My Own Private SXSW

Suck it, all you hipster music bloggers sipping lattes in Austin right now. I've had my very own SXSW festival over the past week, without the $650 wristband, long lines, or insufferable pretentious prattle.
In Austin, I managed to see four of the very best local acts as they geared up for the festival onslaught with inspired shows to appreciative and manageable crowds at the very cool Continental Club on S. Congress.

And,since many roads to Austin pass through Nashville, I was able to catch two of the most (deservedly) hyped bands out of the 1700 playing the festival, in warm-up shows on the way to Austin. For $10 at the door I caught a hauntingly beautiful, melodic set from Bon Iver followed by a blistering throw-down from awesome Canadian psych-rock outfit Black Mountain. And, burning used grease the whole way, my carbon footprint was almost nil. Take that, sustainability bloggers!