SXSW 2022 vs. 1997 + Guitar Solos
I first attended Austin’s SXSW music convention in 1997. At the time, the event was legendary to people like me: band members from out of town, in our twenties, trying to make it. I played drums in a Seattle band that had self-released a 7″ single, and we arrived at SXSW hot on the heels of our debut CD-EP. We were drawing big crowds in Seattle, getting great press at ‘90s institutions like The Rocket and Magnet, and our EP was charting at college radio across the US and Canada. We had one goal at SXSW: to get signed to a major record label. But once we arrived in Austin, we realized we were one of several hundred bands who were all there for the same reason.
At our showcase, a buzzy, aggressive pop band called Summercamp played right before us. As soon as they finished, my bandmates and I rushed to set up our gear in hopes that the crowd, and Guy Oseary—Summercamp’s A&R guy, who was famous for signing Alanis Morrissette to Madonna’s Maverick Records label—wouldn’t leave before seeing us play. Guy left, we never got signed, and subsequently, we never made it. But I have great memories of those two days in Austin: carrying around a printed paper schedule with a map of downtown Austin on the other side; watching Lisa Loeb do karaoke (quite well) in a crowded cowboy bar; trying to discover via word of mouth the secret location of the parking garage in which the Flaming Lips would perform their boombox experiment. I also still have the chorus from that Summercamp song in my head.
I’ve been to SXSW at least a dozen times since that trip in 1997, but when I returned two weeks ago, the pandemic had caused this year’s festival to feel more like the old days. Venues, restaurants and streets were noticeably less crowded, and the perennial repulsive alignment of St. Patrick’s Day, spring break, and SXSW felt infinitely less destructive. I saw some great bands, but mostly I got to connect with people… in person— some of whom I hadn’t seen in years, others whom I’d only ever met on Zoom.
One thing I didn’t encounter at SXSW was a guitar solo. That’s my attempt at a segue… to this opinion piece I wrote for the New York Times about the guitar solo and its place (or lack thereof) in music today. I had a great time watching hundreds of YouTube clips, and reminding myself that at its core, no matter who plays it or what it sounds like, the guitar solo is about the emotional impact a musician can deliver. It was also a lot of fun to type the words “Mr. Van Halen.”
I can’t wait for my next email/post in a couple of weeks, which will include the June book tour dates around my memoir, My Life in the Sunshine, which will be published on June 7.
I hope everyone wins a Grammy today.
Nabil Ayers / Brooklyn