Tulsa, an indie-rock band from Boston fronted by Carter Tanton, was a big hit at its last SXSW appearance Saturday night at Emo's Annex. After the trio's set, a young guy from Alabama near the front was incredulous. "Man, no offense, but that didn't sound like it was from Boston at all," he told me. "It sounded Southern. They should be opening for My Morning Jacket."

Crowd excitement was palpable at Ezra Furman & the Harpoons' final SXSW performance, a spot on the Minty Fresh showcase Saturday just after 11 p.m. at Habana Annex. Furman, who's finishing his last semester at Tufts, had his mother, father, and sister in the audience.

Fresh from playing a Lou Reed tribute three nights prior, indie singer-songwriter Joseph Arthur covered the Velvet Underground's "Pale Blue Eyes" at an intimate show at the Red Fez Saturday afternoon.

Boston-based electro-pop band Fantasy Mirrors, featuring Nathanael Bluhm on vocals, performed its showcase at Karma Lounge Friday. By the end of the night, the audience had moved to the front and danced along with Bluhm and bandmates.

Boston indie-rock band Drug Rug played its final SXSW show at the Jackalope Saturday, wrapping up the night with the gritty "For the Rest of Your Life."

Joe Shepard, who used to tend bar at Zuzu in Cambridge, lives in Brooklyn now and performs as a dancer (in spandex!) and back-up singer in Heloise & the Savoir Faire.

Heloise Williams leads the brash disco-rock band Heloise & the Savoir Faire, which played at BUST magazine's party at Habana Calle 6 Friday. The band is signed to actor Elijah Wood's Simian Records label.

Elijah Wood was at SXSW for a Saturday showcase for the label he owns, Simian Records. Heloise & the Savoir Faire is the second artist Wood signed, after the Apples in Stereo. He spent most of Heloise's performance snapping photos with adoring fans who approached him nearly every five minutes.

Beloved indie-country rocker Matthew Houck, leader of Phosphorescent, got a late start for his set at Mohawk Patio Thursday night. He and the band waited a little bit for the many fans waiting outside in the long line to fill up the venue.

Aussie dance-pop chanteuse Sia played to a full house as part of a live TV taping Thursday afternoon. She and her band have been opening their shows in neon cardboard costumes that glow in the dark.

Drawing more from Marvin Gaye than Tito Puente, Cuban singer-songwriter Alex Cuba treated a dancing crowd to his soul tunes at Copa Thursday night.

Martha Wainwright previewed songs from her upcoming album, "I Know You're Married But I've Got Feelings Too," at a live TV taping Thursday afternoon. Producer-musician Daniel Lanois dropped by for a cameo as well.

This night comes to an end with us watching a video of last night's performance, courtesy of Gene and John McCullagh. Man, looking back, I was not exaggerating how fun last night was. It was just one of those special moments for the band. I hope to get some videos up soon, but for now, we can gawk at this nice write-up and photo gallery on Mass Culture.

Today, we spent much of the day with The Sterns, coming to realize we'd actually met Emeen and Andrew before when we played with Age Rings last summer in New York City, and they were filling in. We went for burgers, and to this little local mom-and-pop shop called Guitar Center, before sending them on their way. Fear not, we'll meet again in Austin.

We ended up doing an impromptu house party in Denton tonight, which was pretty cool. There's something about doing a Monday night show in a college town during exams week that's just unsettling. It seemed like a recipe for disaster (i.e. angry neighbors and police), but alas, we pulled out a quick set of fan favorites for the local loyals, in this order: Shotgun Wedding / Loose Lips / On The Lam / Whitewashed / Shine A Light / You Better, You Better (cover)

We depart in a matter of hours for San Antonio with my main man Mike driving most of the equipment and a few friends helping get the bodies down there. We still don't have a drumset for the trip. However, we'll make it work -- we've got one coming in time for the Waco show, it appears, and the rest of the week we'll be backlining. I'm working very hard to confirm another Austin show, since our SXSW party has a limit to the amount of guests allowed and we want to make sure we can play to our fans' hearts' content.

