SXSW 2011

Hello Friends,

Tonight feels like Christmas eve for the music lover in me. Tomorrow I'm headed to Austin, Texas for the famed South by South West Music Festival and Conference.

I've never been before so am very anxious and a bit nervous as the festival itself seems a bit overwhelming to say the least. 5 days in a city that hundreds of bands come to in an attempt to get to that next level. Some of the acts are also some of the biggest names in the world - but they bring attention to the festival on a World stage and open peoples eyes/ears to the up and coming.

I've been reading and hearing about SXSW for years now via blogs, music sites, magazines, radio shows and television. More recently I read about the festival in a John Niven book entitled 'Kill Your Friends'.

It seems like I've been responding to emails and RSVPs for months now and the lists of 'Must See' artists continues to grow. I'm personally hoping to stumble across some amazing acts and learn about as many new acts as possible. The festival organizers are the best in the business so I think we can safely say that all these acts will be amazing.

MTV are hosting their annual Woodie Awards tomorrow night as a kick off to the music portion of SXSW. The performers list includes Foo Fighters, Wiz Khalifa, Sleigh Bells and Two Door Cinema Club. It promises to be a fantastic little night - I can't wait to see all these acts live.

I will give a full brief once I return and hopefully be able to share with you some amazing finds from my travels. Until then - here's a few I am hoping and looking forward to seeing in the next 5 days.

• The Naked and Famous
• Tinie Tempah
• Frankie and the Heartstrings
• Jamie Woon
• Jon Fratelli
• City and Colour *It will be nice to see a Canadian turn some heads :)

A few of these are at the @britishmusicbiz showcases which will be hosted by BBC Radio 1's own Huw Stephens. I'm a huge fan of all he and Zane Lowe speak of - so this feels like a very special opportunity indeed.

I'm also really looking forward to seeing Waterloo Records as it's apparently one of the World's finest.

Thanks for reading/listening.

Gregg Stewart

PS - If anyone has links to THIS SHOW then please let me know :)