The first and second waves of the 37th annual Texan showcase of new music SXSW lineup have been released, and once again, it looks to be the sound of tomorrow. The festival runs a full six days from March 10-19th, 2023 and registration for tickets is open now. You can see the ticket and lineup information in full at https://www.sxsw.com/.
Texas and March may be far away, but the music is always close. Americana UK journos trawled through the 400+ artists to bring you a list of what hot new Americana artists you could be playing next year. You heard them here first. This is day twelve of a Twelve-part series that explores this showcase; enjoy all of these artists “twelve strings a-strumming, eleven truckers truckin’, ten telecasters twangin’, nine cowgirls dancing, eight whiskey a-slammin’, seven slides a slidin’, six gators laying, five rhinestone suits, four open roads, three fresh hats, two bald eagles, and a pardner in a pantry”.
Formerly of Moonlight Towers, the debut solo album from Mississippi artist JM Stevens ‘Invisible Lines‘ has been received well, and his follow up eagerly awaited. Stevens is from a musical family, with his brother playing in the 90s alt band Blind Melon. He has been based in Austin since college Stevens embodies the spirit of independence and perseverance of SXSW.
Known, or perhaps not known, for being Tim Buckley’s sister, Mariel has been carving out her style from Calgary since 2012. Her debut album, ‘Driving in the Dark‘ was only released in 2018 and was self-described as “songs for the underdog”. Her follow-up ‘Everywhere I Used to be” came out last year and was produced by Marcus Paquin (The Weather Station, The Barr Brothers, Arcade Fire, The National) and resulted in epic-yet-toe-tapping pedal steel-laden “angst-ridden alt-folk”. The siblings have also released a cover of Bobcaygeon as a duet that’s very worthy of a listen. Check out our live review from a few years ago here.
The husband and wife Atlanta-based duo Willie Heath Neal and Kira Annalise bring to mind the great country couples Conway and Loretta, Porter and Dolly, and Johnny and June. The pair met fourteen years ago in a bar and has been making rootsy honky-tonk ever since. Their debut EP was released in 2019, and their sophomore release, ‘The Stone Sessions’, came out only months ago. The couple is the newest old-time sound around.
After finishing with her husband and collaborator Luke Winslow-King in 2015, Esther Rose has moved into a natural-seeming solo career. In 2017, Rose released her debut album ‘This Time Last Night‘; in 2019, Rose signed to Father/Daughter Records and released her second album, ‘You Made It This Far‘, and then in 2021, Rose released her third album, ‘How Many Times‘. With a new album on the horizon, if you are not yet acquainted with her work, now is the time. You can read the interview she had with Americana UK here.
Emerging artist Ulysses Wells has been steadily releasing singles from Oxford since 2019. Having been compared to American Artists Jack White and Dan Auerbach while sharing a stage with English artists Jake Bugg and George Ezra, his music bridges the Atlantic and will make Brits proud at SXSW. His singles have been receiving radio play and being featured on streaming services, and Wells looks all set to storm the US too.
You can read the previous article here:
The twelve days of the SXSW lineup: eleven truckers trucking
