Little Brazil Guest Blog: Summing up the SXSW experience

During SXSW, the kind folks in Little Brazil did some blogging for me from an artist perspective. All the entries are great stuff.Read them at those links if you get a chance. Anyway, after sleeping Austin off, Greg Edds chimed in with his wrap up of the festival experience. Here it is, for your reading pleasure...

Greg Edds

 

Every year I come to the same conclusion that SXSW is something that can only really be enjoyed from the “fan” perspective. But after this past week of over analyzing every movement that I made (or didn’t make) during the festival, and catching up on some much needed rest, I’ve changed my mind. It truly was an enjoyable experience for Little Brazil and we all enjoyed the festivities in our very own ways.

The responsible reigns that I usually hold were tossed to the side, due to injury, and having a pleasurable experience was put to the forefront. None of us got to see as many performances as we planned on seeing, but that’s something that comes with the territory. One can never make a perfect schedule or outline of the acts you’d like to see. Most of the shows never start on time, somebody is always late, and the festival runs at its own pace. As an attendee, you have to be as flexible as possible and as a musician; you have to be as patient as possible.

We did however spend a good deal of time supporting many of the other Omaha acts that made the trip down to Austin. Omaha is truly lucky to have so many talented individuals creating music; it’s really something to be proud of.

Financially speaking, we individually didn’t spend as much as we’re normally used to, which could be a sign that we’ve become festival pros. Or that we’re just used to being broke the majority of the time and drink really cheap beer. Lonestar Beer is not the greatest adult beverage to consume to enjoy your evening, let alone all week during a music festival.

We ate somewhat decent food, even though most of time it was consumed at non-decent times; between 1am and 3am. Hot dogs stands and late night BBQ carts are the unofficial SXSW musician food of choice. Good luck if you’re vegan.

As far as the business end and showcase performances go, none of couldn’t be any happier. We drove 13 hours to promote as much as possible and perform our best. Sadly, one of our sets got cut short do to unforeseen sound circumstances. Supposedly, Little Brazil was a couple decibels too loud for the venue we were performing at. It’s situations like these that a band can never really prepare for. But it was what it was and we moved on. There is really no point at getting negative. It’s all a part of being an artist.

To sum it up, SXSW 2010 was an enjoyable 36 hours in the life of Little Brazil. Did we learn anything? Maybe. Did we accomplish anything? Maybe. Did we piss anybody off? Maybe. Will we be back? Yes.

Greg Edds - Little Brazil