SXSW Aftermath: Artists To Keep An Eye On

SXSW is one of the worlds largest music conferences where fans and industry professionals come together to discover new artists, music, films, etc. By far the biggest part of SXSW however, is music week. Music week this year ran from March 17-21st and I got to be there for 3 crazy filled days to see some artists I love along with some that I had the pleasure of discovering.

So without further ado, here’s some artist that you should keep an eye on this year. i hope you find some new music and these artist get some new fans!

(These are in no particular order because they  are all amazing in their own way!)

Holychild – Running Behind (Mindspeak EP on iTunes)

If you’ve seen the Apple Watch commercial, you’ve probably heard this track from Holychild being played, that clapping intro is unmistakable. This band played their last SXSW show in the rain to a park full of people and they rocked every minute of it. Singer, Liz Nistico even escaped her covered dry stage to run around and dance with the crowd.

Colony House – Silhouettes (When I Was Younger on iTunes)

This band was an accidental discovery, they played before a band that I will talk about next. When they started to play the song “Silhouettes” it clicked that I had heard the song before. Definitely a very fun band to watch, their album “When I Was Younger” was released in July of last year.

Smallpools – Karaoke (LOVETAP! on iTunes)

Everyone knows I love this band, so there should be no surprise when I tell you that I saw them 5 times in the span of 3 days at SXSW. I say it all the time, this band is fun, this band is energetic and they are just all around great. They managed to do a headlining tour with only 5 released songs, and they’ve opened up for bands like Walk The Moon, Two Door Cinema Club and Grouplove.

Sam Hunt – House Party (Montevallo on iTunes)

Sam Hunt is probably someone you wouldn’t expect to see at SXSW so when I saw he was announced I was a bit skeptical about the idea but I love his music and decided to check him out at both parties he played which also happened to be some of the biggest things happening at SXSW (Spotify House and Fader Fort) and he had the crowd going nuts at both performances.

Coin – Run (Coin EP on iTunes)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvMBqcU7fHI

When the singer goes so hard that he unplugs his keyboard, then tries to fix it with a bottle cap before realizing that it was just unplugged, that’s some dedication right there. These guys played with so much energy and afterwards, they still made time to meet fans (in the rain!)  Check out the official video for this song on Vevo! http://vevo.ly/DjPYOf

X Ambassadors – Unconsolable (Love Songs Drugs Songs EP on iTunes)

All about that bass, bass, bass. No I’m not trying to be clever and say they covered Meghan Trainor, but this is another band I got to see at their last SXSW performance (their 6th that week!) and when you’re in front of a speaker and this band starts to play, you can feel the music in your bones and I say that in the best way possible. X Ambassadors brings in r&b vibes into the rock genre and it transpires into an incredibly energetic performance. (FOLLOW ME! INTO THE JUNGLE!!!) That probably sounds familiar, this is the band behind that sound along with Jamie N Commons.

Bleachers – Roller Coaster (Strange Desire on iTunes)

Saying I love this song would be an understatement because I LOVE this song after SXSW. The singer Jack Antonoff’s vocals have always amazed me because I don’t expect that voice from that man, but it is amazing nonetheless. Bleachers is a band that LOVES their fans, so much that they decided to throw an all ages party with all their band friends just for fans, no industry people, no photographers, nothing just for fans. (and did I mention it was free??)

So these are some of the newest additions to my playlist after an awesome spring break, and I hope you have found some new music to satisfy your ears with!

By Norma Becerra