Each year, the music industry and music fans gather in Austin, Tex., to celebrate music itself. Granted there’s plenty of schmoozing and business happening, too, but for one short week live music is king across Austin – from clubs on 6th Street to parking lots in South Austin, and beyond.
Once again, we’ll be joining the fray in 2012 with a No Depression Showcase at the Continental Club on Wednesday, Mar. 14.
If you’re heading to Austin for the festivities, definitely stop by to check out one (or all) of these great bands.
8PM – THE TRISHAS (Austin, TX)
The Trishas first formed as a one-off troupe to perform at a tribute to member Savannah Welch’s father – the great songwriter Kevin Welch. But, the harmonies this foursome produced in rehearsals for that gig were so sweet they knew they had a project to pursue. So, in 2010 they released their debut “mini-album” They Call Us the Trishas to sweepingly positive reviews. A new disc is in the works as they hit SXSW this spring, but you’ll want to come early to catch the four-part harmonies.
9PM – SCHUYLER FISK (Los Angeles, CA)
As a child, Schuyler Fisk tried her hand in the acting world – a pursuit which perhaps made sense, considering her mother is celebrated actress Sissy Spacek. But, after high school, she enrolled at the University of Virginia and shifted her sights to a career in music as a singer-songwriter. Since then, she’s recorded a handful of albums and toured with Ben Taylor and Joshua Radin, earned her way up the iTunes folk charts, and will land at South by Southwest to take the ND stage this March.
10 PM – AMANDA SHIRES (Lubbock, TX/Nashville, TN)
Amanda Shires started out as the fiddler in Lubbock, Tex.-based band the Thrift Store Cowboys, before moving to Nashville to make a solo career for herself. She’s done quite well at just that, releasing a couple of albums which have left critics astir and fans enthralled. Her latest, Carrying Lightning (2011), scored praise from NPR, the Wall Street Journal, and a money quote from the band Devotchka: “If you don’t like Amanda Shires…then you don’t like America.”
11 PM – WHITEHORSE (Vancouver, BC)
Married for quite some time, Canadiana singer-songwriters Luke Doucet and Melissa McLelland have been lending their voices and instrumentation to each other’s albums and live sets for years. But, they finally decided to make it official and just start calling themselves a band. Whitehorse is that band, and they’ll be bringing tunes from their respective solo careers – as well as collaborative tunes – to share at SXSW. Here’s Skot Nelson’s review of their recent show in Vancouver.
12 AM – BROWN BIRD (Providence, RI)
The singer-songwriter duo of Brown Bird has been pounding the pavement for a while, but it was a string of festival dates in 2011 (namely a highly praised set at Newport Folk Festival) which augmented the duo’s spot on many people’s radars. Their most recent release Salt for Salt is the first for the band in its duo incarnation (there used to be five members), and it features some terribly lovely and simple contemporary folk tunes. Here’s Jonathan Sanders’ review of Salt for Salt.
1 AM – CARRIE RODRIGUEZ (Austin, TX)
Austin’s own Carrie Rodriguez has toured as a fiddler with Chip Taylor, Lucinda Williams, and Alejandro Escovedo, and has dropped eight albums in as many years. Her latest, Love & Circumstance (2010), saw her pulling together an impressive band – Greg Leisz, Aoife O’Donovan, and Buddy Miller – to play songs written by her father, which had previously been recorded by her great aunt. No doubt she’ll have some tunes form that one as well as some new songs to share.
