Posts tagged ‘festival’

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October 7, 2010

ACL: Eating Guide

Eating with me is a challenge, I will freely admit. I want free-range happy meat, chicken, milk, and eggs. I don’t want white bread, I probably don’t want whole wheat bread, I definitely don’t want corn (unless it’s a tortilla chip) or beans or soy. I don’t want fake sugar, or agave, or real sugar (but sometimes I eat it anyway). I am definitely a pain.

That said, eating in Austin is easier than eating almost anywhere else. Take the ACL food court … (if I accept a sandwich, assume I’m not eating the bread) here is a complete listing, anything I won’t eat is strike-out-ed, but you can still read it and eat it if you so choose.

AMY’S ICE CREAMS psh that’s not healthy

AQUARELLE RESTAURANT & WINE BAR
Spicy shrimp sandwich

AUSTIN’S BEST BURGER – I could not find a damn thing on this … happy? no? what’s in the veggie burger? no idea.

AUSTIN’S PIZZA

BESS BISTRO – YAY! HAPPY LOCAL MEAT!

Fish and chips /Semolina crusted artichoke hearts / Steak sandwich / Fish sandwich

BEST LEMONADE

THE BEST WURST unhappy meat

BOOMERANG’S PIES
Thai veggie (vegan) fine, how good does that sound? yum.

CHILDREN OF THE KETTLE CORN delish, but no good for you

JUICEBOX (assuming no added sugar)
Fresh cherry limeade / Cucumber mint agua fresca / Pure coconut water / Sambazon acai smoothie

FREEBIRDS WORLD BURRITO

GALAXY CAFE

GARRIDO’S BURRITOS

GUERO’S

HYDE PARK BAR & GRILL

KERBEY LANE CAFE
All-natural sausage pancake on a stick

LAVACA ST. GRILL

LONESOME DOVE WESTERN BISTRO – no word on happy meat status but sounds delish!
Wild mushroom and tenderloin skewers / Truffled mac and cheese

MAINE ROOT

MANGIA PIZZA love, but need whole wheat. and spinach.

MIGHTY CONE
Hot and crunchy shrimp and avocado cone / Venison sausage wrap

OLIVIA not happy meat

P. TERRY’S BURGER STAND – HAPPY MEAT! DELISH VEGGIE BURGER!
Hamburger / Cheeseburger / Double cheeseburger / Veggie burger

PLUCKERS

THE SALT LICK

SNOWIE

STUBB’S BBQ

SWEET LEAF TEA

TIFF’S TREATS

TIM LOVE’S LOVE SHACK – again, don’t know if it’s happy meat?
Love Burger (prime tenderloin/prime brisket burger with Love sauce, lettuce, tomato, house pickles and cheese)

TORCHY’S TACOS

WAHOO’S FISH TACO
Blackened fish tacos

… so there you have it. Eat before you go if you’re as picky as me :-)

Also, I highly recommend stopping by Uncle Billy’s for a to-go cup of beer for your walk down Barton Springs Road into the fest. It’s a $5 steal for a microbrew, and you just feel cool carrying a to-go beer down a street you normally aren’t allowed to carry beer down.

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October 7, 2010

ACL: Austin City Limits Fest Guide

You absolutely cannot miss:

Four Seasons Austin ACL Pre-Show

Looking across the river towards the Back Lawn, where you will enjoy fabulous music and delicious tacos…

KUT 90.5 and Four Seasons Hotel Austin invite locals and festival visitors to experience a more intimate side of Austin City Limits with a pre-show broadcast from the hotel’s gorgeous Back Lawn. Check out 30 to 40-minute sets by awesome ACL fest artists:

9am: Sahara Smith
10am: Blind Pilot (coincidentally played Aspen’s Belly Up this past Sunday night)
11am: Spoon
Noon: Robert Randolph and the Family Band

The event is open to the public on a first-come, first served basis. Admission is JUST $5, which includes a breakfast taco! All proceeds benefit the Shivers Cancer Center at Seton Hospital. Attendees are encouraged to bring their favorite chair or blanket to relax … Friday, October 8 from 9am-1pm on the Back Lawn of Four Seasons Hotel Austin (98 San Jacinto Blvd.)

