SxSW Friday @ The Broken Spoke
Hillbilly
Idol
9:00pm
The Countrypolitans 10:00pm
Don
Walser
11:00pm
Wayne
Hancock
12:00pm
Dale
Watson
1:00am
Quite a lot of SxSW discussion going on. I'm glad to see some of these
issues get talked about. Some of you may know I work with The Countrypolitans.
The manager/p2 lurker/promoter/label guy/husband of the lead singer(the real
manager)/sound guy/roadie, need I say more. Anyway, this whole SxSW thing is a
tough deal but can work for you if you let it. It also helps to have a bit of
luck on your side and are willing to foot the huge bill. All our gig money for
the last 4 months has gone to the SxSW fund after paying taxes, sidemen, sound
techs, bar tabs, etc. We have also made contacts with a few bizz types that
might make the show. Our luck hit us with the slot at The Broken Spoke, listed
above. Hillbilly Idol is the only band without a label as far as I know. Our
label, which is really just me, doesn't quite count. We are actively looking at
real labels but feel we need a CD to get more attention. Plus, we've been dying
to record the band anyway.
We had reservations about SxSW at first. Should we do it or not? Are we
just buying into the industry gang bang of self promotion, schmoozing, and power
play? All the other good bands in town are going, shouldn't we? Was NxNW enough
already? We were approached by an A&R rep after that but were already
committed to self-production. It all came down to, "what the hell."
What do we have to lose accept money? (Thank god for our day jobs) Are we not in
this for the music anyway? So after lots of hard work and $, here we are slated
for a dream-come-true bill at The Broken Spoke. Plus we get to go to Austin and
have fun. I hope to finally meet some of you P2ers too.
Erik Gerding
el presidente
Ultrapolitan
Records
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