On The Way To Austin

The South by Southwest Music and Media Conference kicks off in Austin, Texas on Wednesday. It's a big year: The 25th for the music festival, which is the most important annual showcase event for indie and up and coming acts in the constantly reshaping music industry.

That remains true even as SXSW Music is, in some ways, not even the biggest fish in its own pond anymore. SXSW Interactive, the growing techie confab that makes up the SXSW troika along with an influential indie Film festival, attracted 33,000 registrants last year, outdrawing the music festival for the first time.

But while SXSW Interactive is where the geeks go, SXSW music is where the bands are. With most of the action taking place between Wednesday and Saturday in close to 100 official venues (and many more unofficial ones), there will be more than 2000 acts plugging in and letting it rip in the south central Texas capitol city this week.

There will be plenty of brand names on hand, from New York rockers the Strokes and TV on the Radio to country songbird Emmylou Harris to conscious Chicago rapper Lupe Fiasco to famously profane pop-soul man Cee Lo Green. Yoko Ono, Bob Geldof and Andrew W.K. will give keynotes, and there will be panel discussions on topics such as The Future Of Music - Is There One?, the great gospel blues man Blind Willie Johnson and how to set up your band as a business.

SXSW is a big international event - last year, acts from 49 different countries performed. And it's a crucial career step for scads of Philadelphia bands, hoping to gain exposure among the gathered media and marketing types. More than two dozen acts from the region will be hopping on a plane or piling in a van for the trip to Texas.

Among them: West Philadelphia electronic grungers Mose Giganticus, rapper Spank Rock,  singer-songwriter Denison Witmer, and globalist DJ and Blackberry spokesman Diplo (who is also the subject of a short film that was shown at SXSW film this weekend, and who is pictured above).

Hairy hippie rocker Kurt Vile and cacophonous consortium Man Man will perform on Saturday as part of a NPR broadcast. Veteran bluesboy and rapper G. Love will play multiple gigs in support of his rootsy new Avett Brothers-produced Fixin' To Die album. Drexel dropout hip-pop sensations Chiddy Bang have several showcases lined up to to whet appetites for their long time in coming full length debut album, due in June. And Philadelphia psychedelic pop out Sun Airway will be doing 8 shows in Austin promoting its Dead Oceans release Nocturne Of Exploded Crystal Chandelier.

Adult alternative station WXPN (88.5-FM) has a bigger SXSW footprint every year. On Friday and Saturday, XPN will do live broadcasts from Austin, with the Friday acts playing at the Austin Convetion Center including the J Mascis and Bobby Long, and Saturday's show from the outdoor Auditorium Shores stage featuring Bright Eyes, Midddle Brother and the Felice Brothers, as well as Philadelphia's Vile and Bright Eyes.

And if you're going to be in Austin, Thursday afternoon, XPN and it's local music blog, The Key, are hosting an all-Philly band day party in conjunction with Fishtown blog Yvynyl at Austin's Broken Neck. that 12 band bill includes Delwareans The Spinto Band, punky Philadelphia married duo Reading Rainbow, excellently named grrl band Slutever and Toto-covering indie outfit Golden Ages.

Previously: Cool Rocking Loretta