RUMOR: Saturday, Oct. 9 – ACL afterparty with The xx @ Malverde (400 W. 2nd St. Austin, TX) – RSVP info TBA.

My ACL survival guide (updated from ’08):

- What to wear to ACL? Light-colored clothing, with a swimsuit. Girls, you’re inevitably taking your shirt off to hide the sweat running down it, guys, you’re inevitably taking your shirt off because it’s hot as hell. Yes, I hear we will have 80-degree temps. Doesn’t matter, the sun will still be blazing and you will still be hot. It’s Texas. Or it might rain (see woodstock ’09 aka last year). You’ll still be glad you’re wearing a swimsuit.

- Drink lots of water. Yeah, the portapotties suck. But being dehydrated sucks more. Drinking booze is tempting, and sneaking it in is easy, but hydrate first. Drink later in the afternoon, you’ll thank yourself for it later. And you’ll remember at least half the bands you saw.

- Sunscreen. Don’t get cancer, and don’t be miserable for the following two days. Don’t get sunburned, it will make you a thousand times hotter, which is not a place you want to be. Wear some freakin’ sunscreen. Even if it’s cold. SPF 30 please.

- Big, floppy hats / umbrellas / sunglasses / chairs with built in umbrellas / your program / whatever, use it to cool it down.

- Take breaks/naps. Barton Springs, restaurants with a/c, under trees, or under someone else’s chair, as long as you take a respite, it doesn’t matter where.

- Don’t try to drive and park. It never works. A bajillion and a half cabbies and pedicabs are circulating, buses and shuttles are all over the place (free from Republic Square!), or have friends/parents/bums drop you off. The other side (west) of the Mopac bridge is a great place to be dropped off and avoid the crazy Barton Springs Road traffic.

From my commentors:

Sarah: Check out the autograph schedule to get up close and personal with your fav artists: http://www.aclfestival.com/experience/activities/autograph-schedule/

Andrew: Make sure to check out the black keys on Friday 4-5, got to see them in 2008 and it was an unbelievable set.

Edward A. Cross III: Ride a bike to avoid horrible traffic for cars and buses!

Amy: Run across the street to Barton Springs Pool in between your favorite acts for a chance to cool off!

Mitch: Be sure to factor in rest time! After 3-4 hours of seeing shows, you’ll need a couple minutes off your feet to catch your breath.

Have fun, see Phish!

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October 6, 2010

Austin: Pre-ACL Shenanigans + Ticket Giveaway! [Winner Announced]

[WINNER! Matt, who suggested crazy costumes!]

Yes, we have a pair of tix to Talib Kweli on Thursday night at Scoot Inn up for grabs! Just post your #1 ACL tip in the comments to enter to win! Could be your fave band to see, outfit suggestions, places to go instead, whateva! As usual, I will use random number generator unless your comment is boring in which case I will randomly generate a different number.

Jay-Z’s famous Black Album rhyme: “If skills sold, truth be told/I’d probably be, lyrically, Talib Kweli.” Yeah, you could see that for FREE (or just $22 at the door)


Presented by KnuckleRumblr, the definitive cool-music kids in Austin. They’re also presenting Art Disaster and EA Need for Speed on Thursday, then Amanda Blank on Friday, Etienne De Cracy on Saturday, and The Smoker’s Club (Curren$y, Big K.R.I.T., and Smoke DZA) on Sunday.

Yogasm 2010

lululemon also presents Yogasm to kick off ACL in healthy style on Thursday at Republic Square Park. At 4pm reserve your mat spot & enjoy food vendors, artists & local DJs. The yoga class begins at 6:30 & after the last savasana, MC Yogi will take the stage for his first performance in Austin.

Bright Light Social Hour at Paggi House

Another Thursday happening, free but food and drink will cost ya.

Contest: Post your ACL tip in the comments by 9pm CST on 10/6/2010 to register to win two free tickets to Talib Kweli. Winner announced 10/7!

