SXSW: Bands

The following is a list of the bands that I discovered through SXSW

HAELOS - A wicked sounding band that was playing on the Pandora stage that caught my attention from the street. The Pandora stage, which was also the "Discovery Den" was one of the most prominent venues there.
Astronauts, Etc. - a family band, the two vocalists/keyboardists looked like identical twins. I followed Jared to this venue, and even though the sound kinda sucked (one of the center speakers was constantly cutting out), the band was clearly made up of very good musicians.
Neon Bunny - A korean singer that I never got to check out live, but felt the need to check out onine anyway.
Rei - A skilled 22 year old blues guitarist/singer from Japan. 
Dude York - A cool, energetic trio I accidentally saw because I was at the wrong venue.
Ruby the Rabbitfoot - synth-pop singer from Georgia. Wasn't all that impressed with her and her musicians' performances, hoping her recorded stuff will be better.
Waxahatchee -  Singer-songwriter from Alabama
Chirkutt - Band from Bangladesh, a mash of of western and eastern music.
X Japan/Yoshiki - The act that made my week. X Japan is among the most influential bands in Japan. I watched a very good documentary that was followed up by a live performance by Yoshiki, one of the founding members.
[Alexandros] - A Japanese band that sounds the most like many bands that I currently listen to. Certainly the most dynamic and rhythmic band I saw.
Pretty City - A trio from Australia
Parker Millsap - Another act I've never got to see, but heard good things from people about it.

So yeah, I got a lot of music to listen to.
 

SXSW: Drinking from a fire hose

That's an exceptionally apt summary of SXSW. It's big. Really big. 

I haven't ever actually been to a real music festival before, but I've been to several conventions and conferences. At those events, though I understand the impossibility of going to every panel and concert, I at least understand everything that goes on there. I know what's available at what times and can pick all the ones I'd be willing and able to hit.
At SXSW, you'll be lucky if have half a day figured out. The massive size of the space the event takes place means you'll walk upwards of 12 miles over the course of a day, and just standing for a good portion of it too. There are SO MANY BANDS. The panels start around 10 am and finish around 6 pm every day, presenting bands at around 50 different venues from then until 3 am. A single person can only hope to see at most about an 1/8 of what SXSW music has to offer. and there's also the film and interactive tracks on top of that.
The sheer amount of things going on gave me an unpleasant feeling. I dislike the idea of not being able to see everything there is.

SXSW: Prep

SXSW in Austin, Texas for 5 days with GrooveU.

We were off school the day before our very early morning departure. Unfortunately, days off school just means more work shifts at my hotel job, so the prep work to go to SXSW was in a word, rushed. I in fact packed my luggage mere hours before I left to meet my carpool. Fortunately, there were no actual issue that resulted from the rushed prep, just got stopped by TSA for accidentally packing a pocket knife. Meh.
The hard part was mental prep. SXSW was huge, and I had to do a lot of research to get the most out of it. I had a schedule to make and mentor sessions to cancel, as I had reserved 19 of them. Never really got around to either until the day before each, procrastination at its best.

With only one exception, I followed our SXSW one-sheet to the letter. 
After my first panel, I immediately wished I had business cards. I don't necessarily regret not bringing them, I wasn't sure of their design or even my exact career focus that I would present myself for. Don't even have an elevator pitch down. Any card that I would have had would have had many misleading and logistical issues. Even so, not having them was an evident issue. 

I suppose I could have prepared better, but sometimes there are things that nothing can prepare you for. 

Paul the Trombonist

Paul the trombonist knows his brand and he knows who likes it.

He fills a niche that is somewhere between classical musician and pop star. His Facebook, which  is my main exposure to him, is jammed packed with content, But he also has very active content on many other channels that can be accessed from his striking website, including a blogspot, Soundcloud, Youtube, and Twitter.

Given how I discovered him, I would guess that he is frequently popular with college music majors and jazz and trombone enthusiasts, often showing off master classes with guest experts, trombone jokes, and trombone covers.