mvyradio @ SXSW 2007
South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual Music & Media Conference and Festival held every March in Austin, Texas. The first South by Southwest Music Conference and Festival was held in 1987 and has grown by leaps and bounds - from 700 people in 1987 to over 14,000. The goal from the beginning was to create an event that would act as a tool for creative people and the companies they work with to develop their careers, to bring together people from a wide area to meet and share ideas. That continues to be the goal today whether it is music, film or the internet. And with its hip culture and variety of musical roots, Austin continues to be the perfect location.
mvyradio has been a presence at SXSW for a couple of years, now. We started out in a small conference room with a suitcase of gear and have ramped up to our own hotel recording suite with two full digital recording setups which enables us to record both in-suite and at the various SXSW venues. More than one thousand acts will perform in Austin, and our own Barbara Dacey will interview many of the artists who are performing there and the mvyradio on the road crew will captured plenty of exclusive performances. Read Barbara's journal and check out recorded audio on this web page.
If you'd like to find out more about SXSW, be sure to visit http://www.sxsw.com/. If you live in the Northeast, be sure to check out their sister festival, NXNE, at http://www.nxne.com/.
South By Southwest, another On The Road adventure from mvyradio, brought to you by Friends of mvyradio.
Sunday, March 18 12 noon.
I feel like I haven't had the time to WRITE as much about my experience here in Austin as I have had to RECORD it. But as things are winding down, I want to put it down more in words. This experience of giving and receiving this great gift of music is rare and never to be taken for granted. To have the chance to listen and partake in the exchange is our work and pleasure. We set up in this hotel suite and invite the music and the stories in. To meet musicians who devote their lives to this endeavor is very unique. It takes courage and vision, and a crazy idea that what you have to offer may make a difference to you and/or somebody else. Even if it's just for a moment- an offering of a new perspective. Freely given. Making a difference. What a way to go!
Saturday, March 17 5PM
Today's interviws started with Anais Mitchell [website]. She is a singer from Vermont and her warm and open energy offered a nice beginnng to our day. Money Mark [website] came in after Anais and it was great to hear him talk about his relationship with Jack Johnson and The Beastie Boys, and his experience as a musician in LA. It's a simple thing, living the life of a musician, but the details of that life are so interesting and engaging. That's pretty much our MO here at SXSW. We have been sitting down with artists, exploring the experience of playing music for a living and all that that entails.
Friday, March 16 6PM
Man, it's been a whole day since I have written anything! We have been going full force, recording as many interviews and performances as we possibly can so we can offer at least a little bit of this enormous feast of music that is taking place in a little corner of the big state of Texas. Today was fantastic, with Vienna Teng [website] starting things off around noon. Her keyboard is bigger than she is. She loaded it in to the suite all by herself and proceeded to charm us with her beautiful music and sincere presence. No sooner had Vienna left than Steve Nice, one of our radio promotion friends, showed up with James Walsh [website] of Starsailor. We were expecting them but not until later. We hung out for a bit, with James sharing his music and memories of his childhood and college days. The Pines, James McMurtry [website], Eilen Jewell [website] and Emerson Hart [website] all made their way to our studio away from home until well after 6PM.
Thursday, March 15 6PM
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It was sure nice to feel the warm Austin sun today! The temperature was around 80 and the town was buzzing. We have a great view of Town Lake from our recording suite and all of the musicians that stopped in were admiring our digs. I took a walk by the river when we had a break this afternoon and it was good to get out of the hotel for a while.
Wendell and Sherman Holmes and Popsy Dixon of The Holmes Brothers came by about noon and there were hugs all around. They were coming from one interview and on their way to another after ours. They played a great version of "Gasoline Drawers" from their new album "State Of Grace". Jesse Sykes from Seattle sang a couple of songs and we talked about music, art, and the digital age. Ottowa's Lynn Miles returned for her second mvyradio on the road appearance and we finished off the day with The Winterpills.
Next stop, The Hilton, for some nightime showcase recording which we'll have for you here soon!
Thursday, March 15 11AM
Gary Guthrie is my partner at SXSW, engineering the sound for our interviews and performances. He is also taking photos and shooting video. Check out our "Day One" in Austin video. We're into day 2 and we're expecting The Holmes Brothers [website], Jesse Sykes [website], Lynn Miles [website], and The Winterpills [website]. The New West Records Barbecue is happening this afternoon at Club De Ville with Rickie Lee Jones, Steve Earle and Buddy Miller. Tonite we will record The Red House Records showcase with some of the musicians we saw in the suite yesterday. Jimmy Lafave told us about "South of South By" and how a whole slew of musicians that aren't technically a part of SXSW play all over town and outside of town. It's one gigantic musical reunion! Wednesday, March 14 6PM
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My journey to Austin for SXSW began yesterday with a lovely ride from Vineyard Haven to Woods Hole, then a straight shot up Rte 3 to my sister's house in Boston. 4:30 a.m. came around pretty quickly this morning, with my cell phone alarm announcing the early hour. I made it to the airport by 5:30, checked in for the 6:30 flight on Jet Blue which arrived thirty minutes early. And voila, here I am in Austin ready for 5 days of one of the biggest music festivals in the world. We've been telling you about it-over 1300 bands from all over the United States, Australia, Canada, Norway, Scotland, Spain, South Africa, China, Japan, India, Russia...you get the idea.
