Went out of the gates a little fast on Tuesday night before SXSW music had even officially started, and caught a baker’s dozen of Austin bands at The Ghost Room, running from 4pm until 2 in the morning…opened up with Liars & Saints, and then Royal Forest (above), Leatherbag, Golden Bear, Wiretree, Dan Dyer, Sahara Smith, Cowboy & Indian, Zookeeper, The Lemurs, Sunset, The Great Nostalgic, and Followed by Static.
Pretty phenomenal back to front, but it meant that today, day one of SX, I was taking it slow…in the afternoon I did catch Matt the Electrician playing a benefit show at Guero’s. Many shows here have become spur-of-the-moment benefits as SX reacts to the events in Japan. (Sahara Smith raised $100 for the Red Cross on Tuesday night just by putting out a jar + mentioning it once.) Then snuck out later this evening to see one of my favorite new Austin bands, Black Books, who boast the rarely seen drummer/lead singer, and play a kind of off-kilter dream-pop…their "Maria" lit it up + served as the highlight of my night. On the way home caught Amber Digby, honky-tonky modern country girl from Houston, playing the Continental. And tomorrow back into the madness…