If any Boston bands are looking for a show in Austin this week, we're trying to set something up down there. Contact us at cassavettesband@hotmail.com.

I feel kind of strange and exposed being the only one blogging so far. But then again, SXSW doesn't start for another couple days, so it makes sense that I should entertain in the interim with wild stories of the road. So, here goes...

Tonight, Cassavettes played a headlining set at Rubber Gloves in Denton, a legendary club in this town that's as cozy as it is familiar. I've been seeing shows there since I started going to shows, but I've only played there once -- a solo show two years ago. Tonight easily topped that. In fact, tonight I'd say was in my top three Cassavettes shows of all time (my short list: 1) Cassavettes' anniversary show at the Middle East, July 11, 2006; 2) TT the Bear's Place, April 2006 or Rodfest, Paradise Rock Club, Jan. 19. 2007; 3) Rubber Gloves, March 11, 2007). The crowd was lively, the place was comfortable, and the drinks were flowing. We played with Boston's own, The Sterns, a fine band of fine gentlemen who have a fine taste for fine drinks. In fact, it was Emeen's 23rd birthday, and considering he was celebrating it with us in our hometown, I made sure he was properly taken care of. But seriously, these guys are a hard-touring machine. I really have a lot of respect for what they're doing. So, after getting them properly fed at Steak & Shake, we found some places for them to sleep tonight to ensure they make it to Austin.

One of the things I was really looking forward to about these Texas shows are the lax set times. In Boston, everything is on a proper schedule (which is awesome because it keeps things running smoothly, ensuring most folks get their money's worth before the last T departs), but here, there are no trains to catch (also cool). There are no limits about how late you can play. So, we took some liberties with the set, and went for a robust 12-song lineup. It even included an impromptu surprise: Before the show, a young woman came up to me and told me she went to the New England Conservatory and that we had a mutual friend (and a mutual love of Pete & Pete DVDs). After some talking, I found out she's a viola player, now attending the nearby University of North Texas. I told her we have a song with a violin part, and if she was willing to learn its two simple parts, it'd be a real treat to get her onstage. Much to her credit, she learned it in less than 30 minutes and jumped into the mix, joining Scott and I on a rare live version of "Set Free." We'd never tried it before, and it was pretty cool to give it a shot. But the whole night was awesome, beginning to end. It's one of those times when you're onstage and don't want the night to end. Luckily, when you're playing a dozen songs (one of which is nearly 10 minutes long), it doesn't really feel like it's ending any time soon. I'll try to get some videos and pictures up ASAP. Until then, it's time to sleep.

SET LIST: Carolyn, Don't Leave Like This / Shotgun Wedding / Debts / Trouble From The Start / Like Secrets Beneath / Set Free / The Nadir / Loose Lips / On The Lam / We Could Be Solo Acts / Lightning In A Bottle / It's Gonna Be Alright

We have arrived! I forgot how big Texas' sky is, and how much I love just driving with no particular location in mind. My boyhood town has sadly developed most of the rural parts I remember, but that's the way it goes, I guess. On the plus side, it was 87 degrees when we got in, so we spent a fair bit of the day shirtless, playing a game our bassist invented years ago, and I'm fairly certain we found a cult in the countryside. Pretty nutty. Anyhow, today, most of the day was spent at the airport, arriving first then returning to pick up various band members and stragglers as they made their way to Dallas/Ft. Worth. From here, we'll get a van and equipment and head south Tuesday. But first, Cassavettes has a big show tomorrow, which has been rumored to have a fair-sized crowd.

