South By Southwest Music Festival, Austin, TX - March 18 - 22

SXSW - AUSTIN, TEXAS - MARCH 18 - 22

South By Southwest has been kicking ass since 1987 offering new music to the world, and in 1994 film and interactive (the web and emerging technology) conferences were added to the whole shebang, for a more well-rounded spectrum of fun. This year, the festival's already been swinging in the film and interactive arenas since the 13th, but the music conference doesn't start until the 18th. Still time for a road trip or hop on a plane for a mini-vacay!

I love that on the front page of the SXSW site that they asked singer-songwriter Meiko to pretend she's 15 and put three songs on a mixtape for her crush, and since it would have been 1997 when she was that age, she puts down DJ Kool's "Let Me Clear My Throat," Luscious Jackson's "Naked Eye," and Erykah Badu's "On and On." Perfectly 90's.

Here's a copy of the music schedule, and Paste Magazine, Oh My Rockness, and Afro-Punk all have the dirty lowdown on parties and must-see bands.

If you're going out there, lucky you! As Rick James might say, "Enjoy yourself!"