My anticipation for SXSW seems to always kick into high gear around February, so when I finally get to Austin it’s like a kid in a candy shop for me. Wednesday, the start of the music portion of SXSW, was everything I thought it would be and more. I arrived in Austin around 1PM and started my day off at the Guitartown/Conqueroo party over at Fado’s Irish Pub. I’ve been going to this party for years and somehow it continues to grow. The lists of artists that play this show is mind boggling! It’s 12 hours of straight music from some of the big names in music including: The Silos, Raul Malo, James McMurtry, Scott Miller, Chip Robinson and so many more.
1PM Fado’s
I caught a few shows in the early afternoon including a great set with Bukka Allen (including Gurf Morlix on guitar). I have been a long time fan of Bukka since his B3 Hammond work with Ian Moore back in the Steamboat days. I enjoyed seeing Bukka lead the show as he’s got a great voice.
3PM Paradise
I walked over to a venue called Paradise off of 6th street to catch the Canada band The Deep Dark Woods. These guys were recommended to me from a conversation I had with the Sumner Brothers (another great band up in Canada). I really enjoyed The Deep Dark Woods sound. It’s one to check out on iTunes. The venue was great as well especially with free Rolling Rock 
4PM Opal Devines
PR guru Pigeon O’Brien hosts a showcase every year out at Opals and it’s one that I always look forward too. Pigeon had a great line-up this year and I was able to catch Jimmy Baldwin, porterdavis and Gurf Morlix. I had a chance to talk with Gurf for a bit and learned that he produced the first studio album for the band porterdavis. Prior to this showcase, I’d never heard of porterdavis but this was one of my top bands for Wednesday. porterdavis is a 3 piece roots rock band which took three awards at the Austin Music Awards this year (including best Roots Rock Band and best drummer). Let me just say these guys were fantastic! Following porterdavis, Gurf took the stage which is always a treat.
5PM Paradise
Who hasn’t heard of Justin Townes Earle? It was one year ago that I met Justin out at our showcase at SXSW. I had no clue about his music but let’s just say 2008 was a great year for Justin. He took the music scene by storm with his “Hard Livin’” debut cd. Justin has just released his follow-up album and was down in Austin to spread the word. He put on a great set, the crowd was bumping.
6PM Fado’s
I headed back to Fado’s to catch a few shows and hook up with some friends of mine (Larry & Heather). Larry runs the music blog hickorywind.org and also recently launched a service which we use here on AR called ReviewShine.com. We caught Chip Robinson who lit the stage on fire followed by The Silos (including Jon Dee Graham). The Silos rocked an amazing 45 minute set complete with 3 electric guitars, a keyboard, drums and bass. Jon Dee Graham brought a completly different vibe to the set which I think amazed the band and entire crowd At the end of the set, I was convinced he was going to light his guitar on fire to cap off the show. It was a memorable set!
After The Silos, we caught one of my favorites Scott Miller perform acoustically in Fado’s. The inside PA system blew up (literally) but Scott did a fantastic job of keeping the crowd engaged. I’m really looking forward to seeing him at our showcase this Friday at Waterloo Ice House.
8PMWaterloo Ice House
To finish off the night, I went over to Waterloo for the Palo Duro Showcase. This is a guarantee’d good time every year. This show included Darryl Lee Rush, Two Tons of Steel, Walt Wilkins and more. The highlight for me was Two Tons of Steel. This shouldn’t suprise anyone as the lead singer is my uncle but let me just say these guys are possessed with the ability to entertain any audience. They are built for live shows and after 13 years of watching them live they somehow continue to get better and literally explode on stage. It was a lot of fun!
So that’s my day for Wednesday! More to come from Thursday’s events.
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