For four days in mid-March, the university town of Austin, Texas is turned into a non-stop music feast for music industry insiders and ardent fans. The 17th annual South By Southwest Music conference and festival considered the most important forum for Independent music in the United States was into full swing from March 17th
through the 20th. During the conference, any bar, nightclub, outdoor patio, hotel suite, empty warehouse, record store or nearby park in the state capital was a site of a music showcase that featured a full lineup of either established headliners, emerging record label acts touted as the "next big thing", cult favorites, independent artists or
aspiring unknown bands. Latin music made a major presence during SXSW by presenting a variety of high quality artists in different genres from hip-hop to electronica to "texican" rock n' roll.

Electronica pop duo Plastilina Mosh

The strip of nightclubs on 6th Street in downtown Austin was the center of the music action. On Wednesday, opening night, the multi-leveled Exodus nightclub featured a hot Rock En Español showcase that was a study in contrasts. When I arrived at the club, the Mexican rap crew of Cartel De Santa fronted by rapper Bobo and backed up by turntablist Monoplug and a guitarist were busy rocking the house with their intense hip hop en Español The predominately Latino crowd responded to the relentless slamming beat by waving their arms in the air and bobbing their heads up and down in unison. Zoe followed with their atmospheric synth pop rock that showed
their brit pop influences. Their lead singer, Leon used his tortured voice as an instrument that added a dynamic tension within their dreamy aural landscapes created by spacey guitar effects and moody keyboard textures. Beloved electronica pop duo Plastilina Mosh consisting of guitarist "Jonaz" Gonzalez and keyboardist Alejandro Rosso brought back the party atmosphere to the evening with a wild set full of humor, showmanship and irresistible dance beats. As they tore through their explosive repertoire of hits, the
duo showed their distinct stage personas combining Jonaz's raw punkish attitude with Rosso's quasi disco dance king complete with glitter tie and white sunglasses.

Ozomatli

The capacity crowd was now mixed with more conventioneers as headliners Ozomatli presented their fiery multi-cultural stew mixing genres from hip-hop to merengue. The evening ended with members of Ozomatli taking their instruments and percussion bateria and leading a conga line into the streets from the steamy nightclub.
Unfortunately, the Austin police weren't ready for this musical onslaught past 2 am in the city streets. Three members of Ozomatli (including their manager) were arrested while the crowd that spilled out into the streets were pelted with pepper spray by the police.
Several days later, people wearing "Free Ozomatli" t-shirts were spotted in the streets as the band continued to play other showcases and made several radio appearances. Austin's mayor has declared himself an Ozomatli fan in public and has come out in favor of
having the charges dropped against the group.

The conference that was held at the spacious Austin Convention Center featured panels and speakers on various music industry topics as well as a trade show and a poster exhibit. The conference also featured public interviews with celebrities such as the legendary Little Richard and independent music icon Ani DiFranco. Joan
Baez, the influential folk music diva whose career has spanned more than four decades was presented in such a public interview. Baez, who is enjoying a current revival in her career following the release of her latest Koch cd "Dark Chords On A Big Guitar" spoke regarding her musical history and her long commitment to activism in the
anti-war movement.

Mexican rockers El Tri

The panel focused on Latin Rock featured among its participants the
colorful leader of the legendary Mexican rockers El Tri, Alex Lora, BMI's (senior director of Latin Writer/Publisher relations) Delia Orjuela, saxophonist Ulyses Bella from Ozomatli and booker/manager John Pantel of LA.'s House Of Blues. The lively discussion centered on the growth of markets for Latin Alternative music in the U.S., the amount of overall media support and exposure of the music in radio, television and the internet, the important role of public radio in breaking new artists and functioning as grassroots support for Latin alternative music and the artist's dilemma in being able to express themselves without selling out their musical integrity and still having the ability to gain wider exposure and tour. Lora felt strongly that he didn't want to compromise his music and endanger his fan base in order to be played on commercial radio.

El Tri later took the Thursday night headlining spot at the cavernous Town Lake outdoor venue playing their brand of 60's/70's arena blues-rock. Lora fronted the charged up Tri with his trademark screaming vocals, blasting out power chords from his double necked guitar and spouting out obscenity drenched banter in-between songs. Of course, the crowd loved all of it.

Los Lonely Boys

The group that made the biggest splash in Austin was Texas favorites, Los Lonely Boys who won five awards at the opening night Austin Music Awards including best band, best song and record of the year. Los Lonely Boys played everyday of the festival from large venues such as the Austin Music Hall to an intimate gathering of the
Austin folk/roots music community (including celebrity outsiders Kris
Kristofferson and John Cale) to benefit ailing singer/songwriter Alejandro Escovedo at the patio of Las Manitas Restaurant, a favorite breakfast stop for conference attendees and locals. Los Lonely Boys are an exciting roots rock power trio that is the latest evolution in
Latin rock sprouted from seeds planted by musical icons such as Santana and Los Lobos. Their formidable talent, charisma and songs with a knack for a good hook and fine melodies was evident in their performance at Town Lake Stage where they rocked the massive adoring crowd. The band made up of the three Garza brothers(guitarist Henry, lead vocalist/bassist Jojo and drummer Ringo) served up crowd pleasers as "Heaven" while a camera crew were busy filming the performance for a DVD of the concert.

I practically ran from venue to venue trying to catch important acts in
different genres ranging from indie rock to hip hop to world that played at the same time. There were as many as 52 different showcases every day not to mention the free parties given by record companies and music magazines with name bands, food and beer. The conflict of performance schedules made it impossible for me to catch up with Los Lobos, Control Machete, Grupo Fantasma and the new AJ Quintanilla produced all-girl project La Conquista . I was disappointed that Juana Molina didn't get to play at the festival due to problems obtaining her visa. However I was impressed by the power, trajectory and influence that Latin Music displayed prominently during this year's South By Southwest conference. I left Austin encouraged by the endless waves of different voices that keep Latin music in all its colors and textures stronger than ever.

Luis Medina is Music Director of Pacifica station KPFA 94.1 and host of 'Con Sabor' on Saturday nights. A long-time DJ at clubs and events around the Bay Area, Medina is a regurlar contributor to salsasf.com.

©2004 by salsasf.com
Photos courtesy of SXSW.