We’ve been having a look and listen to the numerous artists showcasing SXWS this year and will be featuring a few on here that caught our attention. We won’t be able to catch them all of course, but we’ll do our best to offer you variety!
For those new to SXSW it is a huge US annual music, film, and interactive conference and festival held in Austin, Texas. Appearing there is a big deal to many artists, granting great exposure not only at the festival but also via the numerous bloggers that follow and post about it.
Adam Arcuragi & The Lupine Chorale Society
Adam Arcuragi’s music has been given this crappy tag of Death Gospel…don’t ask…John Schacht of AMG used a more coherent desciption: “There is unbridled joy inherent in even the saddest of these songs, and unforgettable images in almost every verse”. Alongside The Lupine Chorale Society, we get the collective hand clapping, foot-stomping music we’ve grown to love on here.
MP3: She Comes to Me
But be warned any wannabe film directors out there, think twice before offering to shoot a promo:
Alex Highton
Alex Highton now lives in the Cambridgeshire countryside which inspired him to write a few songs about his move from the smoke to the sticks.
MP3: You Got the Trees
Myspace
Boy and Bear
If you’ve been listening to the station then you would have heard them. These Australian Indie Folkers were named ‘Band to Watch for in 2011’ by Rolling Stone mag and they have been touring with other FRUK favourites: Mumford & Sons, Laura Marling, Angus & Julia Stone to name just a few. After SXSW, Boy & Bear will be jumping into the studio with acclaimed producer Joe Chiccarelli (The Shins, My Morning Jacket, The White Stripes) to record their debut album, set for release later this year.
MP3: Mexican Mavis
Chris Bathgate
Another FRUK favourite that we’ve been plugging on the playlists for a few years now. Chris began drawing attention as a solo artist in 2005 upon the release of his first album, Silence is for Suckers, but it was his 2007 release, A Cork Tale Wake, that brought him attention leading to the eventual re-release on One Little Indian Records (Bjork, Asobi Seksu, Land of Talk). “Serpentine”, the lead track from the album, went on to be Chris’ most recognized and successful song to date. Salt Year, to be released in April of 2011, promises to be his most mature and fully-rounded statements to date.
MP3: No Silver
Caitlin Rose
Caitlin Rose has just completed a UK tour with the Treetop Flyers before heading off to SXSW. The 23 year old singer/songwriter from Nashville has been getting a lot of attention in the UK and features on FRUK. Her full-length debut, Own Side Now, was released in the UK to critical acclaim making it to #4 on Rough Trade’s Top 100 list of 2010. She co-produced the album with Mark Nevers (Lambchop, Will Oldham & Andrew Bird) & Skylar Wilson (Justin Townes Earle).
MP3: Shanghai Cigarettes
We’ll have more SXSW picks for you this week as this is really just the tip of a bloody great huge iceberg that is too vast to even contemplate covering in a blog…
Of course we will be slightly biased…so I’m going to try and introduce some we haven’t mentioned before!
And as this video from Matt over on Song, by Toad shows…Withered Hand did make it out to the US after all that red-tape crap we posted about, it sounds like he had to cancel a gig but it’s nice to see him in this video!