SXSW Music Conference & Festival — Day One
WHOA!!
Today was day one of the SXSW Music Conference & Festival and man oh man was it good! I am going to attempt a recap of the day and the interaction starting from the moment I was dropped off at the curb of the Convention Center to the time I was picked up 14+ hours later. Here we go…
Robert dropped me off at the Convention Center & before he could even get the word bye out of his mouth, I interrupted him and screamed, “I gotta go!! There’s Amy Ray!!” and bolted from the Beetle to catch up with one of my true heroes, Amy Ray of the Indigo Girls. Of course, she was way cool and we shook hands and I mentioned that I would be catching her set later on and asked if I could send her a CD. She smiled and thanked me and simply said, “Of course.” I stared at my hand for a while as I stumbled through the HUGE crowd lined up for registration. Got in line myself and began a conversation with a fella who turned out to be an owner of a label here in Austin. Finally made it up there, got my picture taken and my badge issued to me, and headed to my first panel, How Indie Labels Find Artists.
The panel was great. I made friends with the guy next to me, Tyler, a drummer for a band that I will have to find the name of and add here in an edit later. Really nice though. By this time I am already noticing that I need to hurry up and get my ass to Kinko’s and print the handbills for the shows this week as everyone and their brother is passing out their stuff and people are actually taking them! The panel was made up of some really cool folks. You can see them all and their bios here: http://www.sxsw.com/music/panels/index.php?action=detail&con=mu&id=52&PHPSESSID=edd5a6b866e4a5ba260c7d0ace3fb356
Out of these folks, I was really excited about Simon Raymonde from Bella Union (*and he’s a COCKTEU TWIN!! HELLO?? Can you say 120 Minutes??), Ken Irwin (the guy who signed Allison Krauss) A&R for Rounder Records, and Nan Warshaw who is a cofounder of Bloodshot Records (Robbie Fulks, Ryan Adams first solo record was also on this label!). And after the panel, I headed over to talk to each one of them separately.
I hit up Nan first. She made a real impression by saying stuff like, “DO YOUR RESEARCH” and “Just send me the CD, I don’t kneed an anvil in an overnight box or a press kit, I need a few songs.” I let her know I did my research and that I thought she would enjoy some of the tracks on my CD and gave her a copy.
Then, over to find Simon, who was also VERY NICE and sincere. I knew when he said, “I will listen to it,” that he meant it and that was a big deal for me because I love his music.
Lastly, I caught Ken just as someone was asking him what kind of music his label was and overheard him say, “You should have done your homework” as he moved onto the next person. I smiled as I extended my hand with a CD in it and said, “I did mine. I have a showcase this week, but I would REALLY just like for you to listen to the CD.” And I know he will.
Then it was time to hit Kinko’s to make the handbills. Print your own at http://nakia.net/images/sxsw_handbill.gif and give them to all your friends — NOW! What was funny about my Kinko’s trip was seeing Simon Raymonde just down a few cubes from me at Kinko’s also checking his mail and such. So, what did I do? I mosied on over to his label’s site, researched some more (I already a good bit) and sent him an email. As he left, he let me know he got it. I reminded him that he said in the panel that persistance is what he likes to see in a band.
Then, I had Robert pick me up on Congress and 4th to head over to the Party Barn to line up the kegs for the party. That’s done – THANK GOD!
PA? Check. Beer? Check. Handbills? Check. Finally it’s here and coming together nicely.
I had Robert drop me back on Congress and headed to Little City where I met my new friend (we met through a Craigslist posting about SXSW) Scott Andrew LePera and his friends, Molly and Jay. All of them were really cool folks and let me hang with them while I was passing these things. We had a few beers and split up. I went to the Austin Music Awards from there.
The AMA’s were cool. I really dug the Tia Carrera show. I had heard lots about them, but nothing in person until tonight. Pretty awesome.
The highlight of my evening by far though was meeting Jody Denberg of KGSR & bumping into Jay Woods from New West. Here’s how that went…
Right after the SIMS Foundation was presented with a check for $248,000 by Jody and KGSR (the proceeds from their Broadcasts Series goes to benefit SIMS) I caught up with Jody on the floor. Now, if you live here or you’re a friend of mine, you probably already know about KGSR. I listen to it a lot and I call in a lot. I call Jody about once a week and give him feedback on the stuff he’s playing. I never identify myself though. So, with that said, I basically introduced myself to him by thanking him for the all the effort and work he puts into helping SIMS because it helps me SO MUCH and it has basically saved my life in a lot of ways. Jody was immediately moved and lowered his knee, shook my hand and gave me a big hug. He looked at my name tag and asked how to pronounce my name and when I did, he repeated it and said, “Nakia…now that’s a name I will never forget.” I was so moved that when I walked away after telling him that I was the guy giving him feedback and having him thank me for that as well, that I just about cried. I could tell he was being totally sincere.
