SXSW

SXSW: A Happy Brother And A Sh*t Horse

Rocks Off arrived in Austin Wednesday with just enough time to get in a quick nap and free Olive Garden from the hotel before departing for downtown. By the time we got there, it was already dark and we immediately went to see if we could get into the just-announced-via-Twitter Aziz Ansari stand up show at Frank.

On the way, we met a friendly but cynical duo of Australian journalists who informed us that there was a huge "queue" that wrapped around the street and then asked us who Aziz was, mentioning that Australian cable was "ballsweat."

When you're wristbandless and badgeless with 20 bucks in your pocket, sometimes you have to take what you can get and just go where the wind blows you. Sometimes that body odor/smoke/marijuana wind current blows you right to the lead singer of one of your favorite bands in the middle of Sixth Street.

Although we couldn't get in to see the show, our brother noticed James Graham of Scottish band The Twilight Sad being interviewed. We approached quickly, mentioned the Mogwai show they opened in 2009, and got a picture. Watching this meeting unfold was a beautiful thing for a big sis.

Later on that night, we met another lead singer of a band called Shit Horse. Yeah, it's a real band-we questioned the authenticity ourselves, believe us. When we initially approached him for a picture, we didn't even know who he was, but he was kind enough to tell us his history.

Danny Mason, or Danny Magic, can't read or write but the dude plays the drums and sings all of his songs from memory. Instead of shooing us off, he welcomed us with open arms and introduced us to the rest of his band as well as tour manager.

One of their songs, "Twelve Horses" goes something like this: "Have you ever bitten off more than you could chew? Have you ever had a log you couldn't poo?"

We'll be getting in touch with them again for Friday's show.


Follow Rocks Off on Facebook and on Twitter at @HPRocksOff.

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Allison Wagoner