The Current at SXSW

Join Mary Lucia and Music Co-Director Melanie Walker, The Current's ambassadors to SXSW in Austin, Texas from March 16 – 20. They'll send back the sights and sounds from the world's biggest annual music gathering. With 4 days of non-stop gigging from over 1,500 bands, SXSW is a sonic smorgasboard of new and exciting sounds gathered under the Texas sun.

Online coverage • On-air check-ins • Our SXSW schedule

NPR Music

NPR Music is providing a live webstream of their stage as it's available @ nprmusic.org.

Twitter

Follow @TheCurrent to get one-liners and gossip from Mary Lucia and Melanie Walker.

Latest Posts from the Blog

The Devils music

Yesterday was a blast hanging at the First Ave/ Gimme Noise day showcase. The Goondas, Jeremy Messersmith, Sims, Solid Gold and Tapes N' Tapes. It was great to see all the familiar Mpls faces as well as the faces of...

SXSW 2011 Day 2

So, I've been busy down here in Austin. But, I am pushing through the pain and trying as best as I can to keep up with all the rock! Last night, Thursday, I saw a new signing from Minnesota to...

How many indelible ink stamps can I collect on my body

Austin is not a sprawling city in fact most of the action for SXSW happens in a fairly contained 10 block area. Think of it as Rock and Roll quarantine. This morning I went to a radio music panel, snippets...

SXSW 2011 Day 1

Arrived a bit late last night to the over crowded streets of Austin, TX. Every year this music conference seems to get more and more congested, which can be a bit of a drag. But, it never bothers me much...

I like it loud

Devotchka just finished charming the entire room here at The Current's day stage. And as always were impeccably dressed. My favorite rock writer David Fricke from Rolling Stone was in attendance, I'm such a dork, I like a good writer...

Mary Lucia's Top 10 Bands to See at SXSW 2011

With so many options available, it's overwhelming how much amazing music there is to see at SXSW in Austin,TX. These are my top ten picks to see while I'm down at the conference this year! The Joy Formidable A wicked...

Melanie Walker's Top 10 Bands To See at SXSW 2011

Too many bands, too little time. That's always the dilemma I have at the SXSW music Conference in Austin, TX. In years past, SXSW has been the place where I fist heard bands like The xx, Mumford and Sons, Janelle...

Minnesota Bands at SXSW

Chris Riemenschneider of the Star Tribune pointed out, in his "5 Reasons to Care about SXSW" article that there were, at last count, 36 MN acts making the trek down to Austin. The City Pages does one better and compiles...

Chris Riemenschneider talks SXSW with Mary

The Star Tribune's music critic (and former Austin resident) Chris Riemenschneider sat in with Mary on Monday to talk all things SXSW. Chris is looking forward to catching The Vaccines, Off! and Wild Flag. He's also looking forward to Kanye...

Chris Riemenschneider with Mary Lucia 5 p.m. Monday 3/14

Chris will be on live with Mary for a SXSW preview. They'll discuss which bands they are looking forward to checking out, as well as an overview of what to expect at SXSW.

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Live On-Air Check In's Thursday 3/17 and Friday 3/18

Mary will check in on-air live from SXSW on Thursday (3/17) and Friday (3/18) at 9 a.m., 1 p.m. and 5 p.m.

Thursday 3/17:

Friday 3/18:

Recorded shows from SXSW

At 9 p.m. each day from Monday 3/21 to Thursday 3/24, we will be rebroadcasting the best of the NPR Music shows recorded from SXSW.

Mon 3/21Smith Westerns (live from Stubb's, recorded 3/16)
Tue 3/22Raphael Saadiq (live from Stubb's, recorded 3/16)
Wed 3/23 Middle Brother (live from Auditorium Shores, recorded 3/19)
Thurs 3/24 Bright Eyes (live from Auditorium Shores, recorded 3/19)

The Current Presents: SXSW Recap

We'll be keeping an ear to the ground for the newest buzz and break-out acts. We'll put together a show with tracks from the best new bands for The Current Presents on Sunday 3/27.

And if you're heading to SXSW, stop by and say hello. This is a rough outline of where we'll be.

Radio Day Stage Thursday 3/17

The Current has it's own radio day stage at the SXSW conference center on Thurs 3/17 from 3-6pm. Mary will be doing interviews with each of the bands followed by a 40 min performance. It will be in the conference center so people will need badges to attend. We are taping this radio showcase for possible broadcast. Last year the sound quality of the audio wasn't as great as we'd hoped. If that happens again we won't be re broadcasting the audio. Line up and performance times are as follows:

3 p.m. : DeVotchka
4p.m. : Chapel Club
5p.m. : P.O.S.

NPR Music Events

NPR Music will have three events that we'll be involved with this year. Wednesday 3/16 at Stubb's, Thursday 3/17 at The Parrish and Saturday at Auditorium Shores.

Wednesday, March 16

Wednesday's event from Stubb's will be streamed live at NPR Music site. The bands will be recorded and we'll pick the best of them to air the week after SXSW. Line up is below:

Live From Stubbs
James Blake, 8:30 p.m. ET
The Smith Westerns, 9:30 p.m. ET
Bun B w/ special guest Jason Moran, 10:30 p.m. ET
Raphael Saadiq, 11:30 p.m. ET

Thursday, March 17

Thursday's day party event at The Parish is where Mary will be doing a stage announcement and introducing tUnE-YarDs at 1pm.

NPR Music Presents
Live From The Parish
Colin Stetson 1:30 p.m. ET
Tune Yards, 2:00 p.m. ET
Khaira Arby, 2:45 p.m. ET
Wild Flag, 3:30 p.m. ET
The Joy Formidable, 4:15 p.m. ET
Burst Apart, 5 p.m. ET
The Antlers premiere their new album

Saturday, March 19

On Saturday, NPR Music has an evening showcase they will be broadcasting live from Auditorium Shores. Mary will be one of the on air hosts (along with Rita Houston the Music Director of WFUV starting) at 2:30 talking about the event and what is going on at SXSW this year.

Live From Auditorium Shores
Bright Eyes, 8:30 p.m. ET
The Felice Brothers, 7:30 p.m. ET
Middle Brothers, 6:30 p.m. ET
Man Man, 5:30 p.m. ET
Kurt Vile, 4:30 p.m. ET