Scenes from SXSW 2011

Kanye West, Chamillionaire and 2,000 bands promise an SXSW music frenzy

Famed Houston rapper Chamillionaire will be a featured conference speaker.
There’s always a surfeit of great music in Austin, but this week it will beoozing from every pore of the city.
Rumors are swirling about an appearance by Kanye West.
Jake Gyllenhaal has been in good spirits most of the time he's been in Austin.

As the South By Southwest (SXSW) Film and Interactive conferences swung into full gear in Austin last Friday, festivalgoers had already begun packing into standing-room-only panels at the Austin Convention Center. Hotels across town have been booked solid for weeks and flights into Austin were full.

For the savvy visitor, the weekend offered a good chance to check out the scene in “the Live Music Capital of the World” before the rest of the hordes arrive for SXSW Music Wednesday.

Celebrity sightings abounded – CultureMap staffer Carey Kirkpatrick spotted Rainn Wilson and Rick Fox, and other notables in the capital city included Conan O’Brien, Danny DeVito, Mike Tyson and Pee Wee Hermann.

Popular author and blogger Ana Marie Cox (@anamariecox) was seen on South Congress, tweeting “Don’t just want to move TO Austin, want to move INTO the Hotel San Jose.” And news reports confirmed that Jake Gyllenhaal (apparently otherwise a good sport about posing for pics) scuffled with a fan who snapped his photo at an “inelegant time” in the Paramount Theatre restroom.

From a music perspective, it almost felt like a regular (busy) Friday night in Austin. There were plenty of folks out enjoying their weekend on South Congress, but the South by San Jose Stage (which will be surrounded by hundreds of people later this week when Black Joe Lewis, the North Mississippi All-Stars, and the Alejandro Escovedo Orchestra perform) was dark, in anticipation of the unofficial free showcases that will begin Wednesday. It was even possible to secure a prime parking space last weekend near the popular Continental Club.

Over at Threadgill’s World Headquarters, a packed house enjoyed the music of the Joe Ely Band and Shinyribs (featuring Gourds frontman Kevin Russell). A few badges were spotted, and a handful of Scandinavian visitors in town for the conference stopped by the table where the bands were selling CDs. For the most part, however, the outdoor venue seemed filled with a largely Austin-based crowd, blissfully unaffected by the frenzy of South-by.

That’s all about to change.

Thousands more festival attendees (some credentialed, many others badge- and wristband-free) are descending on Austin. There’s always a surfeit of great music, but this week it will be oozing from every pore of the city.

Soon, Cee-Lo Green, Queens of the Stone Age, Duran Duran, the Strokes and keynote speaker Sir Bob Geldof will join some 2,000 other bands at conference events and venues all over Austin. Rumors are swirling about an appearance by Kanye West.

A typical venue might host six bands in a showcase each night, and at any given hour on a SXSW Music evening, there are probably 80 different bands playing at SXSW venues. And those are just the official showcases. A mind-boggling number of additional parties, unofficial showcases, and other random music occurrences will round out the week.

Musicians with Houston connections will be well represented at South by Southwest. Famed Houston rapper Chamillionaire will be a featured conference speaker. Local favorites Buxton and Robert Ellis, both recently signed to New West Records, will both have official showcases and will appear at New West’s annual afternoon gathering. Rising star (Woodlands native) Hayes Carll has already begun a jam-packed SXSW schedule that will include at least nine official (and unofficial) appearances.

Houstonian singer-songwriter Gordy Quist will be appearing with the Band of Heathens for their official showcase at Antone’s on Thursday night in support of their new album “Top Hat Crown and the Clapmaster’s Son," due out later this month.

“We're excited to be playing the showcase with Emmylou Harris and the Old 97s,” Quist says. “We'll be going through lots of the new songs.”

L.A. entertainment lawyer, Paste Magazine writer, and Houston expat Jeff Leven will be returning to South-By this year after taking a year off for the birth of his daughter. As usual, his schedule is planned to the minute – he’s especially looking forward to hearing bands like The Silent Comedy (“part big tent revival, part Prohibition-era moonshine orgy, part bluesy kingsnake crawl”) and Maxim Ludwig, whom he says combines “the grizzled wit of Levon Helm, a loose-limbed young Van Morrison, the piercing wit of the punk era Elvis Costello.”

Can’t make it to Austin? Have a virtual South-By experience via the numerous radio stations that will be providing broadcasts from the festival.

