When the day is done, I’m off to Austin for South by Southwest. It’s a long drive, which I’ll likely spend speeding through a collection of songs by showcasing bands in search of someone new to see.

We’ve got as comprehensive a list of area bands playing SXSW – officially and unofficially, day time and night time – at our SXSW page. This year, it will be interesting to see if MyNameIsJohnMichael, The Generationals and Lafayette’s Givers can develop a more national presence. Anders Osborne isn’t playing the festival proper, but he’ll play a couple of parties to spark early interest in his excellent upcoming album, American Patchwork. Unquestionably, the most quixotic effort will be the New Orleans bounce showcase organized by Alison Fensterstock and Lefty Parker. She has organized a multimedia museum show documenting a music that’s only heard in New Orleans, and their showcase presents artists including DJ Jubilee, Big Freedia, Ms. Tee and Partners n Crime – artists with music that’s hard to get a hold of in New Orleans, much less Des Moines, Akron and Salt Lake City.

I’ll do daily wrap-ups of what I saw here, and those who want less mediated takes can follow me on Twitter.