As many of you already know, the mayhem that is known as SXSW has hit Austin this week. The interactive and film parts of the festival began last week and the music "technically" starts tomorrow. This will be my first time experiencing the festival, and I must say I am giddy and anxious for what is to come. In all my festival days, I have never been to anything of this mass or proportion (redundant?, perhaps). Crazy doesn't begin to explain it.
Tomorrow begins some day party madness for me. I am super excited about some of the acts I am planning (and crossing my fingers that I will get) to see! I will try to update the blog with pics and such from shows....On tomorrow's list of hopefuls:
- A much buzzed about Samantha Crain and the Midnight Shivers - fronted by a great young singer/songwriter from OK.
- Elvis Perkins in Dearland - great new album...should be awesome
- Heartless Bastards - no, not the ones with James McMurtry - I was fooled at first as well. But, this would be the Ohio Heartless Bastards with some rocking grooves.
- M. Ward - AHHH! yeah, that pretty much describes it.
Oh, and forget NCAA brackets for me this year...SXSW has me way too hyped up to think about BBall. But, of course, I have to give a shout to my Tigers! PS, Clemson - let's make it a little longer than the recent ACC tourney, k?
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Friday, March 13, 2009
They Call it Home
I've been wondering lately (a little too intensely) about the concept of home and our "localities." Having moved around quite a bit in the last 5/6 years, home has generally just evolved with me. But, if anyone asks "So, whereabouts you from," I will immediately answer "North Carolina." But, I wonder if that's true anymore?
The real answer to that question is not so easy. Yeah, I'm from NC, but I spent a good 4 years in South Carolina, then another 4 in Wyoming, before making my way to Austin, TX about 6 months ago. That makes me feel like a very mixed up mutt. In between all the moving around, I lost a good portion of that Southern twang, picked up a good bit of Western know-it-all and now slosh around even better Texas twang.
I've noticed in each area I move to, there is huge, I mean huge, pride in being a "local" and even more in "born, raised, stayed." In every area, it's exactly the same. And don't you dare call yourself a local around one of them...that's just cause for a fight. But, wait, I can't call myself a local in NC (b/c I haven't lived there in 8 years or so), or Wyoming (even though I OWN a place there), or in Texas (b/c I just haven't been here LONG enough). So where do I fit in?
Nowhere you say? Yeah, exactly. Hmm, maybe home is "where the heart is." Oh wait, that just made me puke in my mouth a bit. Nope, home has to be much simpler than that. It's got to be that place that takes my money every month for a dry square of land.
And local pride? Well, okay, if you were lucky enough to be born, raised and choose to live (for all your life - those are the luckiest) in let's say, Poodunc, USA town, well okay I'll let that slide. Because, damn you sure are lucky to never have lived in any other amazing places just the US has to offer. But, I digress....
The real answer to that question is not so easy. Yeah, I'm from NC, but I spent a good 4 years in South Carolina, then another 4 in Wyoming, before making my way to Austin, TX about 6 months ago. That makes me feel like a very mixed up mutt. In between all the moving around, I lost a good portion of that Southern twang, picked up a good bit of Western know-it-all and now slosh around even better Texas twang.
I've noticed in each area I move to, there is huge, I mean huge, pride in being a "local" and even more in "born, raised, stayed." In every area, it's exactly the same. And don't you dare call yourself a local around one of them...that's just cause for a fight. But, wait, I can't call myself a local in NC (b/c I haven't lived there in 8 years or so), or Wyoming (even though I OWN a place there), or in Texas (b/c I just haven't been here LONG enough). So where do I fit in?
Nowhere you say? Yeah, exactly. Hmm, maybe home is "where the heart is." Oh wait, that just made me puke in my mouth a bit. Nope, home has to be much simpler than that. It's got to be that place that takes my money every month for a dry square of land.
And local pride? Well, okay, if you were lucky enough to be born, raised and choose to live (for all your life - those are the luckiest) in let's say, Poodunc, USA town, well okay I'll let that slide. Because, damn you sure are lucky to never have lived in any other amazing places just the US has to offer. But, I digress....
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Oh, a Blog, what's that?
I apologize for being extremely lazy with blog posts lately. I don't have any good reasons either. The news is slow, the pickin's good and the weather has been pretty fab recently. Okay, maybe a few reasons...
This weekend I was able to catch some amazing Austin shows, a good warm up for what's about to hit me full force in just a week's time (SXSW!). The boyfriend was in town and on Friday night we caught the Belleville Outfit at Momo's. These kids (yeah, I can call them that b/c I'm not so sure they are even old enough to drink, which makes them much younger than I) are killing it and deliver a great mix of original harmony driven cajun-swing-jazz-and everything else. Definitely music you can shake to.
Last night we headed over to the Saxon Pub to see Bob Schneider's Lonelyland. I don't want to admit it, but it was my first time seeing Bob (in Austin, that's a bit of a bad thing!). Of course, he and the rest of the band were completely phenomenal. Bob is classic Austin. A dash of arrogance, great songwriting, lots of words one would not say around one's mother, and a lot of beer swishing fun. Every song felt like a new concert experience - it was great. The man is worth the hype and I will be making it out to many more shows!
This weekend I was able to catch some amazing Austin shows, a good warm up for what's about to hit me full force in just a week's time (SXSW!). The boyfriend was in town and on Friday night we caught the Belleville Outfit at Momo's. These kids (yeah, I can call them that b/c I'm not so sure they are even old enough to drink, which makes them much younger than I) are killing it and deliver a great mix of original harmony driven cajun-swing-jazz-and everything else. Definitely music you can shake to.
Last night we headed over to the Saxon Pub to see Bob Schneider's Lonelyland. I don't want to admit it, but it was my first time seeing Bob (in Austin, that's a bit of a bad thing!). Of course, he and the rest of the band were completely phenomenal. Bob is classic Austin. A dash of arrogance, great songwriting, lots of words one would not say around one's mother, and a lot of beer swishing fun. Every song felt like a new concert experience - it was great. The man is worth the hype and I will be making it out to many more shows!
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