Posted in free, Music, Sports/Fitness | 8 Comments »

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July 11, 2010

Title IX at the Aspen Ideas Festival

Saturday night, I attended Aspen Ideas Festival panel The Promise of Play/Women & Girls: You Go, Girl! How Title IX Galvanized Play for Women

Key players:

  • Beth A. Brooke, Ernst & Young global vice chair of strategy, communications and regulatory affairs, ranked among Forbes’ 100 Most Powerful Women in the World, former Purdue basketball player
  • Nancy Hogshead-Makar, board of stewards for Women’s Sports Foundation, director of the Legal Advocacy Center for Women in Sports, law professor, Olympic gold medalist in swimming
  • Alana Beard, Washington Mystics pro basketball players, former Duke star
  • Moderator: Tom Farrey, ESPN Reporter and author

Overall, I thought the panel was an interesting cheering session for the law, but it was poorly attended (no surprise) and not at all a discussion about the future of the law–rather, a celebration of the law’s “success.” I suppose I should have known from the title of the panel that it wasn’t about to be a discussion …

I did love much of what Beth Brooke had to say, and I think she’s a strong role model for women in both sports and business. She said: “I attribute all my success in the business world to a sports background.” She went on to elaborate that sports teach women how to fail. Women learn how to win, how to lose, that you go to practice the next day no matter what, and that correlates into walking into a meeting or business situation prepared every time. True.

Beth also said, interestingly enough, “I’ll hire an athlete and train them in the competencies.” That’s a bold statement from the VP of a global accounting giant.

Nancy Hogshead-Makar agreed, saying “You can’t teach how to win or lose to a team on a blackboard. Olympic-caliber training is 800 laps a day, and there were days I didn’t want to do it with every cell in my body. I had done it the day before and the day before that, but I still did it because I was committed to something else. That’s discipline.”

Of course, I agree with all of this. While the comments are interesting, I don’t know of anyone who would argue that women don’t benefit from sports. That’s not the question. Is it? I mean, does anyone really doubt that women need opportunities to play sports? That participation in sports statistically improves women’s lives? (higher graduation rates, college attendance, lower rates of pregnancy, so on) This is true of men too. Sports improve lives across the board.

For me the question isn’t if Title IX is important, valuable, and making a difference–it obviously is. For me, the question is: is Title IX, and how it is enforced today, the BEST way to create opportunities for women?

Toward the end of the session, the conversation turned to viewership–who watches women’s sports? Should they still be televised if no one is watching? Nancy made a very interesting point: that during the Olympics, men’s and women’s sports have equal viewership. She postulated that this is because the Olympics have a humanistic approach to coverage, where we learn about the athletes’ families, lives outside of their sport, and so on. Moderator Tom agreed, saying that ESPN is on to this difference and studying how to create sports coverage that women want to watch.

The final commenter from the crowd pointed out that women have 85% of the purchasing power in the US, so why aren’t we changing things?

It’s a good question. To play devil’s advocate, if women aren’t “purchasing” sports, why are we legislating their participation in them? Is there really a difference between interest and opportunity? And yes, it takes time to affect change. How much time?

The panel might not have addressed these questions, but if it raised them in me, I suppose it was indeed a success …

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July 5, 2010

Aspen: Aspen Smart Kids (Ideas) Festival July 5-11

They say all the real business in the world happens in Aspen, in secret. Well today kicks off the Aspen Ideas Festival, the Aspen Institute and The Atlantic magazine’s gathering of great minds, including 13+ former heads of state and Bill Clinton (who a friend of mine shamelessly chased down the street last time he was in town for this festival), that runs through next Sunday. Their goal is to “offer a stimulating and invigorating celebration of some of the liveliest minds,” and to “engage its participants in a variety of programs, tutorials, seminars and discussion events that together are guaranteed to charge the atmosphere with vibrant intellectual exchange. Think of it as a week-long summer university for the mind – remarkable lectures and classes across a stimulating array of topics.“

Think SXSW but smarter and more broad, and you get Aspen Ideas.

I’m signed up for two panels that I’m really, really excited about. The first is:

LIVING DIGITALLY: Is Social Media Transforming Journalism?
Speakers: David Kirkpatrick, James Bennet, Vivian Schiller, Arianna Huffington
Moderator: Charlie Firestone

I’m excited to see what some of the people on the forefront of new media and models of journalism have to say about the future of journalism!

