SXSW 2009: And it begins

Hey, folks. Live from sunny Austin, Texas, this is James Reed reporting from the South by Southwest music festival. Well, actually, it hasn't started yet (it runs March 18-22), but you'd never guess that from looks of the city so far.

Already 6th Street -- the stretch of bars, restaurants, and clubs that's the epicenter of activity this week as 1,800 bands descend on Austin -- is abuzz with revelers checking out music as much as one another. From all the green attire and shamrock hats, I couldn't tell if tonight's merriment was in honor of St. Patrick or just an excuse to get the party started early. I suspect both. And, of course, it didn't hurt that it was nothing but blue skies and 80-degree weather here today. (Funny how Boston and its March snowstorms make you forget how great the warmth of the sun truly feels.)

Even before I touched down in Austin, it was already resembling a rock festival on my connecting flight from Houston. I was 80 percent sure Ryan Adams was two rows behind me, but then I realized Ryan Adams probably wouldn't be sitting in coach and asking the flight attendant for a Diet Coke. Everyone on my flight, in fact, could have been at a casting call for the next member of the Strokes -- that is, lots of skinny dudes in skinny jeans, wearing tattered cowboy hats and boots they probably bought anywhere but in Texas.

I was lucky enough to sit next to a charming fellow named Ernest, who was also rocking a fedora (hey, when in Rome...). Ernest is an audio engineer and musician who works with Natalia Lafourcade, an exceptional singer-songwriter from Mexico City whom I'm checking out either tomorrow or Thursday night. Lafourcade, who's as feisty as her quirky alt-rock suggests, told me she and her band are in town for their first SXSW appearance, bolstered by a new single, "Azul," that's climbing the pop charts in Mexico. Take a listen here.

So in between figuring out the bands I hope to catch tomorrow -- I already have 15 on my list, a good five too many -- I used tonight to get a feel for the city. And by that, I mean this:

With or without that cupcake, stay tuned for more updates on the big buzz out of Austin. Bleary-eyed at 3 in the morning, I'll be happily reporting for duty.