How Southwest Was Won
A look at the local bands that made noise at SXSW
Last week, the carnival that is South By Southwest, the annual music festival held in Austin, Texas, was teeming with Georgia envoys spreading the word about local talent. With 15 Atlanta bands and 10 Athens groups, as well as day parties hosted by Team Clermont, the Costume Party, Chunklet magazine, Paste magazine, and Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim, Georgia represented at SXSW.
Musicians from the Atlanta and Athens scenes performed everything from punk to Americana at SXSW’s official evening concerts, dubbed showcases. But they also appeared at the abundant day parties, which are typically free and often don’t require an official SXSW badge or wristband. These shows have nearly eclipsed the nighttime shows in importance. Because musicians can perform at any number of parties in a five-day period, the events give the bands exponentially greater opportunities to reach new audiences.
Saturday afternoon, A Fir-Ju Well played a blistering set at the Blackeyes & Blackouts Brawl: Showdown on Sixth Street shindig at Bigsbys, hosted by the Costume Party, an Atlanta promotions company. Although A Fir-Ju Well did not play any official SXSW showcases, the band was all over Austin at afternoon and late-night bashes. The group has been crisscrossing the country since late January and like many of its psychedelic forbearers, A Fir-Ju Well plans to remain on a perpetual road trip until the van breaks down or the grind of touring gets to be too much.
Atlanta’s garage-punk contingent was out in full force with the Woggles, the Forty-Fives and the Black Lips making appearances throughout the festival. On Friday afternoon, the Black Lips represented Atlanta at Chunklet’s party, which featured a primarily national lineup, at the Church of the Friendly Ghost - a small church converted into a mostly DIY venue. The Black Lips played one official show at the festival on Friday night at Beerland but played five other events including one at Casino El Camino on Saturday afternoon. They thrashed about on the venue’s patio as dark clouds gathered overhead, but the impending storm just intensified the set, with each drop of rain making them play faster and louder until they had to call it quits to avoid electrocution. After the rain subsided, the Forty-Fives ripped through garage-rock revival songs at the Yard Dog, a folk-art gallery with a stage erected in the back for the Yep Roc party.
Several of the night showcases offered Georgia bands not often seen locally. Samadha, the avant-experimental group led by Chris Case, played the Hefty Records show at the Copa on Friday night. The band debuted a new lineup, with Case on keyboards and laptop, Ben Davis on saxophone and flute, Nat Slaughter on upright bass and Mark Spence on drums. While much of Hefty’s roster slants toward electronic music, Samadha draws on a more organic style of free jazz mixed with manipulated sounds.
On the Athens front, Vic Chesnutt performed Wednesday evening at the Pecan St. Ale House prior to the Warm Records showcase, which featured Liz Durrett and Parker and Lily. The Athens-based label recently released Durrett’s debut album, and she played a few songs alongside Chesnutt, her uncle. Parker and Lily followed, and the quartet, after arranging their heaps of distortion pedals, let loose a reverb-saturated set.
Of Montreal packed Friends to capacity Friday for its 1 a.m. set, during which the group managed to squeeze a four-piece horn section onto a tiny stage with five core members. Several horn players from the Of Montreal show - including Laura Carter and Nick Cervini - performed double-duty at SXSW and played with Phosphorescent during its sets. Phosphorescent, which recently signed to Misra, an Austin-based label, debuted new tracks including “Dead Heart” and “I’m a Full Grown Man (I Will Lay in the Grass All Day)” from its upcoming album Aw Come Aw Wry at the label’s showcase Friday night at Maggie Mae’s and various day parties. The newest addition, singer and tambourine player Margaret Child, joined the band on stage as well.