Okay, before I write about Johnathan Rice a quick announcement.

I'm adding word verification for comments on the blog. I remember the good old days before spammers figured out how to create fake Blogger accounts. Now, every day I get at least 5 comments that are nothing more than advertisements for online gaming crap. I've spent several hours now just deleting this dreg and yet every day there's more. The frustration has mounted and I've given up. The spammers seem to be especially drawn to the Magnet show from SXSW 2005, I have no idea why though Im sure it relates to some sort of highly searched term that they are targeting.

ARGH. Can you tell im frustrated? If anyone knows how to get rid of these leaches, please let me know and I'll turn comments back on. In the interim, feel free to drop me notes via email. Are we going to introduce some sort of capital punishment for spammers?

Now that I've gotten that off my shoulders onto something that actually brings joy into my life. Music.

So.. back to SXSW. I still have a bunch of shows from the 2008 SXSW festival that I need to get up. I've been working my way through them, mastering, cutting up, MP3ing, tagging - and through that I'm getting to revisit each one of these shows, and its reminding me how good they were!

Johnathan Rice played a couple of shows at SXSW, he opened up for REM at their show at Stubbs BBQ, then opened the Nylon Guess Lounge party the next day. It was an extremely cool psuedo-venue, with Nylon Guess setting up on the top floor of a downtown apartment complex.

Technically it was above the parking garage, where the resident pool was located. Fantastic views of the downtown Austin sky line, free drinks, free Guess jeans and sunglasses, all sorts of VIPs wandering through and lounging coaches everywhere. If you can't tell we had a great time, and wandered away with hundreds of dollars of free goodies courtesy of the sponsors.

Oh, and Johnathan Rice was awesome. I'd been been a big fan since I got his first EP, Extended Player 24-26 which basic served as a sampler for his first full length, Trouble Is Real. I'd waited patiently to see him live - and got to finally see him open for Ben Gibbard last May. Of course, the SXSW was much more intimate, in fact it was the first time I'd ever seen an artist while lounging on a couch, pool-side. (I love SXSW.)

Johnathan's set consisted of tracks from his second record, Further North - a much more Americana record which is a complete departure from his earlier more acoustic "old soul" singer songwriter styles. Of course, who enjoys bands who put out the same record over and over again? Though initially surprising, Further North grew on me after several listens, and I thoroughly enjoyed the rocking live versions. I just wish the show had been longer!

Photo Credit: Ryan Russell

Live MP3 MP3s:
Intro
Change In The Weather
Further North
The Ballad Of King Coyote
We're All Stuck Out In The Desert

Labels: austin, live mp3s, major, nylon guess, soundboard mp3s, sxsw