Our bass player Scott and I were seated next to each other on the plane ride here. This gave us plenty of time to talk through the important issues: growing "tour beards," coming up with a motto for this trip (see this blog's subject line), and reminiscing about old Saturday Night Live skits, much to the chagrin of those seated around us, I'm sure. Either way, we also had a chance to talk about the state of the band, an imperative before you play a string of a few shows. Once our drummer Matt arrived, we were able to talk about potential songs we'd like to get to on this mini-tour. Matt revealed he's extremely excited about the new songs we're playing this go-round, which is always uplifting. It shows we're all hitting on the same page at the right time. An important job in organizing the group's thoughts is to make sure we're collectively focusing on the same goals, both short-term and long-term. For instance, the goal of this trip is to make an impression and have a good time. Relatively simple, yet harder to execute than you may think. We have to be hitting on all cylinders and to all have our hearts into what we're putting forth. I know it's simple in theory, but getting four heads to meld into a common goal is the most common and frequent struggle a band faces. Therefore, I think it's promising that we're all not putting too much pressure on making this trip into more than we should; we're just riding it and seeing what happens.

Today I got a call from old pal, the affable Jake Brennan, who has taken a different route to get to SXSW -- he's driving down a couple other bands' equipment, like Buffalo Tom. He asked if we needed anything brought down, which would have been perfect, if only we'd known sooner. Either way, we decided to meet up in Austin for a beer and some tunes. I'm actually planning to seek out a number of locals down there, in between doing our best to hit the streets. In sadder news, I found out that local legend, and producer of our last album, Jabe Beyer is officially moving to Nashville in May. While I'm sad to see Boston lose yet another great musician, I wish him all the luck in the world.

But we've got some pressing issues to sort through. For now, I've just got to track down some equipment we're without (a keyboard and some drums), find another means of transport from Dallas down south, and find a place for everyone to sleep tonight. In fact, I'm lucky enough I found a place to blog! But, hey, you make time for what's important.

Let's get straight to the introductions here: My name is Glenn Yoder. I sing and play guitar and piano in the local group Cassavettes. In another shameless plug, I also manage the band independently, and write about the successes and failures on my own blog. I have worked at the Globe in various capacities for the past three years as I made my way through college. So, when Cassavettes decided to head back to our native Texas to lurk around in the shadows of South By Southwest and do a mini-tour, it was natural for me to start blogging about the "musician's experience." This was grand news to me, because now I don't have to walk that fine line between being an unethical journalist and an overzealous musician. I can apparently talk about Cassavettes as much as I wish! But before I realized that I foolishly asked Joan Anderman and Sarah Rodman if they wanted any original reporting from me at SXSW. Then, I put it together -- "Oh wait, they're the pros here." My bad. So, that's that. Hello, nice to meet you.

Anyhow, tonight is the eve of our departure for Texas. It's a sort of homecoming. Three of the four members of the band, myself included, grew up in northeastern Texas, about 40 minutes from Dallas. When I was in high school, I once ventured south to Austin for SXSW but I've never played the festival. Actually, I haven't played anything close to it. But what I learned on that trip is crucial to what I hope makes this trip a success: There are A&R reps literally everywhere. We saw bands play in every nook and cranny of the city, from clubs and street corners to record stores and Urban Outfitters. And the swag, ahh, the swag. So, obviously, my top priority while packing tonight was to cram as many free CDs as I could fit into my bag. You never know who you'll run into, so the plan is to canvas the town. Wish us luck.

The whole thing promises to be an eye-opening affair, if nothing else. It's valuable "tour experience," something we haven't yet had the opportunity to fully test out as I finish school (we've just made short jaunts around the northeast primarily). But here, we're playing several shows -- Denton on Sunday, San Antonio on Tuesday, Austin for the remainder of the work-week, and Waco on Saturday. I'll be writing as we go, and hopefully I'll get some video and maybe audio working, too.

So, for now, I'm getting everything squared away and making sure we have everything we need when we reach home base. But we'll miss Boston while we're gone, that's for sure. This city's been really good to us. Just today, in fact, we landed a big headlining slot at the Middle East Downstairs on July 7 with some of our favorite bands, Three Day Threshold, Girls Guns & Glory, and Jason Anderson.

You gotta love Boston. This is a city that properly kisses you goodbye on your way out the door.