The second panel is near and dear to my heart:

WOMEN + GIRLS: CHANGE AGENTS: Go, Girl: How Title IX Galvanized Play for Women
Speakers: Nancy Hogshead-Makar, Sheila C. Johnson, Beth A. Brooke
Moderator: Tom Farrey

I’ve studied Title IX extensively and think that–in a nutshell–it’s a great idea that was intended to be enforced in spirit but is instead enforced in letter, which is unfair. Depending on how good this panel is and what they say, I’ll share more, but it’s not until next weekend :-)

The festival is sold out, but they so have single-session tickets for select sessions starting at $20. Snag some at the Wheeler Opera House, online at www.aspenshowtickets.com, or by calling 970-920-5770.

#aif2010 is the hashtag for Aspen Ideas Festival / Check out The Atlantic’s explanation of the festival – it rocks.

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June 17, 2010

Aspen: Um, duh? Food & Wine Classic Weekend

It’s this weekend, kids. If you didn’t have the $1,185 to buy the big tickets, or even the $295 to buy a 1-day pass (steal! if that’s your cup of tea anyway), you can still enjoy the Food & Wine melee with the rest. Word on the street is that there are over 100 private parties in addition to the official Food & Wine events, and the shops and stores along the mall are pulling out all the stops to get people inside (read: free wine and food).

Since I didn’t win two free passes from the plastics site, I’ll be wandering around town looking for cool stuff to participate in. I pretty much equate this to a fancier SXSW, where you don’t need anything but your own two feet to walk around and get into some fun parties and events.

I mean, Aspen is a small town. There are only so many places for celeb chefs Jacques Pepin, David Chang, Giada DeLaurentiis, Michael Symon, Morimoto, Thomas Keller, and Top Chef judges Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons to go …

From my short time here, I’d recommend they:

  • Get chippers at Paradise Bakery
  • Try Brexi Brasserie – it’s just across the street from the main part of the fest, and it’s AWESOME
  • Eat a burger + sweet potato fries from J Bar or Belly Up, both feature free-range meat and crisp fries
  • Get the Kale Salad at Peach’s Corner Cafe. People watch. Eat your delicious, refreshing salad.
  • Hike Aspen Mountain. You need to burn calories, and the view cannot. be. beat.
  • Visit Carl’s Pharmacy. A General Store throwback if I’ve ever seen one. You must go upstairs too.

Also, the newly-expanded Saturday Farmer’s Market opens this weekend. It’s located on E. Hopkins from Hunter to Galena and features produce, meats, and artisan crafts from across Colorado. I can’t wait to hit it up!

Last bit of advice for Food & Wine, from a festival-going, wine-drinking pro: Pace yourself. Drink lots of water. FIJI water is owned by an Aspen family and freely distributed within the festival, take advantage of it. Also, wear a huge, fashionable hat and sunscreen. Waking up hungover AND sunburned just adds insult to injury.

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June 4, 2010

Aspen: Chili Pepper & BrewFest

In an event you’d think you’d see in Texas, Snowmass is hosting the 7th annual unofficial summer kick-off, The Chili Pepper & Brew Fest.

The chili is legit–it’s part of the International Chili Society’s chili competitions and tastings in Snowmass, while microbrewers face off in a prestigious summer ale competition featuring 50 plus breweries (listed below). New this year, there will be a European and exotic beer tasting tent. Fanny Hill rocks with hot music like Brett Dennen and George Clinton all weekend.

The Fest is today (starting at 5:30pm) and tomorrow (starting at 3pm), tix range from $25 for a one-day concert pass to a $75 two-day Champion pass good for chili, beer, and concerts.

For an extra $15 with your ticket or $25 without, you can hit the Official After Party After Dark at the Viceroy pool. Doors at 10pm.

Breweries include: Odell Brewing, Oskar Blues, Ska Brewing, Tommy Knocker, Glenwood Canyon Brew Pub, Aspen Brewing Co, Avery Brewing Co, Bristol Brewing Co, Great Divide, Stone Brew, Left Hand Brewing, Wynkoop, Deschutes Brewery, Twisted Pine Brewing, Sierra Nevada, Flyingdog Ales, Breckenridge Brewery, Alaskan Brewing Company, Full Sail Brewing Company, Eskes Brew Pub, Redhook, (Craft Brewers Alliance, Inc.), Kona, Widmer, Shiner Beers, Durango Brewing Co, Del Norte, Steamworks, Rifle Brewing Company, AC Golden Brewing Company, Upslope Brewing Company, Santa Fe Brewing Company, Crazy Mountain Brewing Company, Boulevard Brewing Company, Rockslide, Trumer Pils or Bridgeport Hop Czar, Brew Dob (Scotland), Wine Cru Distributing, Coopers (Australia)

