Jeff Black, Mike Peters, The Cold and Lovely, Billy Joe Shaver, The Black Lillies, Drivin' N' Cryin' (w/ Chuck Prophet and Bonnie Whitmore), Mary Lou Lord @ SXSW 2014

Jeff Black @ Stephen F's Bar

"Jeff Black has the troubadour quality of a Steve Goodman, the poetic dignity of a Bruce Springsteen, and the outer-fringe edge of Townes Van Zandt. We kid you not.” -  Steve Morse, The Boston Globe
The evening started with a showcase I had looked forward to since I had booked my trip to Austin many months earlier. Jeff Black is most likely the best songwriter you've never heard of. He had been a regular at SXSW between 1999 and 2004, but I had not seen him since. This year he was back for what seemed to be a tour of Austin hotel bars: Stephen F's, the venue for this show is the bar at the InterContinental Hotel, his other showcase later in the week was at the Hyatt Place. He played solo, performing songs from the beginning of his recording career (Birmingham Road) to songs from his upcoming album Folklore. It didn't matter how old or new the songs were - high-quality songwriting and his remarkable voice kept the audience spellbound, not an easy feat in a hotel bar.
Audio: Jeff Black - Rider Coming

Mike Peters @ Elysium

"The ever-upbeat Peters last visited America as frontman of the reconstituted Big Country. He's back at the helm of his original Welsh anthem-rock combo, which won stateside attention in the Eighties. His original bandmates are long gone, but the current Alarm includes members of Sisters of Mercy, the Mission, and Gene Loves Jezebel." - Scott Schinder, Austin Chronicle
Jeff Black is always a tough act to follow to begin with and the schedule didn't list any must-see shows for next couple of hours. I had not seen Mike Peters nor The Alarm for many years, but it sounded like a good option. I should have paid more attention to the fact that he was billed as "Mike Peters _of_ The Alarm" and not "Mike Peters & The Alarm", and it turned out to be a solo performance. The setlist included Alarm songs ("Shout To the Devil", "Where Were You Hiding When The Storm Broke", "The Stand"," Howling Wind" and "68 Guns"), but without full band it just wasn't the same, evidences by the fact that about half of the audience had left by the time he finished his set.

The Cold and Lovely @ Elysium

I hung around to grab a beer and catch up with a friend I don't get to see very often.  The Cold and Lovely were next, the brainchild of Meghan Toohey (The Weepies, Lenka) and Nicole Fiorentino (The Smashing Pumpkins, Veruca Salt) who have been compared to My Bloody Valentine, Garbage and Lush. Okay, but nothing to keep my attention for more than 3 songs, so I decided to venture over to Shotguns.

Billy Joe Shaver @ Shotguns

"Someone should have thought twice about booking Billy Joe Shaver into a club called Shotguns, since Waco's honky-tonk hero has history with guns in bars, incidents now both country music legend and song. Shaver defined outlaw country in the Seventies, and his songs remain for both Saturday night's parties and Sunday morning's penitence." - Doug Freeman, Austin Chronicle
Does playing places like this sh*thole at age 74 come with the job description of an "outlaw country hero"? I don't know. Billy Joe Shaver and his band didn't seem to care and neither did his fans,  but some of the bars along Sixth Street are simply not well suited for live music. Long narrow buildings mean the stage is tucked away on the side or in a corner and the only place where you can properly see the performer is right in front of the stage, with a constant stream of patrons heading to the restrooms pushing their way through the crowd. Frustrations with the venue aside it was great to see him again.

The Black Lillies @ Shotguns

"The music is breakneck, brazen and beautiful; gentle Laurel Canyon folk, the honky-tonk heartache of classic country, winding jams and flat-out rock’n’roll." - SXSW Band Info
Had heard many good things about this band, but never had a chance to see them live before.  Again, this was not a good venue to see any band, but The Black Lillies sounded pretty good.
Video: The Black Lillies - The Fall (Official Video)

Drivin’ N’ Cryin’ @ Big Bang Bar

"Crunching hard rock is the drivin part, brittle countryish balladry the cryin, with the two linked by a heavy dose of Led Zeppelinphilia. If Paul Westerberg had grown up worshipping Angus Young instead of Alex Chilton, the Replacements might have sounded something like this Atlanta band." - Rolling Stone
Most artists that I consider to be in my all-time Top 20 I have seen dozens of times in concert. Kevn Kinney and Drivin' N' Cryin' (full disclosure - yes, this website is named after one of their songs) are an odd exception. It might have to do with the fact that Kevn and DNC never toured much outside the US, but I certainly made sure to see a couple of their appearances during SX 2014. It turned out I had picked a good one, with Chuck Prophet joining the band for a couple of songs, and Bonnie Whitmore jumped up on stage for a rousing rendition of "Straight to Hell" to end the night.
Setlist: "Jesus Christ", "Malfunction Junction", "Ain't Waiting On Tomorrow", "Dirty", "Turn ", "Roll Away The Song", "Fly Me Courageous" (dedicated to Buren Fowler who had passed on 3 days before), "You Did (Bomp Shooby Doobie Bomp)" (w/ Chuck Prophet), "Straight To Hell" (w/ Chuck Prophet & Bonnie Whitmore)
Video: Drivin' N' Cryin' - Dirty (from another show at SXSW 2013)

Mary Lou Lord @ Sixth Street

Between 2000 and 2006 I got to see Mary Lou Lord busking on Sixth Street pretty much every year. Then the Austin Police Department started to object and she stopped performing in Austin and pretty much completely due to problems with her voice. This year she was back, and it was so welcome to hear her inimitable voice again competing with the shouts of the drunken revelers stumbling home at 2:30 am. Her setlist included "Powderfinger", "Hammer Down" (Jason Molina), "Lights Are Changing" and "His Lamest Flame" on this chilly night. A perfect way to cap a great day of music that started 14 hours earlier.