Bruce Springsteen was the keynote speaker at last week's SXSW Music Festival. He delivered a truly memorable and inspiring speech that is a must hear. Do yourself a favor and take the time to watch this awesome address.
SXSW has been busy like always, just incredible world class music everywhere you go. Ruthie Foster was amazing and I hope that people really get out to see her "family band" which is her cousin and a friend, that round out a KILLER power trio.
A staple of "Bands To Watch" lists far and wide, Alabama Shakes sure didn't shrink under the open Texas skies during NPR Music's 2012 SXSW showcase at Stubb's on Wednesday night. Armed with a bright new batch of songs from the forthcoming Boys & Girls — not to mention booming, shout-along standbys like "Hold On" — lead singer Brittany Howard seemed to feed off a crowd 2,000 strong and packed to the exits. Commanding the spotlight with a generous set worthy of a headliner, Alabama Shakes ought to get used to playing for this many people in years to come.
Backed by two drummers, electronic pop artist Dan Deacon needed only a table full of electronics and a ringleader's personality to launch a wild dance party at NPR Music's SXSW Showcase.
Credit Melanie Burford / Melanie Burford
Pianist Leif Ove Andsnes performing at Carnegie Hall in Manhattan, NY on February 15, 2012.
Credit Melanie Burford / Melanie Burford
Pianist Leif Ove Andsnes performing at Carnegie Hall in Manhattan, NY on February 15, 2012.
Credit Melanie Burford / Melanie Burford
Pianist Leif Ove Andsnes performing at Carnegie Hall in Manhattan, NY on February 15, 2012.
Credit Mito Habe-Evans/NPR
Like hundreds of other musicians and fans, NPR Music arrived in Austin, Texas, before the official start of SXSW 2012. Before we launch into our coverage of the festival's musical offerings, here's a glimpse of Austin's streets as the city braces for five days of insanity.
Credit Mito Habe-Evans/NPR
Enjoy those calories now. They will destroy you by the end of SXSW.
Credit Mito Habe-Evans/NPR
Break dancers perform on 6th Street at SXSW in Austin, Texas on Tuesday night.
Credit Mito Habe-Evans/NPR
When is it not "jorts" weather in Austin?
Credit Mito Habe-Evans/NPR
Old and busted: Getting to that Tanlines show by foot. The new hotness: Purple light rickshaws.
Credit Mito Habe-Evans/NPR
"No greens till Brooklyn, am I right?!"
Credit Mito Habe-Evans/NPR
Free metal from what? FREE METAL FROM WHAT, I ASK.
Credit Mito Habe-Evans/NPR
Thomas Wesley Stern performs on 6th Street at SXSW in Austin, Texas on Tuesday night. You wouldn't know it, but they play acoustic grindcore. (Not really.)
Credit Mito Habe-Evans/NPR
SXSW: Where glow-in-the-dark hula-hooping is considered sport.
Credit Mito Habe-Evans/NPR
New York City's Naked Cowboy has a little-known cousin in Austin. We didn't catch his name, but we'd like to think it's The Naked Guy Who, For Reasons Of Pure Geography, Could More Likely Be Called An Actual Cowboy.
Credit Mito Habe-Evans/NPR
Get ready, kids. This is how you'll be experiencing most of SXSW.
Credit Mike Katzif/NPR
All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen writes via email: "I saw a dozen bands last night and a street full of crazy happy people. Silverbus (pictured) from Taiwan are at the top of my list: a blast of climactic guitar bass and drums. Caveman, Polica and Sun Araw all had crowd winning sets."
Credit Katie Hayes Luke for NPR
Fiona Apple opened NPR Music's SXSW Showcase with her first concert outside Los Angeles in five years. The singer-songwriter is preparing to release a new album.
Credit Katie Hayes Luke for NPR
Sharon Van Etten, a singer-songwriter based in Brooklyn, built a brooding set on stealthy rock underpinnings at NPR Music's SXSW Showcase. Her new album is called Tramp.
Credit Katie Hayes Luke for NPR
Brittany Howard, the charismatic lead singer for the rock/soul outfit Alabama Shakes, told Bob Boilen and Ann Powers that she had never traveled outside the American Southeast prior to playing NPR Music's SXSW Showcase.
Credit Katie Hayes Luke for NPR
Backed by two drummers, electronic pop artist Dan Deacon needed only a table full of electronics and a ringleader's personality to launch a wild dance party at NPR Music's SXSW Showcase.
Credit Katie Hayes Luke for NPR
Toward the end of Dan Deacon's set, a collaborator led the audience in a choreographed dance-off.
