... on the other hand

Todd Martens at the Los Angeles Times started his final take on SXSW this way:

As much as reporters sought to apply a theme to this year's South by Southwest, the musicians and industry reps in Austin, Texas, for the four-day music extravaganza just weren't making it easy. The economic realities of 2009 were a relatively obvious topic, but life for the many of the artists in Texas this week -- a record-setting 1,900 of them this year -- has never exactly been easy.

"During hard times, I didn't have much education or stuff like that to rely on," said the New York Dolls' Sylvain Sylvain, reminding attendees that artists are comfortable with recession-time living even in flush decades. "I wanted to take a job where I could still do my performances, or if I got drunk the night before, I wouldn't get fired."

Me, I want to follow up on yesterday's thoughts on Jazz Fest and SXSW and the relationship between the events and their towns. Yesterday my flight home was overbooked and the airline was looking for volunteers to stay until Tuesday - the soonest they could get the volunteers out - with a hotel paid for and a per diem. I considered it, thinking about friends from L.A. and New York that were still in town and what I could do if I stayed. What that reminded me was that SXSW is its own city, and Austin's simply the space it occupies. That might seem obvious, but graffiti on the bathroom wall in the Continental Club says, "Don't move to Austin," and I'm certain that many enjoy the town's vibe during SXSW and want to move there the same way people want to move to New Orleans after Mardi Gras or Jazz Fest. The difference is that the SXSW is as much shaped by the people visiting as the people who live there, and the glut of music will largely go away this week. In New Orleans, the big event may end but the same bands will play the next week as played during those events, and the vibe that surrounds them is entirely New Orleanian.

Getting Religious

In New Orleans, it's impossible to hear about/think about Austin and SXSW without contrasting SXSW and Jazz Fest. The fact is that they share a few very significant characteristics. Both events represent the one occasion people from around the world have to see certain artists. Many regional artists don't tour, and both events collect most of the heavy hitters.

The more significant similarity is the sense of community that underlies both events. Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and a host of networking events make it possible to build a virtual community, but at SXSW and Jazz Fest, you get the visceral reality of looking around a room at a band that draws 50 or so people in your town and find the space you're in at the festival packed. You can see the numbers of people who share values with you; they don't have to be imagined or assumed. It's very clear that you're not alone.

I've half-joked that Jazz Fest is the high holy holiday for the Church of New Orleans, those whose connection to the city and its culture has taken on the character of belief - something beyond the city and bands' actual ability to deliver. The ideas that are encoded in the city and its music speak to them even when the reality is less convincing. Simply because of its size, SXSW is more than that. It's the gathering for those who believe in rock 'n' roll, its inheritors and fellow travelers. There may be more reflexive irony and cool self-protection in SXSW's adherents, but there's no less of a sense of the meeting of the true believers at it than there is at Jazz Fest.

What the size of both events tells us is that the significance of music in our lives isn't on the wane, just anyone's ability to get paid making it. (Or writing about it, I might add.)

Louisiana at SXSW: Friday

Today from 3 to 5 p.m., there's a Louisiana party at the Continental Club featuring the Peekers, an indie rock band from Shreveport; the Iguanas, Tex-Mex veterans from New Orleans; and CC Adcock, Lil' Buck Sinegal and Kenny Bill Stinson's Louisiana All-State Louisiana Revue (yes, so Louisiana the state's in the name twice!). The latter should be a pretty fine introduction to swamp pop, and it's open to the public.

There will be a Southwest Louisiana party starting at 2 at Roadhouse Rags in South Austin. It will have boiled crawfish and music by Justin Primeaux, Drew Landry, all-woman string band the Figs, Dickie Landry and Grammy-nominated Cajun band the Pine Leaf Boys.

Tonight, Theresa Andersson brings her one-woman show to Antone's at 10 p.m. Between a series of looping pedals and the instruments around her, she's turned her music into true performance art, as much dance as song, and it's pretty enthralling and sweet. At 1 a.m., Big Sam's Funky Nation plays Opal Divine's Free House for a set that has roots in brass bands, but it's really all about the funk.

Louisiana at SXSW Today

Today there's a day party at the Historic Victory Grill hosted by NOLASoul starting at 11 a.m. with the Prince-meets-space rock-meets-indie rock of the White Bitch. Also in the day, power pop with MyNameIsJonMichael (who just finished a year of recording a song a week) and Rotary Downs (they play at 5:45). Rotary Downs (who are finally outgrowing Pavement comparisons that have hung around too long) also play at 3:30 at Habana Calle on 6th Street.

In official showcases, the street band from days of yore Hurray for the Riff Raff play the Central Presbyterian Church at 10. At the same time, BeauSoleil avec Michael Doucet makes its SXSW debut 30+ years into their career at 10 tonight at the Continental Club, followed at 11 by the Iguanas.