Destination: SXSW!
Wednesday, March 14, World Cafe host David Dye, Y-Rock on XPN program director/host Jim McGuinn, XPN program director Bruce Warren and XPN general manager Roger LaMay are heading down to Austin, Texas, for the annual SXSW Music Festival, one of the emerging music, film and interactive media confabs.
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SXSW Audio Archives
Couldn't make it to Austin? Lucky enough to go but want to relive one of the performance highlights? A fantastic selection of audio recordings from this year's SXSW are available online from XPN as well as NPR and public radio affiliates KEXP, KUT, KCRW, and WFUV. Check back as more archives are posted.
Tuesday, March 13 at 8PM (ET) XPN will broadcast a one hour special produced by KUT in Austin: Buzz, Bands And The Biz - Why SXSW matters.
NPR's All Songs Consideredis doing a SXSW Roundtable on Friday, March 16 at 10AM (CT). The guests are Rita Houston from WFUV, Jeff McCord from KUT, Bob Boillen and Robin Hilton, host and producer behind All Songs Considered, and David Dye of World Cafe.
Wednesday, March 14
On the World Cafe, David Dye will be giving you an exclusive preview of this year's SXSW. He will be speaking with The Walkmen, one of the many amazing groups on this year's lineup.
Jim McGuinn of Y-Rock will be broadcasting live from the Fader Fort in Austin. This is a major festival venue run by Fader magazine. Dozens of bands will be in and out performing and chatting with Jim during the week.
Friday, March 16
Jim's Fader Fort coverage continues.
Counter to his laid back slacker image, Damon Gough, the man better known as Badly Drawn Boy, is a prolific tunesmith, with an ear for unique, creative arrangements. His recording career took flight in the Manchester scene. After hooking up with like-minded DJ/producer Andy Votel, the pair founded the Twisted Nerve label. Shortly after, Gough made his debut as Badly Drawn Boy with several singles and an EP. His recordings rode the fringe wave of experimentalist pop acts such as the Beta Band. The subsequent acclaim and justified hype over his early work allowed him to collaborate with Thom Yorke, Richard Ashcroft, and the Beastie Boys' Mike D on side project UNKLE. 1999 single "Once Around the Block" flirted with the British charts, and XL Recordings signed the pop auteur. 2000 marked his album length debut with The Hour of Bewilderbeast, which took Britain's vaunted Mercury Prize for Best Album. Since Bewilderbeast, Badly Drawn Boy composed the score to Nick Hornby's About a Boy. Additional new material came in 2002 with Have You Fed the Fish? and 2004's One Plus One is One. In Fall 2006 Gough took a different tact. Reflecting on his childhood, Badly Drawn Boy crafted a light, whimsical collection of semi-autobiographical songs. As its title implies, Born in the U.K. also pays homage to Bruce Springsteen's Born in the USA.
The Cold War Kids hail from Fullerton, CA, but create music with roots that extend beyond geography. Citing influences as eclectic as Bob Dylan, Billie Holiday, Jeff Buckley, and the Velvet Underground, friends Matt Aveiro, Matt Maust, Jonnie Russell, and Nathan Willett formed Cold War Kids in 2004. From the start the band put their unique, bluesy stamp on indie rock, and the ambitious group soon recorded demos in Los Angeles. The following year the Cold War Kids released an EP, Mulberry Street. Their electric performances and stand out sound built a word of mouth following that grew with the band's every move. They spent much of 2006 gaining greater exposure on the road, appearing at that year's Lollapalooza and supporting acts such as Tapes 'n Tapes, Figurines, Sound Team, and Editors. Cold War Kids then signed to Downtown Records, home to Art Brut and Gnarls Barkley. The band's full-length debut Robbers & Cowards was released Fall 2006.
Frequently compared to fallen cult troubadour Elliott Smith, music journalists point to Philadelphia's Denison Witmer as a rising talent fit to fill Smith's void in the indie singer-songwriter scene. Witmer's intimate, sincere work recounts post-adolescence with simple, heartbreaking directness. His sound: gentle vocals over laid-back 70s California style pop. The critical and popular response to Witmer has grown steadily over the span of a few albums. This buzz has taken him from writing in his journal to the companionship of similar artists Damien Jurado and Pedro the Lion.
