Berklee Rocks at SXSW

Berklee alumni and students rocked out at the college's seventh annual SXSW bash in Austin.
March 26, 2012

Berklee was well represented among the avalanche of activity that is the annual SXSW Music and Media Conference in Austin, one of the music industry's largest events. The college hosted its seventh official SXSW Party at Friends bar, featuring nine acts composed of Berklee, Berkleemusic.com, and Heavy Rotation Records (HRR) alumni and students.

This year's lineup featured up-and-coming acts from around the country, including the Shills, the Grownup Noise, and Canary (HRR) from Boston; Ume from Austin; Brooklyn-based Lucius; Queen Caveat from Los Angeles; Justin Klump, a Berkleemusic student from Portland, Oregon; and Boston- and New York–based Mrs. Danvers (HRR). Student DJ, producer, and bassist Lil' Texas provided tunes in between sets with DJ Trap Arnold, giving a sonic backdrop for the varied live bands that genre-hopped from dance-pop to singer-songwriter to hard rock to Americana and beyond.

Student band Canary also performed at Berklee's third annual Ruba Cup Barbeque Shootout, a private event hosted by Berklee trustee David Clem and his wife Kathy at their expansive ranch outside of Austin. Folks were treated to tasty BBQ from five championship Texas BBQ teams, followed by a performance from the Texas Swing Band. The event culminated in a jam session featuring Berklee president Roger Brown; members of Canary; and alumni Emily Elbert, Pablo Trujillo, Devon Yesberger, and Kyle Miles.

Click the image at the left to see photos from the party at Friends.

Also check out Berklee-Blogs.com for live performance videos from the party, as well as photos and reports from around the festival.