6th Street concert playing during music festival to showcase local musicians
On Tuesday, Mar. 14, Indie Overnite will be hosting their Live Rooftop Showcase in Austin during the South by Southwest music festival.
The showcase features local San Antonio artists and is being put on to give those bands exposure in Austin so that they can get publicity and better opportunities to get their music out into the listening world.
“There are a lot of things going on in Austin during SXSW and we wanted to kind of increase our presence there, at least do something there, but something that we came across was that there aren’t that many opportunities unless you’re established.
You have to pay to play and there’s a disproportionate shortage of how many San Antonio musicians get to play up there during South By for how close in proximity we are to Austin,” said Benjamin Gomez, Indie Overnight staff member.
“This idea came about that we could work our connections and find a place to showcase all of our cool, local talent without them having to pay or anything,” Gomez said.
Using connections and networking, Gomez and KRTU found a location for the showcase to take place.
“It’s really tricky because South By is a really hard time to do that, but I stumbled upon a venue that basically let us have a place for the night which just happens to be a rooftop on 6th Street, which is even cooler. I pitched it to [KRTU] and they were all about it … we’re gonna take the broadcast equipment up so you’re going to actually be able to hear all the San Antonio bands,” Gomez said.
The bands who are going to be performing at the Live Rooftop Showcase were specifically chosen for this event by the Indie Overnite Staff.
“We had an application and put a posting on our website that was linked to a form that asked simple questions like why they wanted to play in the showcase, what they thought they could bring to the showcase and asked for links to their music. From that we went through an anonymous voting process. I think we had over ninety submissions so we had to go through a lot, and picked seven,” Gomez said.
“There’s a great lineup for the showcase. I know Indie Overnite is really excited about it,” added Kory Cook, KRTU music director and library patron. The lineup includes seven bands: Buttercup, Verisimilitude, The Foreign Arm, Yoshimoto, Pink Leche, Booty Feet and Mr. Pidge. Each band has its own style and genre ranging from indie to electronic to rock to hip-hop.
It can be hard to differentiate several bands of overlapping styles, so check out the graphic beneath this article for each band’s specific genre.
According to Indie Overnite’s blog, this lineup “represent[s] the full range of our indie scene and a collision of San Antonio sound and Austin energy.”
Along with being able to broadcast and perform their music, these bands also get additional benefits from playing this event.
“We worked it out with the venue so that they’re gonna get to keep tips, and we’re gonna work to partner with a tip app that’ll help them collect tips,” Gomez said.
Advancements are being made to ensure Indie Overnite’s Live Rooftop Showcase continues and is successful in the future.
“We’re gonna be meeting with SATX “” an organization that exists as part of ChooseSA. They are basically there to help represent SA at SXSW. They have big day parties and big mixer feature events, so we’re gonna try to be one of their feature events because we’re all about being San Antonio,” Gomez said.
Tune in to Indie Overnite at 91.7 to hear these bands perform from 7 p.m. through 2 a.m. Or if you’re in Austin, stop by Cheers Shot Bar on 6th Street to hear what San Antonio has to offer.