The Texas-based family act Eisley, made up of the DuPree siblings, sisters Chauntelle, Sherri and Stacy, brother Weston, plus friend, Jon Wilson, began playing gigs when singer/keyboardist Stacy was only eight years old. The band adopted their name from Star Wars' Mos Eisley, the spaceport cantina on Luke Skywalker's home planet Tatooine. Throughout their teen years the band wrote and performed throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth area, ultimately winning 2003's "Best New Act" from the Dallas Observer. Months later, the group released Laughing City, their debut EP, and landed spots on tours with Coldplay and Ron Sexsmith. Their follow-up, Marvelous Things, also came out 2003, then in early 2005, their first album release, Room Noise.
Since childhood, winsome songstress Rosie Thomas has been honing her tender, earnest vocal stylings. She initially garnered attention in 90s Detroit dream pop band Velour 100. Infusing Joni Mitchell-esque folk-pop with her indie sensibilities, Thomas' style evolved and reached new depth as a solo artist. She is a frequent duet partner to Damien Jurado - collaborating on "Wages of Sin" for Sub-Pop's 2001 compilation Badlands: A Tribute to Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska as well as on "Parking Lot" from Jurado's Ghost of David album. Thomas, by taking a more personal and wry approach to her solo debut, When We Were Small, broke new ground. She's continued to gain fans with 2003's Only With Laughter Can You Win and 2005's If Songs Could Be Held. Her work has been featured on television, most prominently on "Grey's Anatomy". Her new album, These Friends of Mine, is set for release later this month and features covers of REM's "The One I Love" as well as Fleetwood Mac's "Songbird". It is the result of sessions with Denison Witmer and Sufjan Stevens. She will be performing with Witmer at SXSW.
Critical darling Sondre Lerche was a veteran of the recording industry from a very young age. He began playing guitar at 8, landing gigs in his mid-teens and courted by Virgin Europe on the eve of his 20s. The then-unknown Norwegian's major label debut, Faces Down (2002) was embraced by tastemakers was well as the overseas charts. Lerche's unique voice and skillful, seemingly effortless craftmanship has him poised for significant crossover beyond Europe. His appealing capacity for the bouncy as well as the introspective comes from a diverse array of influences such as 80s popsters - and fellow Norwegians - a-ha, psychedelia, Brazilian music and the Beach Boys.
Lerche was named Best New Act at the Norwegian Grammys (Spellemannprisen) and tapped to support major acts such as Beth Orton as well as idols a-ha.Live/studio collection Don't Be Shallow dropped the following year, then the personal sophomore effort, Two Way Monologue. Not one for retreads, Lerche explored a new direction with last year's Duper Sessions, that came out of jazz-influenced acoustic sessions with his Faces Down band. Successfully expanding into a new realm, Lerche climbed the Billboard Top Contemporary Jazz charts. His versatility attracted the interest of Elvis Costello, landing a dream opening slot. Admiration of Costello led Lerche and the Faces Down to return to poppier roots, albeit short, punkier power pop, for 2007's Phantom Punch.
The hard work of relentless touring (over 200 dates since 2005), writing new material, building a solid fanbase and an ambitious fundraising effort that allowed him to work with established producer James Barber (Courtney Love, Ryan Adams, Aimee Mann), is at last paying off. There's a buzz about Andy Zipf and it is building beyond his hometown of Washington, DC. It's landed him on the Today Show, XM Satellite Radio, VH-1 and MTV. Winning Disc Revolt's unsigned artist contest is now his ticket to a coveted SXSW showcase.
One key to his success has been taking charge of his career - joining the vanguard of young artists taking their clever promotion and tech savvy to new ways of reaching fans such as Podjacking (using an iPods broadcasting capabilities to send bursts of short targeted marketing messages). However, without talent, his efforts would be fruitless. Zipf's stunning falsetto often leaves a crowd in wowed silence.
Badly Drawn Boy - Nothing's Gonna Change Your Mind
(from Born in the UK)
Counter to his laid back slacker image, Damon Gough, the man better known as Badly Drawn Boy, is a prolific tunesmith, with an ear for unique, creative arrangements. His recording career took flight in the Manchester scene. After hooking up with like-minded DJ/producer Andy Votel, the pair founded the Twisted Nerve label. Shortly after, Gough made his debut as Badly Drawn Boy with several singles and an EP. His recordings rode the fringe wave of experimentalist pop acts such as the Beta Band. The subsequent acclaim and justified hype over his early work allowed him to collaborate with Thom Yorke, Richard Ashcroft, and the Beastie Boys' Mike D on side project UNKLE. 1999 single "Once Around the Block" flirted with the British charts, and XL Recordings signed the pop auteur. 2000 marked his album length debut with The Hour of Bewilderbeast, which took Britain's vaunted Mercury Prize for Best Album. Since Bewilderbeast, Badly Drawn Boy composed the score to Nick Hornby's About a Boy. Additional new material came in 2002 with Have You Fed the Fish? and 2004's One Plus One is One. In Fall 2006 Gough took a different tact. Reflecting on his childhood, Badly Drawn Boy crafted a light, whimsical collection of semi-autobiographical songs. As its title implies, Born in the U.K. also pays homage to Bruce Springsteen's Born in the USA. 
