Greta Morgan (formerly of The Hush Sound) has a new project, Gold Motel, and they will be bringing their indie pop gems to the Sub-t tonight. This all ages show gets started at 6:30pm and is $10. Color Radio and Volcanoes Make Islands will be playing as well. - Brendan Losch

Day 2 was the day of honing navigation skills. The Baeblemusic.com Party at the Scoot Inn lined up promising acts that alternated between indoor and outdoor stages. A park-style area was decorated with paper lanterns and framed by two bars and a food cart, and listeners relaxed on tree stumps and patches of grass. Seabear, a sextet from Iceland, melded strings and acoustic guitars into a pleasant and exotic folk rock. Inside, Washington DC’s These United States upped the energy with a Southern rock lilt and grimy Gospel flavor, and back in the sunshine, Australia’s Dappled Cities played avant guarde electro-pop. Off the main drag at the 21st Street Co-Op, a “clothing optional” shindig hosted Austin natives, MoTeL Aviv (pic below), in an abstractly painted dorm common room. I found the city’s friendliest taxi-driver en route to Hyde Park Bar and Grill (South) for The Deli’s second sponsored show, and completed my night with some 6th Street sight-seeing.

The Deli Magazine and CitizenMusic joined forces to educate Austin on some of the best artists from New York at Hyde Park Bar and Grill (South). A spacious restaurant and bar, home to the best French fries around, opened into a patio where a tent housed the live music for the evening. A SXSW suppertime party, the “NYC in ATX Showcase” entertained a group of all-aged diners, families, and rock ‘n rollers with five Big Apple acts, including Blackbells (picture below), New Madrid, The Shake, Deadbeat Darling, and Black Taxi. Blackbells offered guests free EP’s and a superb set after traveling thirty hours straight to Texas. The fiery New Madrid pushed forward with outstanding vivacity, and The Shake’s second evening at Hyde Park resulted in enthusiastic feedback and a new population of fans. The wind picked up and carried Deadbeat Darling’s blissful and stirring reggae-rock throughout venue, and Black Taxi almost blew a fuse with their high-powered instrumentation and charisma. Mission “Rock Austin” accomplished. - Meijin Bruttomesso

In support of the new album, We Became Your Family When You Died, which you can download for free, Bullets in Madison will be playing at Schubas on Saturday, March 20th. This 18 and over show starts at 10pm and is $10. We The Living and Chrash will also be playing. - Brendan Losch

Last month Bathetic Records released a split cassette featuring Cleveland’s Cloud Nothings and our Campfires. Yes a cassette tape, and that lo-fi hiss lends itself nicely to the laidback ‘60’s folkadelic style. It was printed in an edition of 100 and has already sold out. This follows closely on the heels of their cassette ep, Burning Rivers, TV Flickers, Drifting Off to Bed, that they released through Leftist Nautical Antiques. Campfires is defiantly a band on a mission this year.

The first day of SXSW is like the first day of school; you’re excited, nervous, and seemingly prepared. Unlike school, however, SXSW is never boring. After my first ever flight through Detroit and an early morning dash to registration at the Austin Convention Center, I scampered off to Rusty Spurs for Deli sponsored Music Tech Mash Up party, where line-up improvements kept me corralled. The event spanned two days and squeezed in fifty bands at Rusty Spurs, a tri-room gay saloon (how cool is that?) decorated with cowboy boots and Texas trinkets. The Mash Up party celebrated the collaboration of various industries, music, merchandise, and new media technology. Upon arrival, sound spewed from every corner of the venue as bands performed on the main indoor stage, in the lounge, and on the outdoor patio. Mid-day, the barbeque was fired up to feed South by South West goers with free burgers and chicken while they enjoyed the second day of the extravaganza’s hefty line-up. Some of the early-morning performers included LA-based, disco-influenced pop-rockers, Foster the People, dancey R'n'B from Toronto, Curtis Santiago, and Las Vegas’s new-wave, electro-pop, Imagine Dragons. Pleasant surprises added at the last minute, such as Brooklyn’s Black Taxi, and Washington D.C.’s alternarockers, Hotspur, caught the ears of those passing by and reaffirmed excitement for SXSW.