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May 28, 2010

Austin: Memorial Day Weekend’s What to Do

FareCompare had me write a Guest Post on what to do for Memorial Day Weekend. Part of it is excerpted below, and I’ve got two more shindigs added to the bottom of the list:

Memorial Day weekend in Austin means one thing: the lake. Austin’s hot summers call for long days spent in and on the water, and Memorial Day is the official unofficial kickoff to boating season. Most of the revelers will take to Lake Travis, where Devil’s Cove is wall-to-wall boats and nary a shirt is in sight, because the city’s in-town lake, Lake Austin, usually bans personal watercraft.

Boat

Hop on a party barge, like the one thrown by Austin Sports & Social Club. Rent a boat from Just for Fun–make reservations in advance. Or trailer your boat down if you’re road-tripping, there are plenty of public-access boat ramps.

Eat

All that time in the sun is sure to make you hungry, and Austin has no shortage of lakefront eateries. On Lake Travis, boat in to the newly-revamped Ski Shores and grab a legendary burger, or hit the landmark Oasis, though know that you’re there for the view and margaritas, not the food. On Lake Austin, try an Austintini at Hula Hut, where wait times can be over 2 hours but it’s more than worth it, or Abel’s on the Lake (they’re neighbors). Any of these spots is worth seeing even if you’re not planning on getting your feet wet.

At Night

Wanna see the sights but not down for $2 jaegerbombs at Latitude30 with the college kids? Walk the (in)famous East Sixth Street to get to Alamo Drafthouse at the Ritz, a movie theatre-restaurant where you can get a bucket of beer–or Jack and Coke–with your giant bowl of popcorn. If you’re still up for going out, be sure to check out Austin’s Kung Fu Saloon on West Sixth Street, the kind of bar that would only make it in Austin. It offers free skee ball–naturally.

Deep in the Heart of Texas

Austin may fool you into thinking its not like the rest of Texas most of the time, but hit up the Broken Spoke to be reminded that you are, in fact, in the Republic of Texas. Don boots you snagged at Allen’s Boots on the drag or Heritage Boots downtown, button up your pearl snap, and learn the two-step. It’s easy.

More Austin faves you need to check out:

Fancy dinner: Olivia, Uchi, Wink, or TRIO
Outside: Run Lady Bird Lake, throw a frisbee in Zilker Park, or walk South Congress
Snacks: Cupcakes at SugarMama’s Bakeshop or daily special from Odd Duck Trailer

All Weekend: Wine & Music Festival at the Domain

http://www.austinwineandmusicfestival.com/tickets.html

Sunday: $15 all-you-can-eat Crawfish at Gibson

And you KNOW you can eat a LOT of crawfish.

File it under WTF: Memorial Day Weekend Saturday

I can’t do this event justice, so I’m copy-pasting the email (original colors, spelling, and formatting preserved. Literal copy-paste here). If you can figure out what it means, probably means you’re cool enough to attend?

In the BACONATOR storyline, frynet was originally installed into the U.S. military mainfryer to control the national gravy supply. Shortly afterward it gained sentience and the panicking high ranking skilets, realizing the extent of its abilities, attempted to pull the plug. Frynet perceived the attempt to deactivate it as an attack and came to the conclusion that all of the outdated household appliances would attempt to destroy it. To defend itself, it came to one conclusion: Humanity must be baconated.

Before it could be deactivated, Frynet launched The Thingamabots under its command at Russia, to which Russia responded in kind by fryering as many of its breakfast sausages as possible back at the United States and its allies. As a result of the food fight, over three billion humans were killed in just minutes. Governments around the world collapsed and anarchy descended.

1215am Built By Snow
1115pm The Seas -CD Release
1030m STEREO IS A LIE
945pm Red Falcon
900pm Wave Hands Like Clouds
8pm DJ Czech + BACONATOR – Debut on the turn tables!!!!!!!!!!!!

FOOD FIGHT to commence in the outside area of ND.