The popular KGSR morning shows from the Four Seasons hotel will offer live performances from G Love, Ozomatli and Bob Schneider, and the station tweets that they have just confirmed appearances from Emmylou Harris and Ryan Bingham. Austin’s KUT will also do live morning broadcasts from the Hilton, including the Old 97’s and Ron Sexsmith.

Some out-of-town stations will stage their own concerts to provide exposure to their hometown acts. Minnesota Public Radio’s The Current will feature acts like DeVotchKa and Chapel Club during their showcase from 3-6 p.m. Thursday. Seattle’s KEXP will be broadcasting live from Austin for eight hours a day Wednesday through Friday.

And, if you want to help South By Southwest give back…the festival’s annual Japan Nite (a SXSW tradition featuring Japanese bands) has been turned into a benefit for the victims of the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan. You can contribute here or text your donation to 90999.

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Now hear this

New Texas museum shines spotlight on Tejano music history

Totally Tejano Hall of Fame and Museum, San Antonio, tejano music

Photo by Edmond Ortiz

Roger Hernandez serves as board president of the Totally Tejano Hall of Fame and Museum.

For a city that proudly calls itself the capital of Tejano music, San Antonio has long been missing a permanent place to honor the genre’s pioneers and preserve its history. That gap officially closed In December with the opening of the Totally Tejano Hall of Fame and Museum at 1414 Fredericksburg Rd.

The music couldn’t have found a better steward than its founder and board president. Roger Hernandez has had his finger on the pulse of Tejano music for decades. His company, En Caliente Productions, has provided a platform for countless performing artists and songwriters in Tejano, conjunto, and regional Mexican music since 1982.

Hernandez says his wife, who ran a shop at Market Square years ago, would often get questions from visitors about the location of a physical Tejano music museum, a thing that simply did not exist. In 2022, he banded together with friends, family, and other local Tejano music supporters to make the nonprofit Hall of Fame a reality.

“I decided I've been in the music scene for over 40 years, it's time to do a museum,” Hernandez recalls.

Hernandez says a brick-and-mortar Tejano music museum has long been needed to remember musical acts and other individuals who grew the genre across Texas and northern Mexico, especially those who are aging. Recently, the community lost famed Tejano music producer Manny Guerra and Abraham Quintanilla, the renowned Tejano singer/songwriter and father of the late superstar Selena Quintanilla-Perez. Both deaths occurred roughly one week after the Totally Tejano museum opened to the public.

“They're all dying. They're all getting older, and we need to acknowledge all these people,” Hernandez says.

The Totally Tejano Museum — named after Hernandez’s Totally Tejano Television Roku streaming — has 5,000 square feet of space packed with plaques, photos, promotional posters, musical instruments, and other memorabilia honoring the pioneers and stars of the beloved genre. Mannequins wear stage outfits from icons like Laura Canales and Flaco Jimenez, and a wall of photos remembers late greats. Totally Tejano Television plays legendary performances on a loop, bringing the exhibits to life.

The newly opened Totally Tejano Hall of Fame and Museum includes a growing collection of memorabilia. Photo by Edmond Ortiz

Hernandez says the museum will soon welcome permanent and rotating exhibits, including traveling shows, a Hall of Fame section, and an area paying homage to Chicano music crossovers, such as the late Johnny Rodriguez, the South Texas singer-songwriter who blended country with Tex-Mex music. Plans call for the organization to hold its inaugural Hall of Fame induction in February 2026.

Eventually, a 2,000 square feet back room will be converted into additional display space and host industry gatherings, community symposiums, and record and video release parties. The museum also plans to add a gift and record shop and a music learning room where visitors can listen to early Tejano music and browse archival photos. Hernandez is already talking with local school districts about educational field trips.

Much like Tejano itself, the museum is a grassroots production. Hernandez and fellow board members have used their own money to rent, renovate, develop, and maintain the museum space. The board also leads the selection of the Hall of Fame honorees and curates the exhibits.

Hernandez has been heartened by the museum’s reception, both from media outlets and music fans around Texas and beyond.

“We had a radio station come in this morning from Houston to interview us,” he says. “People have come in from Lubbock, Texas. We have had people from Midland, Texas. We have another person who emailed us who’s coming in from New York. People are learning all about us.”

That includes many of the musicians who helped shape the genre. Johnny Hernandez, Sunny Ozuna, Elida Reyna, and Danny Martinez from Danny and The Tejanos are among the luminaries who have already graced the halls.

The Totally Tejano Hall of Fame and Museum is now open 10 am-6 pm, Tuesday-Sunday, and closed Monday. Admission is free, but donations are encouraged. Fans can call 210-314-1310 for more information.

san antonio tejano music museums hall of fame music openings