Credit Katie Hayes Luke for NPR
The violinist Andrew Bird — also a composer, and singer and accomplished whistler — headlined NPR Music's SXSW Showcase. He performed largely from his new album, Break It Yourself, but also found space for older classics.
Credit Katie Hayes Luke for NPR
When Sharon Van Etten sings, it's like she's singing just to you, and then maybe you awkwardly sing back.
Credit Katie Hayes Luke for NPR
Untrue fact: The Stubb's bandshell doubled as an alien spacecraft in The X-Files episode "Invasion of the Fuzzy Boots."
Credit Katie Hayes Luke for NPR
Travis Sethman, from Denver, freestyles with his group The FAMM on the streets of Austin.
Credit Katie Hayes Luke for NPR
Start 'em young: Christian Brothers, from L.A., plays in the middle of the street during SXSW.
Credit Katie Hayes Luke for NPR
"Can't stop unloading or the van will eat me. Can't stop unloading or the van will eat me. Can't stop unloading or the van will eat me. Can't stop unloading or the van will eat me."
Credit Mito Habe-Evans/NPR
"This side of the room dances like Avatar was actually good. This side of the room dances like the mom in the movie Big." OK, Dan Deacon!
Credit Katie Hayes Luke for NPR
Wearing paint-splattered shirts, the Venezuelan dance-rock band La Vida Boheme kicked off NPR Music's day party at The Parish in Austin, Texas with chant-along songs and stage-shaking energy.
Credit Katie Hayes Luke for NPR
Polica's stage show was a welcome jolt of beauty and power in contrast to the shimmery debut album, Give You the Ghost.
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Credit Katie Hayes Luke for NPR
Mixing songs from 2010's majestic Twin Hand Movement with material from the hotly anticipated Nootropics, Lower Dens seethed through a gorgeous, brooding set at NPR Music's SXSW day party.
Credit Mito Habe-Evans/NPR
Dude just off-center was all agape at the awesome Sugar Tongue Slim show.
Credit Katie Hayes Luke for NPR
Our day party poster for The Parish in its natural habitat: An over-stapled bulletin board.
Credit Katie Hayes Luke for NPR
It's always quite the occasion when Stephin Merritt takes The Magnetic Fields on the road, and he certainly rewarded fans with old favorites as well as new songs in a laid-back set that closed out NPR Music's SXSW day party.
Credit Mito Habe-Evans/NPR
Can't tell if line to NPR Music's day party at The Parish or SXSW fashion show.
Credit Katie Hayes Luke for NPR
Surrounded by a lively and crackling band, Sugar Tongue Slim cut a smiling and conspiratorial figure on stage at NPR Music's SXSW day party.
Credit Birzer
"We live in a post-authentic world. Today, authenticity is a house of mirrors." That was just one of many memorable quotes from Bruce Springsteen's outstanding SXSW keynote that began Thursday.
Credit Michael Buckner / Getty Images for SXSW
Late Thursday night, Bruce Springsteen and the retooled E Street Band ripped through a nearly three-hour "secret" concert at the Moody Theater, the new home of Austin City Limits. Ever the showman, Springsteen crowd-surfed.
Credit Katie Hayes Luke for NPR
Start 'em young: Christian Brothers, from L.A., plays in the middle of the street during SXSW.
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Travis Sethman from Denver, freestyles with his group The FAMM.
Christian Brothers from LA
Credit copyright2007Barbara Southworth
Red River
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Credit Michael Buckner / Getty Images for SXSW
"We live in a post-authentic world. Today, authenticity is a house of mirrors." That was just one of many memorable quotes from Bruce Springsteen's outstanding SXSW keynote that began Thursday. (Birzer)
Credit Mito Habe-Evans/NPR
Like hundreds of other musicians and fans, NPR Music arrived in Austin, Texas, before the official start of SXSW 2012, including this balafon player.
Credit Mito Habe-Evans/NPR
Enjoy those calories now. They will destroy you by the end of SXSW.
Credit Mito Habe-Evans/NPR
Break dancers perform on 6th Street at SXSW in Austin, Texas.
Credit Mito Habe-Evans/NPR
When is it not "jorts" weather in Austin?
Credit Mito Habe-Evans/NPR
Old and busted: Getting to that Tanlines show by foot. The new hotness: Purple light rickshaws.
Credit Katie Hayes Luke for NPR
Wearing paint-splattered clothes, the Venezuelan dance-rock band La Vida Boheme kicked off NPR Music's day party at The Parish in Austin, Texas with chant-along songs and stage-shaking energy.
