Scenes from SXSW 2011

The Wronglers, with Jimmie Dale Gilmore, get it right at SXSW

The Wronglers promotional shot
The Wronglers live at SXSW
Photo by Susan Darrow

Beloved billionaire Warren Hellman knows a thing or two about putting on a music festival. After all, for 10 years he’s been the driving force and sole financial backer for San Francisco’s free Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival. Wednesday night, Hellman stepped out from behind the scenes into a different role, playing banjo as a featured performer at the South by Southwest Music Festival.

Hellman funds the entire Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival each fall as a gift to the city of San Francisco. An estimated 600,000 people attended last year’s festival as more than 60 acts played on six stages over three days. Past performers at “Hardly Strictly” have included Willie Nelson, Joan Baez, Lyle Lovett, Emmylou Harris, and Elvis Costello.

Hellman’s band The Wronglers — a play on Wrangler jeans, since Levi Strauss is San Francisco-based — formed, more or less, when they played at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival years ago.

“Our mantra is simple music played by complicated people,” said Hellman in an interview last year, of the Wronglers’ fusion of sweet sounds of fiddle, guitar, banjo and mandolin.

This year, the Wronglers have teamed up with legendary Texas singer-songwriter Jimmie Dale Gilmore to release the aptly named album Heirloom Music, a beautiful collection of classic songs from the '30s and '40s, due out May 3. And last night, Gilmore and the Wronglers made their first SXSW appearance together.

The period décor of the venerable venue for the South-by official showcase — the Victorian Room at the Driskill Hotel — couldn’t have been a better fit. Never mind that the hordes of SXSW celebrants traipsing down Sixth Street were clearly visible through the windows. Listening to Gilmore and the Wronglers, you could easily escape to a wonderful time long ago.

The high, lonesome sound of Gilmore’s expressive voice is a perfect fit for the “old time” music of the Wronglers. Sailing through lovely renditions of songs like “Time Changes Everything,” “In the Pines” and “Deep Ellum Blues,” the band delighted a crowd that overflowed the main room into the balcony.

Hellman, on banjo, was dapper in a sequin-spangled jacket and a tie once owned by banjo virtuoso Earl Scruggs (a gift from Scruggs’ son). The jacket, a present from his granddaughter, was emblazoned with sparkly Star of David motifs on each arm. (“Warren doesn’t wear his religion on his sleeve,” Gilmore joked.)

At the end of their set, Gilmore and Hellman traded lead vocals on a cheerful “Big Rock Candy Mountain," in which Hellman’s voice was reminiscent of the original version performed by the song’s author, Harry McClintock.

After the gig, Gilmore (and most of the Wronglers) headed down Sixth Street to catch the official SXSW showcase for his son, Colin Gilmore, himself a gifted singer-songwriter. Colin Gilmore just appeared in Houston last weekend for an acoustic set as part of a fundraiser for independent radio station KPFT Houston 90.1 FM. Wednesday night, a full band backed him as he rocked the Velveeta Room with songs from his latest release, "Goodnight Lane,"and literally had multiple Wronglers dancing in the aisles.

SXSW Continued: From the Badge-Free Zone

Over at Threadgill’s World Headquarters, Music Fog has been broadcasting great performances online all day long from artists like Guy Forsyth, Ray Wylie Hubbard and a reunion of Foster and Lloyd, who previewed new songs from their upcoming release It's Already Tomorrow. According to partner Jessie Scott, Music Fog will be streaming live every day for the rest of South-by.

More “found” music abounds everywhere. At the free 3rd Coast Music Showcase at G&S Lounge in South Austin, an outstanding line-up Wednesday included Terri Hendrix, quoting Woody Guthrie and (backed by Texas music stalwart Lloyd Maines on guitar and dobro) captivating the audience with a winsome performance. Following Hendrix, Jimmy LaFave (accompanied by a crack band featuring Andrew Hardin on guitar and Chip Dolan on keyboard) set the tone for what promised to be an outstanding evening.

No badge is required to check out Thursday night's official showcase at La Zona Rosa featuring Grammy-Nominated artist Janelle Monáe , Wiz Khalifa and B.o.B. online. The show is scheduled to be broadcast live starting at 9:30 p.m. on killerslaserspapers.com or via the SXSW website. (Alas, Cee-Lo Green is no longer able to perform at this SXSW showcase.)

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Movie Review

New Superman movie forges into the future while honoring the past

Photo by Jessica Miglio

David Corenswet in Superman.

When the character of Superman was invented in 1938, it was perhaps easier to see the world in good and bad terms. Fascism was already on the rise in Germany under Adolf Hitler, and the idea of an all-powerful superhero who stood up for people in need was a welcome one. In the nearly 90 years since, though, the world and the character have undergone multiple evolutions, and the thought of someone who is purely good is often met with cynicism or worse.

The new Superman, written and directed by James Gunn, puts the superhero (or metahuman, as the film calls him and similar creatures) squarely in the midst of the modern world, with geopolitical conflicts, mega-corporations, and social media all combining to make the altruism of Superman/Clark Kent (David Corenswet) questionable. That skepticism even extends to his coworker/girlfriend Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan), whose knowledge of his exploits puts her in a tricky position personally and professionally.

Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) is out to dominate the world and take down Superman, with his eponymous corporation and vast group of underlings dedicated to doing both. Superman is generally a one-man fighting crew, but he’s occasionally aided by a group calling themselves the Justice Gang, comprised of heroes many have never heard of like Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion), a version of Green Lantern; Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced), a flying metahuman; and Mr. Terrific (Edi Gathegi), who knows all kinds of technology.

One of the best things about this new version of Superman is that it mostly dispenses with introductions, putting the audience in a world where Superman is already a well-known quantity who’s adored by many and hated by some. Gunn has used his new position as co-CEO of DC Studios to honor the past of the hero and take him into the future. With the 1978 John Williams theme song echoing throughout and Corenswet giving off Christopher Reeve vibes, it’s clear Gunn wants audiences to feel nostalgia while still getting something new.

He also appears to want viewers to fight against the negativity that the modern world can bring. The plot involves manipulation of the public, usually at the hands of Luthor, through bombastic talk shows, political theater, and social media, the latter of which — in a great joke — comes to involve hundreds of typing monkeys. The film could be read as a rebuttal of many real-world ills as, despite Luthor’s machinations, many choose to continue to believe in the goodness of Superman.

There is a lot going on in the film, but somehow it never comes off as overly complicated. Superman’s relationship with Lois Lane and Luthor’s attempts at taking him down are given the most prominence, with everything else supporting those two main things. The Justice Gang is a fun addition, with Mr. Terrific becoming the breakout hero of the group. The addition of the (CGI) dog Krypto provides levity, poignant moments, and unexpectedly great action scenes. The only part that gets somewhat short shrift is the crew of The Daily Planet, with everyone besides Lois and Jimmy Olsen (Skyler Gisondo) getting little more than face time.

Being the new Superman is a lot to live up to, but Corenswet is completely up to the job. He, like Reeve, plays the character as someone who is earnest but not naive, a quality that comes through even when he’s in the middle of fight scenes. Brosnahan is also fantastic, providing a nice balance to the relationship while also proving the character’s own worth. Hoult makes for a great new version of Luthor, and Gathegi nearly makes the case that Mr. Terrific should get a starring film of his own.

Just as he did with the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy, Gunn has shown that success can be found through making characters people want to see. Not everyone in this Superman will be familiar to viewers, but in the end a group of people working together toward a goal that serves the common good is one worth watching and cheering for.

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Superman is now playing in theaters.

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