Over 1300 bands! You just have to relax, and make a plan, because you know that you'll only get to see and hear a fraction of the music. And that's ok. The music that I won't hear, someone else will, right? And it will all add up to lots of music played to lots of waiting ears. We had Storyhill [website], Ray Bonneville [website], Michele Shocked [website], and Jimmy La Fave [website] in the suite this afternoon. All settled right in for great sets and conversation we'll have the audio here pronto!
Audio / Video:
Anais Mitchell
Interview with Performance, SXSW 2007 
Performance of 'The Wall', SXSW 2007
Performance: Cover of Cyndi Lauper's 'Time After Time', SXSW 2007
Carrie Rodriguez
Performance, SXSW 2007
Eilen Jewell
Interview with Performance, SXSW 2007
Performance: Cover of Hank Williams' 'I Can't Help It If I'm Still In Love With You', SXSW 2007
Emerson Hart
Interview with Performance, SXSW 2007
Performance, SXSW 2007
Emerson Hart of Tonic
Interview with Performance, SXSW 2007 
Performance of 'If You Could Only See', SXSW 2007
Performance of 'Leave', SXSW 2007
Garland Jeffreys
Interview with Performance, SXSW 2007
Gurf Morlix
Interview with Performance, SXSW 2007
Performance of 'With God On Our Side', SXSW 2007
Performance: Cover of Bob Dylan's 'With God On Our Side', SXSW 2007
Holmes Brothers
Interview with Performance, SXSW 2007
Hoots And Hellmouth
Performance, SXSW 2007
Hoots and Hellmouth
Performance, SXSW 2007
JJ Grey
Interview, SXSW 2007
Performance: Cover of Tim Rose's 'Long Time Man', SXSW 2007
James McMurtry
Interview with Performance (contains explicit language), SXSW 2007
Performance: Cover of Townes Van Zandt's 'Rex's Blues', SXSW 2007
James Walsh
Performance: Cover of Rolling Stones' 'You Can't Always Get What You Want', SXSW 2007
James Walsh of Starsailor
Interview with Performance, SXSW 2007
Performance, SXSW 2007
Performance of 'Good Souls', SXSW 2007
Performance of 'In My Blood', SXSW 2007
Jesse Sykes
Interview with Performance, SXSW 2007
Performance, SXSW 2007
Jimmy LaFave
Interview with Performance, SXSW 2007
Performance, SXSW 2007
John Hammond
Performance, SXSW 2007
Lynn Miles
Interview with Performance, SXSW 2007
Performance, SXSW 2007
Performance, SXSW 2007
Performance of 'Grapefruit Moon', SXSW 2007
Michelle Shocked
Interview with Performance, SXSW 2007
Money Mark
Interview with Performance, SXSW 2007
Performance: 'Here's That Rainy Day', SXSW 2007
Ray Bonneville
Interview with Performance, SXSW 2007
Performance, SXSW 2007
Performance of 'My Name's New York' (words by Woody Guthrie), SXSW 2007
SXSW
mvyradio arrives and sets up the recording suite, SXSW 2007
SXSW: Friday night on Sixth Street
A night in the life of SXSW, SXSW 2007
Serena Ryder
Interview with Performance, SXSW 2007
Performance, SXSW 2007
Storyhill
Interview with Performance, SXSW 2007
Performance, SXSW 2007
Performance, SXSW 2007
Performance: Cover of Paul Simon's 'American Tune', SXSW 2007
The Pines
Interview with Performance, SXSW 2007
Performance, SXSW 2007
Performance, SXSW 2007
Performance: Cover of Spider John Koerner's 'I Ain't Blue', SXSW 2007
Vienna Teng
Cover Trilogy, SXSW 2007
Interview wih Performance of 'City Hall', SXSW 2007
Interview wih Performance of 'Whatever You Want', SXSW 2007
Performance, SXSW 2007
Viktor Krauss
Interview, SXSW 2007
Performance, SXSW 2007
Winterpills
Interview with Performance, SXSW 2007
Performance: Cover of Michael Grace's 'Burning Heart', SXSW 2007