Every building in Ausin that could host a show does. You walk along Austin's 6th street and it's one band after another after another. The 31 Flavors has speakers set up in the corners with a British punk band blasting out about the Queen's short comings one foot from a Darquri ice. No, not really, but pretty close; there are bands playing in every corner of this town; stacked on bills of ten bands in a row each playing for 40 min.

The Swayback plays four of these shows this week: three today (1PM, 4:45PM and 6PM) all at different venues and another show with Denver's Bright Channel, Photo Atlas, Porlolo, and Hot IQs on Saturday. Today will be hectic and Swayback loves hectic so it'll be fun to blast out three sets in one day.

We have some booking agents and record industry folk coming to see the shows. SXSW is good for meeting people that can help further your musical journey. And that's the goal: keep making music and see if you can get some people to dig on it.

We drove straight down from Denver yesterday. We were about a 100 miles behind our friends in the Denver band Vaux. Our idea to convoy with them was thwarted by our decision to execute a "leisurely pace" for this jaunt. It took 24 hours cause we stopped and took photos of an abandoned wild west town in Kansas, thrift store shopped in TX, napped in the van at a truck stop, and ate at our beloved Waffle House where the waitress encouraged our friend Kyle to "come inside with that cigarette darlin', you can smoke in the Waffle House".

When we finally hit the streets of Austin last night we saw all the Denver tribe: Bright Channel, Matt who owns the Hi-Dive, Ben and Tim from Public service records, The Omens, Born in The Flood, Vaux, Porlolo. The Denver crew runs deep at SXSW these days; a testament to all the amazing music and music makers/supporters in Denver.

I only went to one showcase last night cause we were out in the streets handing out fliers for our shows today. It was such a rad show to start the festival off with because the two bands I saw were so obviously there to rock; subversive and punk at heart, these two bands were all about getting rowdy.

The first band was Ohio's Gil Mantera's Party Dream. Two large tattooed and hairy fellas with guitars, synths, and a drum machine. It sounded like icy electro Fischerspooner on a heavy faux homo-erotic Turbonegro trip. Let me explain, these two dudes were playing kinda 80sish synth pop while in thongs, mesh shirts, long hair and hairy chests and leather pants. It was a digital camera shoot off cause they were a sight to be seen. Little Japanese girls were actually reaching out and touching "Gil's Party Dream" and giggling hysterically. Even though these two guys'stage antics and garb were outrageous there was a seriousness and tightness to their delivery that i was blown away with. Two straight guys on a drunken leathery electro freakout mission. Loved it.

Art Brut from London was the headliner. They are art school kids that play smart indie-tinged british punk. They lash out at the music industry at the same time they encouraged the crowd to start a band and express themselves. Art But delivered a nice tongue and cheek number chanting "I'm considering a move to LA"....a mantra many wanna be rockers have said in hopes of "making" it in the music biz. Fools gold ladies and gentleman. Off to make the rock. xo. Eric