Temporary Texans: NPR at SXSW

NPR has sent Stephan Thompson to one of the biggest events in the Music Industry, South by Southwest, “a sort of music-industry trade show held for four days every March in (usually) sunny Austin, Tex.”  And he’s blogging the whole thing.  From his introduction post:

From the intro to South by Southwest attracts more than 1,300 bands — many more, if you count the ones playing unofficial shows in unaffiliated bars, not to mention buskers and the occasional guerrilla performance on the back of a flatbed truck. And, of course, it brings tens of thousands of diehard fans, label employees, promoters, wannabes, media types, and locals who will gladly expound on their love-hate relationship with the festival and its associated chaos.

From Wednesday through Saturday, NPR.org will not only team up with member stations to stream more than two dozen performances from bands playing the festival, but we’ll also post to this blog as frequently as logistics allow. Rather than merely set the scene — “It’s loud in this club! Wish you were here!” — we’ll stream a veritable pantload of music by artists we like: the ones we anticipated coming in and the ones we discover along the way. And, of course, readers can add to the discussion, offering feedback on the music, recommendations for artists both new and old, and terse corrections of the usage errors and broken links that come with blogging while trying to watch rock shows and drink beer.

Sounds like fun. Read along at www.npr.org/blogs/sxsw. Sample the music and let us know what you’d like to hear!