South by Southwest Music Conference and Festival has announced its 2017 lineup. The festival, which is based in Austin, Texas, was started by staffers of the alternative art newspaper The Austin Chronicle as a local festival. They expected around 150 attendees to show but over 700 people showed, causing the festival to go national almost immediately. SXSW is the largest music festival in the world, featuring thousands of well-known and up and coming acts every year.
Notable act Agnes Obel has been making waves for years. The Danish folk singer has won five prizes in the Danish Music Awards, and is set to release her new album Citizen of Glass in October. The album is set to be dark, moody, and dreary, yet tainted by just a slight glimmer of optimism. She is experimenting with instruments other than pianos for this album, as previous releases focused more on Obel and her beautiful piano skills.
Another up-and-coming act that stands out is Brooklyn baroque-pop band San Fermin. Their 2013 self-titled release became a critical darling for ambitiously pushing the boundaries of pop music, gaining praise from NPR and Pitchfork. Their second album, Jackrabbit, was released in 2015 and was met with similar praise.
President Obama himself wants in on the action too. On October 3rd, the Obama administration will be hosting a festival titled South by South Lawn.
The SXSW website has recently produced the lineup of the 2017 festival.
UPDATE (10/13): The second round of showcasing performers for SXSW 2017 has been announced, with some great names like The Drums, Ladyhawke, Joan of Arc, Girlpool and many more.
UPDATE 2 (11/15): A third round of showcasing artists has been announced for SXSW 2017 including Death Valley Girls, Pixx and Temples.
UPDATE 3 (1/10): A fourth round of showcasing artists has been announced, and is the largest announcement yet. This wave of artists includes Maggie Rogers, Sad13 (Sadie Dupuis of Speedy Ortiz) and Nicole Atkins.
UPDATE 4 (1/19): A fifth round has been announced for SXSW 2017, including artists like Kate Nash, Spoon and Spiral Stairs.
UPDATE 5 (1/27): A smaller sixth round of showcasing artists has been announced. Some of the bands included in this update are Let’s Eat Grandma, Rivers of Nihil and Deep Sea Diver.
UPDATE 6 (2/3): SXSW 2017 has announced a new round of artists, making it the seventh round. This lineup addition was topped by artists like Frankie Rose, Deap Vally and Frankie Rose.
UPDATE 7 (2/10): SXSW is back again with an eighth round of showcasing artists. The biggest announcement of the day (and probably the entire festival so far) is that Pussy Riot will perform as “Pussy Riot Theatre” and debut their new play Revolution.
UPDATE 8: (2/17): SXSW 2017 has announced a ninth round of showcasing artists. Among the bands announced for the festival was White Denim, Langhorne Slim and Peanut Butter Wolf.
UPDATE 9: (2/24): While the number of bands is not the highest at 137, the 10th round of showcasing artists at SXSW 2017 has the biggest impact yet. Wu Tang Clan, The Avett Brothers, Weezer, Grandaddy and Thievery Corporation are just a few of the biggest names to be added to the music portion of the festival.
UPDATE 10: (3/3): What is likely the final lineup announcement for SXSW 2017 is a doozy, including Karen Elson, Neko Case, Grandmaster Flash, Ryan Adams, !!!, …And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead, Sleigh Bells and many more.
The first round of the lineup can be viewed below:
SXSW 2017 Lineup
Akina Adderley & The Vintage Playboys (Austin TX)
Agosto (San Isidro ARGENTINA)
Alex Napping (Austin TX)
Rocky Banks (Houston TX)
Vera Blue (Forbes AUSTRALIA)
BOOHER (Austin TX)
Cory Branan (Nashville TN)
Allysen Callery (Bristol RI)
Alex Cameron (Sydney AUSTRALIA)
Laura Carbone (Mannheim GERMANY)
Chain of Flowers (Cardiff UK-ENGLAND)
Chain Wallet (Bergen NORWAY)
Chelou (London UK-ENGLAND)
Crater (Seattle WA)
Creepoid (Philadelphia PA)
Diet Cig (New Paltz NY)
Dubfire (Washington DC)
Forth Wanderers (Montclair NJ)
FOXTRAX (Los Angeles CA)
Colin Gilmore (Austin TX)
Henry Hall (New York NY)
Hard Proof (Austin TX)
Hoops (Bloomington IN)
Jain (Paris FRANCE)
Tameca Jones (Austin TX)
King Cayman (Madrid SPAIN)
Alex Lahey (Melbourne AUSTRALIA)
Lazyeyes (Brooklyn NY)
Carlo Lio (Toronto CANADA)
Demi Louise (Boronia AUSTRALIA)
Elizabeth McQueen (EMQ and Psiplay) (Austin TX)
Misimplicity (Austin TX)
My Education (Austin TX)
Never Young (Oakland CA)
Agnes Obel (Berlin GERMANY)
Pastel Ghost (Brooklyn NY)
Sara ∏ (Barcelona SPAIN)
Polarheart (Sydney AUSTRALIA)
The Quebe Sisters (Dallas TX)
Ratboys (Chicago IL)
Running Touch (Melbourne AUSTRALIA)
San Fermin (Brooklyn NY)
Oscar Key Sung (Melbourne AUSTRALIA)
S U R V I V E (Austin TX)
Tasha the Amazon (Toronto CANADA)
Throttle (Melbourne AUSTRALIA)
Adam Torres (Austin TX)
Trudy and the Romance (London UK-ENGLAND)
Wafia (Brisbane AUSTRALIA)
Miss Lavelle White and the L Men (Austin TX)
Yoke Lore (Brooklyn NY)
Jesse Colin Young (Kona HI)
Yung Gordon (Miami FL)