Free Bacardi Mojitos from 8pm – 10pm!!!!!!!! FREE Sweet Tea Vokda 10pm -11pm!

Special EP Listening Party for The Seas new EP!!!!

RSVP for $5 Entry at Do512: http://do512.com/event/2010/05/29/baconator-vs-the-thingamabots

and just because I love CrossFit so much:

The South Central Regional at GSX in Fort Worth will be streaming live coverage all day Saturday and Sunday at http://live.crossfit.com.

Posted in Eating, free, Going Out, Music, Playing, Sports/Fitness, Things to Do! | 2 Comments »

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May 27, 2010

Aspen: Plastics Make Food & Wine Possible?

Honestly, this is probably the number one thing people said to me as I started talking about being in Aspen for part of the summer — “Oh, are you going to Food & Wine?”

PMIP Aricle Image[1]

Well, no. Hopefully we can spring for a locals’ tasting, or at least hit up a cool afterparty. Unless, of course, I win this Take the Aspen Challenge! Plastics Make It Possible ticket giveaway. [Insert Graduate joke here]

Just answer: “How do you use plastics to create your favorite foods or memorable parties?” Post a comment about your favorite tools and techniques for using plastic for food preparation, storage, or entertaining for a chance to win two passes to the FOOD & WINE Classic in Aspen, June 18-20 AND $500!

The contest closes at 11:59 p.m. MT on June 3, and the winner will be announced at 5:00 p.m. MT on June 4. Contest rules and restrictions here.

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March 3, 2010

SXSWXSWSXSXSWXSW

See, with all the buzz, I don’t even need to put the letters in the right order and you know what I’m talking about. Obviously you’ve seen my ridiculously large and always growing FREE PARTY SPREADSHEET. But because the criteria are so strict to get on that puppy (free party, must offer free food and/or booze), sometimes I don’t get to write about some of the other sweet things that cross my inbox. Mainly, stellar pitches from publicists looking to get their bands lots of PR during the hugest music festival ever.

A sampling of a few that sound good to me (but, let’s face it, I probably won’t go see because I’ll be getting drunk/stuffed/my swag on at the free booze/food/swag parties):

Bands: Apteka, Monarchs, Mull Historical Society, Derek Hoke, Jacob Jones, Francis

Breakdown:

1) My all-time favorite publicist sends this over:

Apteka is the Chicago shoegaze collective that beat NASA’s ass. Apteka came together through a shared affinity for volume and psychedelia in the summer of love ‘06. While on tour opening for front 242 in the fall of ‘05, guitarist/vocalist Adam Lukas met musical kindred spirit Dino Balocchi and compared Big Muff fuzz pedals. They recruited Jesse Hozeny, a human metronome with a penchant for being rather abusive to his drum kit. So hard does Jesse hit that he, in fact, employs titanium core drums sticks. That’s what they use on the space shuttle, mind you. Unbreakable they said. They were wrong. Aptkea 1, NASA 0.

The band completely smashes the misconception that wall-of-sound guitars equates to dull stage presence. Apteka are a rock outfit under swirling lights, swiping their Ride and My Bloody Valentine influences and injecting them with a heavy dose of PCP.  The group has a lot of awesomeness generally abounding. Have a listen – http://futuresounds.blogspot.com/2010/02/apteka.html

Apteka is playing two shows at SXSW, both on Thursday, March 18. They hit up the Buzzgrinder/Buddyhead Official SXSW Party at Annie’s West (706 West 6th Street) in the day and the Kill Red Rocket fantastic newgaze showcase at the Metropolis Apartments Pool (2200 S. Pleasant Valley) later that evening. That’s a pool party dudes, so you know you want to be there.

I say: see, with verbiage like that, how can the band not be awesome? Plus god knows how much Austinites love pool parties.

2) Monarchs’ lead singer reaches out:

Monarchs, a soulful roots-rock band based in Austin, is comprised of Celeste Griffin (lead singer), Alex Tomaino (guitar), Josh Halpern (drums), and Phil Ajjarpu (bass). This summer, Monarchs will record their first full length LP with producer Mike McCarthy (Spoon, Heartless Bastards). Monarchs Myspace Page. In the meantime, scope them at the official City of Austin Showcase on March 17th  @ 9PM @ The Ghost Room or one of these unofficial events:

Birmingham Plays SXSW Showcase
Friday, March 19th @ 12PM
Creekside Lounge
Stem and Leaf Showcase
Saturday, March 20th @ 5:00PM
Rainey Manor House Venue
90 I35 S
I say: I have a soft spot in my heart for bands that promote themselves (see: Achachay!)

