SXSW Six Pack 2015: A Look at Austin’s Own
South by Southwest is the time of year when local Austin acts are rendered anonymous by the festival turned global brand, to mostly paraphrase a recent social media musing by Sabrina Ellis, frontwoman of A Giant Dog and Sweet Spirit –two of six of the very best bands in Austin who will one day come to your town and make you wonder what’s in the water here. Answer: it’s mostly barbecue sauce, discarded “mystery shots” sold on Sixth Street and the tears of Cowboys fans.
2015’s installment of the NadaMucho.com SXSW Six Pack is a modest effort to reverse the phenomenon of local SXSW anonymity by calling attention to those who will blow your mind should they ever pack up the Econoliner and crash in your town.
So, never mind corporate synergy, worrying about industry guest lists and a 3-story-tall inflatable snack bag promoting-stage, here’s Borzoi, Feral Future, A Giant Dog, Ruby Fray, Mirror Travel and Sweet Spirit, six Austin bands we’ll highlight this month while SXSW is on everyone’s mind.
The SXSW “Doritos Stage”
While local lamentations about SXSW are almost cliche as the annual rite of locals heading for the hills or sprinting to rent out extra space in their domicile, the music marathon is capble of conjuring unexpected beauty or revelations in the most unlikely spaces. Prince playing a chornically abandoned building? It happens, but not for you and me. Probably.
Last year it was Those Darlins at Shotguns on 6th and the year before it was the unlikely discovery of Brazil’s Turtle Giant at a KEXP showcase at Mellow Johnny’s Bikeshop whose bathroom – last time I visited – had a poster of a certain famous cyclist watching over you as you visit the facilities. Now that’s turning the tables.
SXSW is a joyful place if you can afford a sense of humor and adventure. And sample Austin bands. They’ve been rendering my interest in Brooklyn bands obsolete for going on two years now. Except for Crystal Stilts. They’re rad.
If you’re going to put up with gridlock, taxi shortages, long lines and legions of people telling you how great New York is, you owe it to yourself to sample the local cuisine and leave capitol city with a full heart to go with your emptied-out wallet.
More SXSW Six Pack 2015
SXSW Six Pack 2014