sxiw (south by intermountain west)

the released the "official" SXSW list yesterday (whatever that means)...it's huge and there are bands from all over the world. like most of you, we're not traveling to the lone start state in march, so here's the next best thing: the cafe is bringing SXSW bands to you next week.

wednesday, february 13th: jet lag gemini. jlg just released fire the cannons, their debut cd on doghouse records. i'm not quite sure how pop-punk gets onto the SXSW bill, but jet lag gemini are good at it. you can easily see a crowd of kids bobbing their heads to jlg. whether that will happen remains to be seen. they play the cafe with weatherbox (doghouse) and locals larusso and the trademark.

thursday, february 14th: the new frontiers. if you read the blog you know we're trying to date the new frontiers. they're quite incredible at music-making and niceness too. their debut cd mending is sort of released (you can buy it on itunes) and is easily the best cd of 2008 thus far. catch them thursday with local alt-country darlings atherton (who we'd try to date too, but we're classy and don't want to double time anyone). atherton should be playing SXSW also to be really honest. they are the type of band i think of when i think about SXSW. also on the bill are this is anfield, dan cutrtis and travis van hoff.

friday, february 15th: swans of never. matt nane's is not going to SXSW. he's not playing it. we like him quite a bit though. his rugged artistic style represents a passion for his art that attracts an audience. matt openly bares his soul for anyone willing to listen, like a voice in the wilderness. he's leaving on tour (as guitarist for bradley hathaway). he'll feature a full band for the first time at the cafe (featuring guys from the almost).

so join us next week at the cafe for SXSW week on wednesday, thursday and friday. or book a flight to austin. if you do, let us know so we can hire you to write some articles for the ship. you'll of course get paid as much as we all do!