Following a quick Tex-Mex bite and nearly sun-burning in a line for the Paste Magazine Party at The Galaxy Room, I witnessed the last of the Suckers’ (top pic) set and the first part of rock-meets-singer/songwriter Austinites, Roky Erickson with Okkervil river (bottom pic). The day pushed on as I went off the beaten path to Hyde Park Bar and Grill(South) where The Whiskey Rebellion’s evening of music and literature featured NYC’s The Shake who enlivened the venue’s calm St. Patrick’s Day. Due to overcapacity venues back on 6th Street, my night was curtailed. Tomorrow would be a new day with much music to hear. - Meijin Bruttomesso

Tomorrow, legendary punk band Naked Raygun will enter Transient Sound Studios to record a slew of songs for release on their ongoing 7” Series. The first 7” (their first recordings in 20 years) sold out in record time and the 2nd in the series will be released on vinyl and digitally on June 15th. The band is as crisp and aggressive as ever. They’ll also be filming a video for one of the new songs, but it has not been revealed which song it will be. During a recent two night stand at the House of Blues in Chicago, Naked Raygun debuted their first new songs in seventeen years. The crowd loved it and these singles will surely be well received. Later this summer, Raygun descends on Europe and the UK.

Are you looking for honest and hard-hitting rock music? Well, Scissors might have what you are looking for. They are releasing their new album, You Can Make It Dangerous, this Saturday, but you can stream it for free in multiple locations. To celebrate the release the band is performing at The Beat Kitchen this Saturday (Mar. 20th). Despite the albums title, this is release is perhaps the bands most accessible album. The band seems to balance punk with elements of pop and anthem rock. Everyone in attendance on the 20th will receive a free copy of You Can Make It Dangerous.

One of the more anticipated releases of the Spring has to be the new album from Canasta. The Fakeout, the Tease and the Breather will be released on May 8th and the band recently gave fans a little sneak peak by posting three tracks on their website. The first track, “Mountains of Molehills”, is a shimmering ‘70’s AM pop gem complete with horns and piano. “Mexico City” is an all out indie rock assault and never gives up. The last track they posted is my favorite. “Becoming You” is a slow burning, atmospheric ballad that is simply irresistible. The album promises to be worth the wait.

Canasta will be celebrating the release on May 8th at Schubas with two separate shows. The first will be with Gregory and the Hawk and is 18 ad over, and the second will be with Brighton MA and will be 21 and over. Best of all, a copy of the CD will be FREE with each and every $14 ticket!

The third installment of Small Chicago is live and it features the incredibly talented band Brighton MA. The band performed three tracks in the Small Chicago's basement studio and completely rocked each of them. Check out the session here.

Brighton MA will be performing a 17 and over show at Subterranean on March 26th.

Growing up a kid in Chicagoland without cable or any access to MTV I got my music fix by taping (yes, vhs) episodes of JBTV and watching them endlessly. Jerry Byrant is a Chicago legend in my mind, but still, after 25 years, has not received the attention and recognition he deserves. For the launch 25th season Jerry has added a few new hosts ((including Q101 DJ Ryan Manno and Lawrence Arms frontman Brendan Kelly) and in turn has revamped the show and its visibility. They are increased the size of the crew producing the show. This relaunch will hopefully gain JBTV a whole new audience and keep the show thriving for another 25 years.

Portugal. The Man is the featured guest, with Chicago band Treaty of Paris on the JBTV soundstage, and Jerry taking a look back at the last 25 years on the show. JBTV airs five times a week on cable channels 25 and 62, and we just started streaming full episodes online at JBTV Online.