Wow, that was a whirlwind. I am just getting around to posting from the awesome insanity that just ensued in Austin. After spending five days covering the Interactive Festival with my students (please check out their coverage at sxtxstate.com), I started off Wednesday much the same, by attending the featured talk with Sean Parker and Shawn Fanning, the founders of Napster. It was a fascinating talk that gave insight into their journey as music/tech industry innovators and disrupters. You can see a brief video of the talk below, or check out my Storify of the session.
Next it was time to hear some music. I dropped by the Radio Day Stage at the Convention Center to see Alabama Shakes. There’s been a lot of buzz around this band, and I can see why. The lead singer has a strong voice, in the Janis Joplin realm. There was a big crowd for them at this afternoon show.
Time to hit the parties now, and I headed over to the Paste/Sennheiser shindig to catch Ben Kweller. He was in rockin’ form, as always, playing things from his new CD Go Fly a Kite, as well as some crowd pleasing tunes from his catalog.
Finally, I took a swing by Austin Music Hall to see my friends Quiet Company play their opening set and will ALL the Austin Music Awards. They ended up taking 10 awards that night, a record. I am really happy for them. So talented, they deserved every award they got… and more.
Enjoy some of the videos from Wednesday: