First, a note: I love SXSW. It’s important to the city and to entertainment, it brings plenty of new people and ideas, and as a music lover there are obvious perks. However, it’s also one week of the year that being a local doesn’t count, or help. There’s a new map to understand, new traffic to navigate, and new items on the list of priorities. Between working, entertaining out-of-towners, and making sure I was able to see the handful of visiting bands I was really excited about, it was next to impossible to track down many emerging Austin acts that I hadn’t already seen multiple times. All of that’s why for me, the most refreshing local music moment of SXSW was on Monday night after the festival had ended. I met up with some friends at Hole in the Wall for a casual St. Patrick’s Day celebration. We were all still exhausted from the week, so we sat outside to chat. We had reached a natural break in the conversation when someone opened the door and the sound of strings and a three-part vocal harmony drifted out.
Of course we all went in. By then the front bar room was full and my friends and I stood in a line along the back to take in The Bluebird Specials. The three-piece based in Austin was exactly what I needed. There was no giant hype for the show, no sponsorships, no fuss; just three women, their instruments, and their voices. The vocal harmonies were clear and beautiful, and they still had as much, if not more, fun onstage as most of the bands I had been able to see during the festival. Most of the songs fit classic country themes (whiskey was drunk, hearts were broken), but often enough it was more than that. All three women clearly just love to play, and that was more refreshing than anything else. That is my favorite thing about Austin: the laid-back take on classic Texan passion that pops up without pretensions when it’s allowed to. Somewhere close to the stage, a few people were two-stepping. Drinks in hand, my friends and I tapped our feet and bobbed along.
Thank you, The Bluebird Specials, for helping bring my Austin back to life. You can see The Bluebird Specials TONIGHT at Ginny’s Little Longhorn and Mondays at Hole in the Wall. – Marie Meyers