What We'll Miss At SXSW This Year
Top left: Rema; Top middle: S.G. Goodman; Top right: Chelsea Williams; Middle: Totemo; Middle right: Akinyemi; Bottom row: Höröyá Courtesy of the artists hide caption
For the first time since its founding more than 30 years ago, the annual SXSW music festival isn't happening. In an effort to help slow the spread of the coronavirus, the Mayor of Austin shut the major music event down. But Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson and I still listened to hundreds and hundreds of artists that were supposed to play in Austin this week. The festival, and the weeks leading up to it, has, for many years now, been the way we discover a large chunk of the musicians we end up following for years to come. Many, like the band Partner or, just this past week, Taimane, go on to play Tiny Desks or make our lists of the year's best music.
So on this episode of All Songs Considered, we share just a fraction of our favorite discoveries we made while prepping for this year's festival, including the German electro-pop band, Cosby, the UK singer-songwriter Luke De-Sciscio and the Nigerian singer and rapper known as Rema.
More features about SXSW are on the way this week, so stay tuned. In the meantime, learn how you can support musicians in the age of social distancing. A lot of the bands that play SXSW every year rely on the festival to help jumpstart their careers, their tours and to build the financial backing they need to continue making and sharing music, whether it's from a new label deal or fans. Even though the festival is canceled — along with a ton of other shows at venues throughout the country — you can still buy their music and merch and tell your friends about the music.
Hang in there, everybody! Be kind to yourself and each other and treat yourself to lots of music. -- Robin Hilton