SXSW 2006 Update

31 March 2006

SXSW 2006 Update

With not even two weeks having passed since this year¹s South By Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, NZ acts at the festival continue to impress in the US and beyond.

This year already looks like the most successful yet for NZ acts performing, and now with a combination of high profile tours underway; continued media coverage; and deals being announced, SXSW XX has gone from strength to strength for those present. Here are a few more major post-SXSW developments:

The Brunettes continued to garner praise from Jon Pareles of the New York Times with him naming them one of SXSW's "newer bands well worth discovering" on the cover of the paper¹s Arts section. The band headed out of Austin supporting one of the most talked-about groups in the US - Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!

Many shows have sold out well in advance, including two consecutive nights in both San Francisco and New York. The tour continues for another two weeks with some Brunettes headline shows along the way, and additional gigs planned through to the end of April.

Speaking of coveted supports, having toured the US pre- and post-SXSW, Die! Die! Die! are getting set to head off on tour with Aussie rockers Wolfmother for shows in the US and UK. Both Die! Die! Die! and Wolfmother made the ten highlights of SXSW as picked by influential UK industry mag MusicWeek, and with Wolfmother poised to make a big impact in both the US and UK this represents another excellent touring opportunity (US Rolling Stone featured Wolfmother in their annual "10 Artists To Watch" feature that hit newsstands this week, and they have a track included on NME's ŒBest New Band Showcase 2006' CD).

Coco Solid came back to NZ to support US band Weird War shortly after SXSW, and have a number of potential deals underway. Connections made at the festival have lead to discussions for a vinyl release from a New York label as well as a US/Japan/Europe tour combining a number of festivals later in the year.

And, as you have probably heard, Ryan McPhun & The Ruby Suns post-SXSW US tour came to a shocking halt after completing 7 shows of a planned 18 date tour when their tour van caught ablaze destroying all of their possessions and instruments. The band are in need of as much support as possible, and their record company Lil Chief is accepting donations on their behalf ­ they can be made by visiting

With news continuing to roll in we will be sending out another update next week including news on other NZ artists. In the meantime we are continuing to gather photos of the event ­ if you would like any of these please contact steve@nzmusic.org.nz

ENDS

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