While we are still months away from the 2018 version of SXSW Music Festival in Austin, TX, we are gradually creeping ever closer to the massive music industry event. Today, the festival has announced its second round of showcasing artists and it is chock full of recognizable names.

The one name that clearly stands out most is the inimitable Andrew W.K., who has embarked on his first full-band tour in five years and will release his first new studio album since 2003 in March of 2018. Coincidentally, that is the same month as SXSW Music Festival, which will be held from March 12 – March 18.

Also of note on the new list of bands are seminal Bay Area punk rockers The Dwarves, singer-songwriter Holly Miranda (who will release an album in February), Kendrick Lamar collaborator Anna Wise, New Orleans rockers Caddywhompus, Australian indie pop artist Gordi, New York band Kino Kimino (a project of Kim Talon, who managed to have two ex-members of Sonic Youth play on her record), psych rock group Mothers, electronic pop artist Porches, British guitar rock band Makeness, Portland band Pure Bathing Culture, Austin locals Ume and outspoken Juno Award winning singer Lido Pimienta.

While these artists may not have won the Juno Award this year, these Canadian visitors are hoping to make a mark at SXSW. Canucks on the second round of showcasing artists include Ahi from Brampton, Anemone and Men I Trust from Montreal and Faith Healer from Edmonton.

Local artists abound at SXSW and from the city of Austin will be artists such as Hovvdy, Curtis Roush, David Halley, Barbara Nesbitt, Alex Napping, Lachane, Molly Burch, Walker Lukens and Stone Wheels. Not to be outdone, other Texas cities with artists appearing at SXSW include Houston (Tedy Andreas, Rocky Banks), Forth Worth (Ronnie Heart) and Denton (Wesley Jensen and The Penny Arcade).

Other locations seen on this second round of artists include the Pacific Northwest with Acid Tongue from Seattle and Candace, The Floating Room and Haley Heynderickx from Portland, OR. One again there are quite a few artists from Tennessee, with Memphis group Don Trip and Nashville performers Faux Ferocious, Liza Anne, Liz Cooper and the Stampede, Rayland Baxter, Starlito and India Ramey. There are a few groups from less heralded music cities like Arin Ray of Cincinnatti, Dead Horses of Milwaukee, The Greeting Committee from Kansas City, Jiggy Drama from San Andres Island, FL, Kari Faux from Little Rock, Makana from Honolulu, Moon King from Detroit, The Nude Party fro Livingston Manor, KY, Peter Oren of Columbus, OH, Rapsody from Snow Hill, NC, Thunder Dreamer from Evansville, IN, and YBN Nahmir from Birmingham, AL. From New Orleans are artists Guts Club, Sweet Crude and Tank and the Bangs. Chicago groups making the trip out to Austin include White Mystery, Varsity, SNST and Knox Fortune. Now, Now will head almost straight south from Minneapolis for the festival.

Bat Fangs will head down from the their Beltway stomping grounds of Washington DC, while the Northeast is represented by groups like Boy Harsher, Vundabar and Tancred. Athens, GA band Eureka California hail from the original hotspot of college rock, while Philadelphia punches above the belt with several artists appearing at the festival including Palm, Queen of Jeans, Quiet Slang and Vita and the Woolf.

New York City is always one of the most well-represented cities at SXSW, and the second round of artists this year is no different. Brooklyn of course boasts the most artists, including Zenizen, BOYTOY, Bedoga, Charles Fauna, Hiccup, Mal Blum and The Blums, Miss Eaves and Uncle Meg. Hollis Brown holds it down for Queens, while Kemba hails from the Bronx. Combo Chimbita and Kyle Avallone simply opt for the generic “New York, NY” location identifier.

California is a hotspot for music, with many bands making the trip east for SXSW 2018. These include LA bands like BAUM, Sudan Archives, The Fontaines, WILD, Rat Fancy, Soviet, Moaning and Wallows, as well as groups from Orange County like Madison Cunningham, Spendtime Palace and Ruby Haunt. From even further south is San Diego band Great Electric Quest, and representing the Bay Area are Blackwulf, Pardoner, Tino Drima and Hazel English.

Of course, SXSW is all about the smaller bands making a big name for themselves with impassioned, inspired performances at the festival. Some of the groups on the second round of showcasing artists will be making very long trips out to Texas this spring. These bands include Johannesburg band AKA, Ali aka Mind from Colombia, Alive Ivey and The Black Sorrows, Bloods, Didirri, The Elliots, ELSZ, The Heart Collectors, Mallrat, Small Island Big Song, The Teskey Brothers, Thandi Phoenix, Tori Forsyth, Vacations and WILSN from Australia, Austrostrad Band from Jordan, Annabel Allum, Basement and Beating Heart, Doe, Joshua Burnside, Lucy Spraggan, The Magic Gang, Mantra, Nadia Rose, Nilufer Yanya, Otzeki, Sam Fender, Shame, Yonaka and Zara McFarlane from the United Kingdom, Better Person, Mary Ocher and Joasihno from Germany, The Blind Suns from France, Bohemian Betyars and The Qualitons from Hungary, Capitan Cobarde, John Grvy, Nat Simons, Ten Bears, Núria Graham, Lois and Joe Crepúsculo from Spain, Glasgow group Catholic Action, HEX from New Zealand, Holy Motors and Pia Fraus from Estonia, I am waiting for you last summer from Russia, Leon of Athens from Greece, Leyya from Austria, José Biggs, Nea Agostini, Playa Gótica and Novella Inc from Chile, Mokoomba from Zimbabwe, Mozart La Para from the Dominican Republic, Pedro Menendez Fusion Ensemble and Pommez Internacional from Argentina, Wrongonyou from Italy, and Yahyel from Japan.

Taiwan is surprisingly well-represented in the second round of artists. PoeTeK, Dwagie, Ruby Fatale 鹿比 ∞ 吠陀, Sangpuy, Sonia, Calico and Van Ness Wu all hail from the small Asian country.