The Cold War Kids hail from Fullerton, CA, but create music with roots that extend beyond geography. Citing influences as eclectic as Bob Dylan, Billie Holiday, Jeff Buckley, and the Velvet Underground, friends Matt Aveiro, Matt Maust, Jonnie Russell, and Nathan Willett formed Cold War Kids in 2004. From the start the band put their unique, bluesy stamp on indie rock, and the ambitious group soon recorded demos in Los Angeles. The following year the Cold War Kids released an EP, Mulberry Street. Their electric performances and stand out sound built a word of mouth following that grew with the band's every move. They spent much of 2006 gaining greater exposure on the road, appearing at that year's Lollapalooza and supporting acts such as Tapes 'n Tapes, Figurines, Sound Team, and Editors. Cold War Kids then signed to Downtown Records, home to Art Brut and Gnarls Barkley. The band's full-length debut Robbers & Cowards was released Fall 2006. 
Frequently compared to fallen cult troubadour Elliott Smith, music journalists point to Philadelphia's Denison Witmer as a rising talent fit to fill Smith's void in the indie singer-songwriter scene. Witmer's intimate, sincere work recounts post-adolescence with simple, heartbreaking directness. His sound: gentle vocals over laid-back 70s California style pop. The critical and popular response to Witmer has grown steadily over the span of a few albums. This buzz has taken him from writing in his journal to the companionship of similar artists Damien Jurado and Pedro the Lion.
The Texas-based family act Eisley, made up of the DuPree siblings, sisters Chauntelle, Sherri and Stacy, brother Weston, plus friend, Jon Wilson, began playing gigs when singer/keyboardist Stacy was only eight years old. The band adopted their name from Star Wars' Mos Eisley, the spaceport cantina on Luke Skywalker's home planet Tatooine. Throughout their teen years the band wrote and performed throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth area, ultimately winning 2003's "Best New Act" from the Dallas Observer. Months later, the group released Laughing City, their debut EP, and landed spots on tours with Coldplay and Ron Sexsmith. Their follow-up, Marvelous Things, also came out 2003, then in early 2005, their first album release, Room Noise.
Since childhood, winsome songstress Rosie Thomas has been honing her tender, earnest vocal stylings. She initially garnered attention in 90s Detroit dream pop band Velour 100. Infusing Joni Mitchell-esque folk-pop with her indie sensibilities, Thomas' style evolved and reached new depth as a solo artist. She is a frequent duet partner to Damien Jurado - collaborating on "Wages of Sin" for Sub-Pop's 2001 compilation Badlands: A Tribute to Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska as well as on "Parking Lot" from Jurado's Ghost of David album. Thomas, by taking a more personal and wry approach to her solo debut, When We Were Small, broke new ground. She's continued to gain fans with 2003's Only With Laughter Can You Win and 2005's If Songs Could Be Held. Her work has been featured on television, most prominently on "Grey's Anatomy". Her new album, These Friends of Mine, is set for release later this month and features covers of REM's "The One I Love" as well as Fleetwood Mac's "Songbird". It is the result of sessions with 
Critical darling Sondre Lerche was a veteran of the recording industry from a very young age. He began playing guitar at 8, landing gigs in his mid-teens and courted by Virgin Europe on the eve of his 20s. The then-unknown Norwegian's major label debut, Faces Down (2002) was embraced by tastemakers was well as the overseas charts. Lerche's unique voice and skillful, seemingly effortless craftmanship has him poised for significant crossover beyond Europe. His appealing capacity for the bouncy as well as the introspective comes from a diverse array of influences such as 80s popsters - and fellow Norwegians - a-ha, psychedelia, Brazilian music and the Beach Boys.
The hard work of relentless touring (over 200 dates since 2005), writing new material, building a solid fanbase and an ambitious fundraising effort that allowed him to work with established producer James Barber (Courtney Love, Ryan Adams, Aimee Mann), is at last paying off. There's a buzz about Andy Zipf and it is building beyond his hometown of Washington, DC. It's landed him on the Today Show, XM Satellite Radio, VH-1 and MTV. Winning Disc Revolt's unsigned artist contest is now his ticket to a coveted SXSW showcase. 