As for Jay. Well, Mr. Woods gave me a hard talking to back in October about booking, performing, building a fan base here in Austin, and doing it MYSELF. I had my feelings hurt for a day or so, and then I realized how right he was and started really working to get my thing going. He is also the Chairman of the SIMS board now. So, I walked up to him and told him I had two things to thank him for and told him about both. Of course, he also remembered me, and my name and even our conversation during the Austin Music Foundation that I mentioned above. He too was VERY happy to hear from a SIMS client who was willing to speak up about the service and he was also very happy to hear how well things were going for me since our first discussion and he apologized for the “tough love” he gave me in October and I invited him to my showcase at COFG and then promised to send him a CD. He agreed to accept it and told me how proud he was that things were going well. He was also – VERY NICE.
So, I finished off the AMA’s by standing outside and passing out handbills and shouting, “FREE SHOW TOMORROW – WITH FREE BEER!” in hope that folks will come out if only to drink and be surprised when they hear some great rock and roll.
Then a quick walk to Antone’s for Gavin DeDraws’s set which was AMAZING. I missed Matt Nathanson, but according to Scott, he was great. Then, I stood outside of Antone’s to get rid of another stack of handbills and invite more peeps. Especially the ladies who loved Gavin so much. I was basically thinking, “OK, these folks really like Gavin. A piano player songwriter. I should pass out my stuff to the same demographic, right? DO YOUR RESEARCH!! It was outside of Antone’s that I bumped into Brad Oldham from RCA. He quickly recognized me and we caught up. He mentioned that he had bumped into Register earlier at a party and I mentioned that I was trying to get up with him.
Had a slice of pizza on the way back from walking Scott Andrew LePera to Emo’s and then it was down to the Daemon Records showcase to see 1945, Amy Ray’s newest favorite band on Daemon and apparently who she has been recording her new stuff with. The last song, Put It Out For Good, was AMAZING! I stuck around to meet the folks from 1945 because they are from Alabama too and it turns out that I am connected to a couple of the members through people I went to HS with!!
Finally, to end the day on a GREAT note, I made my way through the folks to meet Amy just once more. To tell her how much she rocked tonight and how much I loved her music. I also went ahead and cashed in that solicitation and gave her a personalized copy of my demo. When she found out I was from Alabama originally, she replied about the CD – “Good, I love musicians from Alabama.”
I floated, not walked to the place I was dropped off at this morning (technically now, yesterday morning). I bumped into Matt Pinfield (MTV – Who I also bumped into during 2002) along the way back to the Convention Center. Just thought that was cool too.
No panels or early shows for me tomorrow. I will pass out some handbills in the AM at the Center and then it’s time to ROCK! Going to shoot for a video of that for those of you who miss it.
Just one more time before it’s too late:
Thursday 3.18 5:30PM
Church of the Friendly Ghost – 209 Pedernales/512.220.1428
The KiaChia SXSW Showcase
The Greek Embassy (NYC) – 6:00PM
Nakia (Austin) – 6:50PM
Bleu featuring the Get Up Choir (Boston) – 7:30PM
Damn Personals (Boston) – 8:30PM
Admission is FREE and so is the Beer!! Get there early and have a Shiner!
Look for the Ad in Wednesday night’s Chronicle after the Music Awards!!
Friday 3.19 6PM
Graffiti’s Bar & Grille – 2401 W. Howard Lane/512.255.8003
The KiaChia SXSW Showcase NORTH!
John Medina (San Antonio) – 6PM
Jevette (Austin) – 6:40PM
Nakia (Austin) – 7:20PM
Honeywagon (Austin) – 8:30PM
David Newbould (Austin) – 9:30PM
Admission is FREE and the atmosphere is FUN! Get there early and stay late!
PS: I bumped into Josh Perlman of Honeywagon at Amy Ray. He is also a big fan.
OK – If I left something (which I know you did) I’m sorry. I can edit later.
Peace
~Kia
NAKIA.NET
