[How bassist Nicholas Cody of Houston's Wild Moccasins spent his SXSW Thursday.]

After playing three shows in one day, including our official showcase, we all looked forward to being able to relax and having time to watch some free day shows. Thursday began with a little cable television, but then we all splintered off to do our own things.

Andrew O. and his girlfriend went their way, Zahira and Cody of course were together, Andrew Lee followed them, and I was biking around and hanging out with Althea Topek, former Riff Tiffs bassist. Althea is letting us use her car to haul all the gear around, and there was room for our bikes. Very handy to have in Austin.

We grabbed some lunch at Veggie Heaven, then went to the NPR event at the Parish to see The Dirty Projectors. They were slated to play around 3 p.m., and after a short stint waiting in line we were early enough to discover Blk Jks and K'Naan. These two bands were unknown to me, and I was floored by each one. After The Dirty Projectors set I grabbed their set list and thanked them for an awesome 30 minutes, probably coming off like a huge dork. Oh well.

Biking is a lot of fun, especially in Houston, but in Austin it is fun only half the time. Specifically the downhill halves. We biked down and walked up some hills to the east side and caught a band from New Orleans called My Name Is John Michael, then went to rest until around 9:30 p.m. At the Natrix Natrix Records house we had a show at 10 p.m., following a set by Buxton.

We couldn't stick around afterwards, though, because we all wanted to take advantage of our wristbands. Cody and Zahira went and saw The Harlem Shakes, while Andrew Lee and I went to see Big Boi at the Austin Music Hall. Big Boi played everything the crowd could ask for, leaving only two Andre 3000 dominated-OutKast hits that I could think of off the set. This day went better than I could have expected, and I hope the rest go just as well.