3. Great Scots:

Colin MacIntyre is one of the UK’s most respected songwriters & performers who performs with a full band under the moniker ‘Mull Historical Society’. A multi-instrumentalist , writer and producer, MacIntyre hails from the Island of Mull (population: 2,000) off Scotland’s west coast. In just a year MacIntyre went from supporting The Strokes on their debut UK tour to selling-out the 2,000 capacity Shepherds Bush Empire, and touring with REM. SXSW 2010 is MacIntyre’s first time appearing at Austin.

http://www.colinmacintyre.com
@ twitter

Colin is to be showcasing at midnight, Saturday March 20th at the 18th Floor at the Hilton Garden Inn. Colin is also appearing Saturday daytime at Fado’s (obvi?).

I say: Sounds like he’s a big deal in Europe, can he hang here?

4. Electric Western Records Gives Good Promo:

Two separate publicists pitched me two separate artists from the same label, and both sounds great if you’re into Americana or Roots Rock. Check out:

4a: Derek Hoke’s forthcoming record, Goodbye Rock N Roll drops March 16th, during SXSW. His first release and establishes him as a strong country songwriter with shades of Patsy Cline, Buddy Holly, and Lyle Lovett intertwined.www.myspace.com/derekhoke. SXSW sched:

3/17 – SXSW – The Continental Club – Opening Early for SXSW! – Austin, TX
3/17 – SXSW – Electric Western Records Party @ The Hole In The Wall - Austin, TX
3/19 – SXSW – Flipnotics Coffeespace Cafe @ 4pm – Austin, TX
3/20 – SXSW – Thunderbird Party @ 5pm – Austin, TX
4b: Jacob Jones is a 25-year old singer songrwriter inspired by the music and lives of Johnny Cash, Townes Van Zandt, Bruce Springsteen and John Prine. http://www.myspace.com/jacobjonesmusic. His SXSW sched:
Mar 17 2010 – Paradise Cafe – SXSW Party – Austin, Texas (12:30pm)
Mar 17 2010 – Plush – SXSW Party – Austin, Texas (3pm)
Mar 17 2010 – Hole In The Wall – Electric Western & American Songwriter Magazine Present “GET YOUR GREEN ON!” – Austin, Texas (7pm)
Mar 19 2010 – Flipnotics Coffeespace – SXSW Party – Austin, Texas (3pm)
Mar 19 2010 – Thunderbird Coffee – SXSW Show – Austin, Texas (5pm)
I say: I love a good PR firm. Good job, Electric Western Records.

5. Francis is here / Francis just won’t quit

Swedish-band Francis has been shocking and awing American audiences with its unique brand of dark, brooding-indie rock. Their showcases include the Mike Galaxy BandPromote Showcase on 3/18 and the SonicBids showcase on 3/19.  With a new album in the works and a self-titled EP just released, don’t miss your chance to see these guys perform, complete with lead-singer Petra wandering through the audience as she belts out her lyrics, before they head back home to Sweden! Download or stream Francis’ music here: http://download.themusebox.net/francis/ /
Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/francisishere. Their SXSW sched:

3/18 – SXSW – Mike Galaxy Presents BandPromote Showcase, 12 noon – Guero’s 1412 S Congress, Austin, TX
3/18 – SXSW – MuseBox Showcase, 5 PM – Rusty Spurs 405 E 7th St, Austin, TX
3/19 – SXSW – Official SXSW Showcase, 12 AM – Friends Bar 208 E 6th St, Austin, TX
3/19 – SXSW – Sonicbids Showcase, 4:30 PM – Maggie Mae’s Upstairs 323 E 6th St, Austin, T
3/20 – SXSW – Sweden Goes SXSW Party, 2 PM – Antone’s 213 W 5th St, Austin, TX

… see? Even if I don’t know jack about music, I can come off looking cool when publicists feed me all the right info. Thanks, guys! ;-)

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