tv time out? head back to sxsw

I don't look like I used to
I don't walk like I used to
I don't love like I used to
Oh I...
When I feel old

Can't do the things I...can't to the things I...used to,
'cause Oh I...I feel, feel, I feel old.
--Erika Wennerstrom, The Heartless Bastards

Next tv time out you might want to surf over and catch some of NPR's All Music Considered coverage of the recent SXSW You can only hear a handful of the nearly 2,000 bands that played at this year's SXSW festival but there's a decent sampling of indie music that's a lot more interesting than a mismatch.


Grinding Fat Possum rockers, The Hearless Bastards, turn in a charged set from Stubb's Bar-B-Q. The Avett Brothers throw down country cooking from North Carolian that'll put meat on your bones and a smile on your face. And Blind Pilot, the only band in recent history to tour on bikes, as in bicycles, serve sturdy, sweet pop songs for dessert. K'Naan provides some dancing afro-beat, rapping riffs from Mogadishu, Somalia by way of Canada with a detour through Harlem. A decent buffet at all-you-can eat prices.

As NPR's core audience ages, it's been trying new approaches (blogs, podcasts, and yes! even twitter) to attract younger audiences. Thus, for the past couple of years, NPR Music has been broadcasting, in cooperation with the Austin independent radio station KUT, live sets from SXSW. And NPR, likely thinking of that core audience who still writes checks, tends to focus on indie bands previously profiled on such stalwart shows as Morning Edition, All Things Considered, and Fresh Air. If you want to discover bands on your own you still going to have make your way to the local clubs or take a road trip to Austin and stand in line. Sounds like a plan but in the meantime...

K'Naan image by Chris Holden in Ottawa, 2007

blind pilot rides hands-off bars
radio k (minneapolis) sxsw coverage
100 bands from sxsw