Credit Katie Hayes Luke for NPR
Polica's stage show was a welcome jolt of beauty and power in contrast to the shimmery debut album, Give You the Ghost.
Credit Katie Hayes Luke for NPR
Mixing songs from 2010's majestic Twin Hand Movement with some new material from the hotly anticipated Nootropics, Lower Dens seethed through a gorgeous, brooding set at NPR Music's SXSW day party.
Credit Mito Habe-Evans/NPR
"No greens till Brooklyn, am I right?!"
Credit Mito Habe-Evans/NPR
Free metal from what? FREE METAL FROM WHAT, I ASK.
Credit Mito Habe-Evans/NPR
Thomas Wesley Stern performs on 6th Street at SXSW in Austin, Texas on Tuesday night. You wouldn't know it, but they play acoustic grindcore. (Not really.)
Credit Mito Habe-Evans/NPR
SXSW: Where glow-in-the-dark hula-hooping is considered sport.
Credit Mito Habe-Evans/NPR
New York City's Naked Cowboy has a little-known cousin in Austin. We didn't catch his name, but we'd like to think it's The Naked Guy Who, For Reasons Of Pure Geography, Could More Likely Be Called An Actual Cowboy.
Credit Michael Buckner / Getty Images for SXSW
Late Thursday night, Bruce Springsteen and the retooled E Street Band ripped through a nearly three-hour "secret" concert at the Moody Theater, the new home of Austin City Limits. Ever the showman, Springsteen crowd-surfed.
Credit Mito Habe-Evans/NPR
Dude just off-center was all agape at the awesome Sugar Tongue Slim show.
Credit Katie Hayes Luke for NPR
Comedian and This American Life contributor Mike Birbiglia introduces Sharon Van Etten at NPR Music's SXSW showcase at Stubb's.
Credit Katie Hayes Luke for NPR
When Sharon Van Etten sings, it's like she's singing just to you, and then maybe you awkwardly sing back.
Credit Katie Hayes Luke for NPR
Untrue fact: The Stubb's bandshell doubled as an alien spacecraft in The X-Files episode "Invasion of the Fuzzy Boots."
Credit Katie Hayes Luke for NPR
Travis Sethman from Denver, freestyles with his group The FAMM.
Credit Katie Hayes Luke for NPR
Start 'em young: Christian Brothers, from L.A., plays in the middle of the street during SXSW.
Credit Katie Hayes Luke for NPR
"Can't stop unloading or the van will eat me. Can't stop unloading or the van will eat me. Can't stop unloading or the van will eat me. Can't stop unloading or the van will eat me."
Credit Katie Hayes Luke for NPR
Our day party poster for The Parish in its natural habitat: An over-stapled bulletin board.
Credit Mito Habe-Evans/NPR
Can't tell if line to NPR Music's day party at The Parish or SXSW fashion show.
Credit Katie Hayes Luke for NPR
It's always quite the occasion when Stephin Merritt takes The Magnetic Fields on the road, and he certainly rewarded fans with old favorites as well as new songs in a laid-back set that closed out NPR Music's SXSW day party.
Credit Mito Habe-Evans/NPR
"This side of the room dances like Avatar was actually good. This side of the room dances like the mom in the movie Big." OK, Dan Deacon!
Credit Katie Hayes Luke for NPR
Surrounded by a lively and crackling band, Sugar Tongue Slim cut a smiling and conspiratorial figure on stage at NPR Music's SXSW day party.
Credit Katie Hayes Luke for NPR
Sharon Van Etten, a singer-songwriter based in Brooklyn, built a brooding set on stealthy rock underpinnings at NPR Music's SXSW Showcase. Her new album is called Tramp.
Credit Katie Hayes Luke for NPR
Brittany Howard, the charismatic lead singer for the rock/soul outfit Alabama Shakes, told Bob Boilen and Ann Powers that she had never traveled outside the American Southeast prior to playing NPR Music's SXSW Showcase.
Credit Katie Hayes Luke for NPR
Backed by two drummers, electronic pop artist Dan Deacon needed only a table full of electronics and a ringleader's personality to launch a wild dance party at NPR Music's SXSW Showcase.
Credit Katie Hayes Luke for NPR
Toward the end of Dan Deacon's set, a collaborator led the audience in a choreographed dance-off.
Credit Katie Hayes Luke for NPR
The violinist Andrew Bird — also a composer, and singer and accomplished whistler — headlined NPR Music's SXSW Showcase. He performed largely from his new album, Break It Yourself, but also found space for older classics.
