SectionsIn the music industry, all roads lead south by southwest
Kevin Ehlers
Issue date: 3/9/07 Section: Features
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The South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin, Texas, is considered by many to be the biggest event in indie music each year. Every year in mid-March, this five day festival offers more than 1,500 bands from around the world playing in every venue Austin has to offer.
The trip from Springfield to Austin is one many people simply can't make, and this results in the majority of us being left to find other ways to entertain ourselves.
Local photographer Randy Bacon and his Gallery Sounds Concert Series have come up with a solution and will bring some of the bands en route to Austin for the festival to Springfield.
The second annual SXSW Music Showcase is the largest music event the Gallery Sounds Concert Series has hosted in the two years since it started bringing national acts. It will feature 11 bands from around the world on four nights.
The bands range from a group taking the indie world by storm in The Annuals, led by 19-year-old Adam Baker, to the current "best live band in the world" as proclaimed by Rolling Stone magazine, Under Byen.
The Gallery Sounds SXSW Showcase began last year almost by accident, Randy Bacon said.
"We had one band that said they were on the way to the festival and asked if they could play, so we said, 'Why don't we just have a weekend of bands that are going to be in SXSW?'" he said.
The first showcase was a great success, featuring four SXSW bands over three nights coupled with various local bands. Word eventually spread not only about the Gallery's SXSW Showcase but of the quality of the people and friendly atmosphere for which the Gallery Sounds Concert Series has become known.
"I have played at many venues in the Springfield area, and all of them pale in comparison to the Gallery," said Jayme Layne, lead singer of local Springfield band The Social. "From the moment a musician steps into the studio they are greeted by Randy and his wife Shannon, and at Gallery Sounds it feels as though each person is engaged in the music and captivated by the musicians that make it."
The trip from Springfield to Austin is one many people simply can't make, and this results in the majority of us being left to find other ways to entertain ourselves.
Local photographer Randy Bacon and his Gallery Sounds Concert Series have come up with a solution and will bring some of the bands en route to Austin for the festival to Springfield.
The second annual SXSW Music Showcase is the largest music event the Gallery Sounds Concert Series has hosted in the two years since it started bringing national acts. It will feature 11 bands from around the world on four nights.
The bands range from a group taking the indie world by storm in The Annuals, led by 19-year-old Adam Baker, to the current "best live band in the world" as proclaimed by Rolling Stone magazine, Under Byen.
The Gallery Sounds SXSW Showcase began last year almost by accident, Randy Bacon said.
"We had one band that said they were on the way to the festival and asked if they could play, so we said, 'Why don't we just have a weekend of bands that are going to be in SXSW?'" he said.
The first showcase was a great success, featuring four SXSW bands over three nights coupled with various local bands. Word eventually spread not only about the Gallery's SXSW Showcase but of the quality of the people and friendly atmosphere for which the Gallery Sounds Concert Series has become known.
"I have played at many venues in the Springfield area, and all of them pale in comparison to the Gallery," said Jayme Layne, lead singer of local Springfield band The Social. "From the moment a musician steps into the studio they are greeted by Randy and his wife Shannon, and at Gallery Sounds it feels as though each person is engaged in the music and captivated by the musicians that make it."
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