Kevin Bronson on March 15th, 2014

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[Fridays signify two things: 1) the end of the work week and 2) time to relax, yes? Not so much for our guest blogger at SXSW. No rest for the wicked, and all that jazz.]

Trina Green (@dharma69) on Friday at SXSW:

It was nearing 1 a.m. by the end of Deap Vally’s set, every part of my body wanted to be back at my hotel room and in the prone position. I was this close to making my move out the door from the Old School Bar & Grill when Ivy Levan’s masked bunch of a bandmates began setting up, an intriguing sight even if you didn’t know what was to come. I’m pretty sure that my legs groaned in protest, but I was in and shortly after, there was The Dame, herself, in all of her immaculate beauty and retro glory … and a mouth like sailor. The Arkansas-bred, L.A.-based singer, whose EP from last year is titled “Introducing the Dame,” is fantastic, with no-joke vocal chops. As soon as she took the stage she stated her purpose (to burn the roof down), made crazy eye contact and animated facial expressions and then proceeded to sling her punky, funky, Motown sound with a side of hip-hop all over the place. What a dame, and I mean that in the most complimentary sense of the word.

More great Scots

The Scottish just keep on coming and giving me reasons to enter a venue. This time the motivation came from Edinburgh, Scotland’s Meursault. Intentionally passing by the British Embassy/Latitude 30 because I had missed the artist I’d planned to see at 8 p.m., the 9 p.m. band was already in session when the rugged vocals of Neil Pennycock and the force of Meursault’s music damned near assaulted me. So I found myself inside the venue taking in this hybrid rock-ish, indie-folk thing telling stories and braving the risk of exposing its human flaws with a thick brogue. Heavy and dense describe the overall texture of the music (as well as Pennycock’s bellow), drawing some measure of feeling from the listener, but there were moments where they pulled back and those were just as evocative.

Also notable …

When I walked out of the Brew Exchange, the plan was to get back to the SXSW downtown area as soon as possible but, instead, a gaggle of people spilling out of the Key Bar and onto the sidewalk caught my attention. There was Ryan Star, a Brooklyn alternative rock-type whom someone dubbed “the alt-rock Frank Ocean” with just an acoustic guitar and the strength of his raw vocal style, owning everyone crammed inside the space as well as those waiting in line and passers-by. He charmed with just enough between song commentary that if the rocker thing doesn’t work out, I suspect there’s always room for him in Hotel Cafe-type settings around the world.