Credit Mito Habe-Evans/NPR
We don't really know what poi dancing is, but it makes sense that a dude in dreadlocks has taken to bright, swirling lights.
Credit Mito Habe-Evans/NPR
Nighttime bicycling in Austin.
Credit Mito Habe-Evans/NPR
We don't know what's happening here either.
Credit Mito Habe-Evans/NPR
The reunited Jesus and Mary Chain played the Paste Party at the Belmont on Thursday, washing over fans with feedback-drenched pop.
Credit Katie Hayes Luke for NPR
Fiona Apple opened NPR Music's SXSW Showcase with her first concert outside Los Angeles in five years. The singer-songwriter is preparing to release a new album.
Credit Katie Hayes Luke for NPR
Tarrence Cowherd: DJ, beefcake.
Credit Katie Hayes Luke for NPR
"Really, it's more of a queue than a line."
Credit Mike Katzif/NPR
At Uncorked on Friday night, Kishi Bashi used violin and vocals plus loops to create a sound that seems bigger than the single person making it.
Credit Mike Katzif/NPR
THEESatisfaction, the female rap duo from Seattle, gives a sneak peek of its Sub Pop debut at Red 7 on Friday night.
Credit Mito Habe-Evans/NPR
This poor guy really wanted to premiere his solo piece for violin and wolf mask, 'Lycanthropic Tendencies,' at an official SXSW showcase, but settled for the spot where A$AP Rocky marked his territory the night before.
Credit Mike Katzif/NPR
Is it punk? Is it pop? Is it kraut? Is it twang? Who cares? It's just The Men, who killed it at Beerland on Saturday.
Credit Mike Katzif/NPR
Bleeding Knees Club? More like Hair Club for Men Success Stories, am I right?!
Credit Mike Katzif/NPR
Craft Spells was a nice surprise at the Captured Tracks showcase on Saturday night: Justin Paul Vallesteros's sunny bedroom pop opened up at The Parish with a mopey voice out of the '80s.
Credit Mike Katzif/NPR
Just moments away from NPR Music producer and photographer Mike Katzif getting a few blows to the head during Ceremony's set at Red 7's patio on Saturday night.
Credit Mike Katzif/NPR
Psychedelic Hors---'s Matt Whitehurst sports some TV Party shades on stage at Red 7 on Saturday Night.
Credit Mike Katzif/NPR
Keepin' it simple: On Saturday night, Yellow Ostrich's minimalist drum kit and spare guitar effects put the focus on the songs at Baeblemusic's show at Knuckle Rambler Lounge.
Credit Mike Katzif/NPR
Patrick Watson's performance at St. David's Episcopal Church on Thursday night brought All Songs Considered producer Robin Hilton to tears: "It was magical. ... That's the world that I want my kid to inherit.
Credit Loren Wohl for NPR
Molly Hamilton's haunting croon enveloped the Captured Tracks showcase on Saturday with her band, Widowspeak.
Credit Loren Wohl for NPR
Huichol jewelry.
Credit Loren Wohl for NPR
We didn't know that King Diamond had a cyberpunk little brother either.
Credit Loren Wohl for NPR
Yes, yes, this old dude at SXSW has some righteous facial hair, but what about that Wolverine vs. Hulk hat?! So stylin'.
Credit Loren Wohl for NPR
Like Nero before his coliseum, if a band just wasn't cutting it, the giant vending machine doubling as a stage dispensed giant bags of Doritos on emaciated indie-rockers below.
Credit Loren Wohl for NPR
Huichol artist at SXSW.
Credit Loren Wohl for NPR
Well, at least this food truck offers some vegetables.
Credit Loren Wohl for NPR
Tim Gunn could not be reached for comment.
Credit Loren Wohl for NPR
Since Star Trek: The Next Generation's cancellation, Lt. Geordi La Forge has fallen on hard times.
Credit Loren Wohl for NPR
Justin Townes Earle is a regular at SXSW by now. He played two shows on Saturday: an acoustic gig for KEXP at the Austin Convention Center and another with a full band at Stubb's.
Credit Melanie Burford
Pianist Leif Ove Andsnes performing at Carnegie Hall in Manhattan, NY on February 15, 2012.
Staring out across the sea of people crowding an outdoor band shell in Austin, Sharon Van Etten practically dared her audience to pipe down and listen as she held long, cooing notes. She had the guts to trot out tiny delicacies like the spare ballad "Kevin's Way," complemented perfectly by the gorgeous backing vocals of Heather Broderick.
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