how government saves us, I'm going to puke.

First act I saw was Paddy Casey, on the DirecTV stage. I'm not normally a fan of singer songwriters, but this guy is just Incredible. He sang and played acoustic guitar, with a background singer/pianist. I would buy this guy's CD in a heartbeat.
I went to the Brush park party, hosted by the Australians. Can't remember much other than some free Vodka samples and food.
To begin the evening, I went to the Tim Fite Hosts show at Antones. Bear In Heaven was the first act, after a humorous intro monologue by Tim. Finding no honey with these bears, I left.
I stopped by Cedar Street, and caught part of Fastball. They are an Austin band that had a Top 40 hit in 1999. Pop rock, that is very well done. Cedar Street was even more crowded than the night before with Tim Fite. At least 3 rows of people on the 4th Street sidewalk.
I then went to the Tiniest Bar in Texas to catch deSoL. Apparently, I screwed up and they had played the night before. I stayed a bit and watched the White Ghost Shivers, instead.

I finished the night catching 3 fantastic shows at St. David's Church. This is officially my favorite venue.

First up was Sxip Shirey. Holy f*cking crap, was this guy amazing. He basically has some pedal effects, a microphone, harmonica, and table of toys. A former guitarist who came up with career ending tendinitis, he turned to making music in non-traditional ways. I would fail miserably to describe what he does in words. (He does for Music, what Tim Burton does for film). He was joined by an equally amazing Human beatbox performer for several songs. This show totally blew away some of my previous conceptions about live musical performance and instruments. A must see, if you ever get the chance. He lives in Brooklyn.
Graham Reynolds and the Golden Arm Trio were next. Another amazing Austin musician who I have gotten meet through AMF. The Trio was actually a quartet, with a Cellist, Trombone Player (Wayne Myers another AMF acquaintance), Saxophonist, and Electric Bassist. Graham plays Piano and Drums and is an unbelievable talent. He is always entertaining.
The Brannen Temple Trio with D Madness on bass. An Austin Jazz Trio with Drums, Steel Drums and Electric Bass. My friend Brian over at Mixtank has been ranting about D Madness for a while. Now I know why.

Not putting the deSoL show on the right day in my calendar.