Boulder bands life of Texas party for a day

By Quentin Young

AUSTIN, Texas — The Colorado Music Party carved out a piece of the South By Southwest music festival for Mile High musicians. On Saturday, a piece of the Party was devoted to a set of four Boulder bands.

The Sweet Lillies, Rocktin Grove, The Railsplitters and Cold River City performed in a mini-showcase at the 512 on Sixth Street in Austin. The music portion of SXSW, a massive annual showcase, began Tuesday and ends today.

The Colorado Music Party, organized by the Fort Collins nonprofit SpokesBUZZ, was planned to coincide with SXSW. The Party is now in its third year and featured more than 120 artists over five days at the 512. The $150,000 event included $7,000 in support from the Boulder’s Office of Arts & Culture.

Wilson Harwood, singer and guitarist for Rocktin Grove, not only performed during the Party. He arrived in Austin on Monday, a day before the music showcases got underway, and began attending some of the many panel discussions that are presented as part of SXSW.

“I feel like I got a much better perspective on the music industry,” he said. “It’s not just about putting albums out anymore. It’s about singles, videos, hitting your social media every day.”

A message he heard is that bands should be smart about how they target fans and that they should identify those who will provide the most return on investment — he learned that “.7 percent pay over 50 percent of a band’s revenue,” he said.

Harwood also got face time with important people.

“The networking’s amazing,” he said. “I gave a Rocktin Grove sticker to the CFO of Pandora. He said he would put it on his computer.”

The Boulder showcase kicked off at 11:20 a.m. Saturday with a set by The Sweet Lillies. Making the SXSW journey takes time and some investment on the part of bands, but Alexandra Schwan, who sings and plays guitar for the Lillies, said it’s worth it.

“It was really an incredible opportunity,” she said. “We were going to make it work no matter what.”

It drizzled through much of the Boulder showcase, which took place on the 512’s rooftop stage, but the four bands mostly succeeded in keeping the attention of a crowd that fluctuated between about 10-40 people. Audience members huddled in several areas of relative shelter or simply withstood the spitting rain for the sake of fandom.

The Railsplitters were third on the lineup. Singer and guitarist Lauren Stovall echoed many artists at SXSW when she said the real benefit of the festival is the chance to interact with other musicians.

“I think what we’re going to get is great connections,” Stovall said. “You walk into a bar in Austin and see a bunch of Colorado people. It’s pretty cool.”

Many of the Boulder musicians said they’re staying with friends or friends of friends. The Railsplitters are staying in a home shared by members of the bands Wood & Wire and MilkDrive.

Emma Fields, singer for Cold River City, said her band’s decision to come to SXSW was last minute. But after Cold River City’s set, she was glad she made the trek to Austin. Like Stovall, Fields said she primarily appreciated the festival’s networking opportunities.

“It’s been really great to get to see all these Colorado bands,” she said. “Connecting with other people on that same grind is the main value of SXSW.”

When the festival helps elevate participating artists, it helps elevate the cultural scene of their home state, and that’s why it’s worth it for an agency like the Boulder Office of Arts & Culture to support the Colorado Music Party, Fields said. She noted that a Colorado flag is flying atop the 512, high over Sixth Street at the heart of SXSW, and that no other state can make such a boast.

“That in itself speaks for it,” she said.

Quentin Young: quentin@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/qpyoungnews. Also, follow Second Story Garage’s coverage of SXSW at secondstorygarage.com and on Twitter at @2storygarage.