The SXSW Diaries - Emma-Lee
By: SoundProof Magazine
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Emma-Lee Day One: Wednesday, March 18, 2009 to Day Five: Sunday, March 23, 2009 |
Woke up Tuesday morning, the 17th, with a killer cough. Great, a cold the day I leave for SXSW! The flight didn't help and I developed a pretty severe fever. Touch down in Austin where the air is smokey, but delightfully warm. Steve (bass), Kevin (drums), and Dev (electric guitar) are with me and we are greeted by Pam, our lovely hostess for the week. She was holding an "Emma-Lee" sign so we could find her. Adorable! You see, rather than stay in a hotel I was able to hook up with a local couple in Austin who were kind enough to let the boys and I crash at their place for the duration of our stay. I'm no stranger to couch surfing (did it all over Europe) so I've grown quite accustomed to staying with total strangers. It's fun!
By the time we rolled in and got settled it was close to midnight and I convinced everyone to get a good night's rest in order to prepare for the following day's festivities. Wake up incredibly tired. Tossed and turned all night long. Covers on, covers off. Hot, cold. Felt pretty miserable but was cheered up by the good company and the beautiful fresh fruit spread laid out in the backyard patio of Pam & David's home. Get our things together and head on over to the XM Radio/Six Shooter House to do a couple live acoustic recordings. All things considered, it went pretty well. I'm learning to adjust to strange and uncomfortable situations more and more, learning how to let go and make the best out of moments beyond my control. Everyone at XM was really great to us, getting the job done quick and painlessly. We boogied out of there to go and register for the festival where we waited for nearly two hours in a ridiculous line. Finally get our wristbands and scoot over to the Canadian Blast BBQ just in time to miss Two Hours Traffic (my label mates) – doh! Eat some horrendous food – sorry guys, I know it's free but maybe try stepping up the veggie options a wee bit? Would a bean salad be so much to ask? How 'bout a fucking corn on the cob?
On a side note . . . my adventures attempting to find good veggie food in Austin were pretty interesting. It's sorta BBQ or bust around there.
After getting registration sorted we headed back to P&D's to grab our gear/stage clothes and get over to St. David's Church where we were playing that night. Load all the gear in and am giddy about the space. It's absolutely gorgeous, warm and calming. After waiting around 30 mins or so find out there was some miscommunication; no sound check. Fine. Zip over to a resto to get some dinner. Very unsatisfied by a garden burger that tastes more like cardboard than a garden OR a burger. At this point I'm feeling quite ill. Coughing uncontrollably and still feverish. I still had some
semblance of a voice so I thought I would be able to make it through the show. Our showcase is not 'til midnight. Watched Billy Harvey at 9pm, a local songwriter who was fantastic – and also very nice – he lent us both a drumkit and a guitar amp so we didn't have to rent one. Lifesaver! Following him was Clã – a crazy talented band from Portugal. I loved the singer. We traded CDs. Eventually we hit the stage and my fever hits a sweltering height just as we break into the first tune. I don't think I have ever performed a show feeling so badly ever. We got through it and I gave it all that I could at the time, which wasn't much, but I survived. I'm sorry Austin, I owe you a do-over!
Feeling pretty bummed about the night I decide to head back to P&D's for a good sleep, while the boys go out and party it up! I was fully optimistic that by morning I'd be so ready for the 2nd showcase and feeling awesome. Well, sometimes the power of positive thinking is total horseshit my friends. I woke up with a very tight, sore throat, bordering on my self diagnosis of strep. I freaked right out. I had a show to do! An awesome one! We were going to open for Sam Roberts! Well, all those little dreams got crushed pretty quick when I realized the shape I was in. Now, I won't go into details, if you're really interested you can check out the bio on my website to find out about my past vocal ailments – but let's just say I've been through enough to know when to give my lil voice a break. I made the call and canceled the show. I was SAD, I mean . . . really truly down.
Got in to see a doctor and got some meds to take down the swelling. Felt a little better and was lifted into good spirits after a shopping trip with the boys where we purchased cowboy hats and wandered through the many wonderful shops scattered around town. Desperately wanted to buy a pair of cowboy boots but the $600 US price tag reminded me that I don't have a gold record yet!
Thursday at dusk we hit the Congress St. bridge to watch the bats. Everyday at dusk 2.5 million bats fly out from under this bridge and swarm the sky in a cloud of black. Quite a sight to see! After that we saw David Martel, followed by the Six Shooter showcase catching Melissa McClelland, Elliott Brood and Luke Doucet. Fantastic night!
Friday morning sent the boys home and left me on my own (mostly). I was feeling a little better. Went downtown for an interview with the ladies who run Decibelle, an all female music festival in Chicago that I played last year. They were doing a story on their past artists performing at SXSW. Zipped over to see my fave, M. Ward, play solo acoustic for a half hour and then head home for the night. I know, how un-rockstar of me. Listen, I have a tour I'm preparing for – I had to get my voice back!
Saturday met up with one of my managers Larry for lunch and a stroll, followed by the last Canadian Blast show featuring Two Hours Traffic (who played a great show) and some other bands who are currently escaping my worn out brain. Saturday I took in the most music: Jill Barber, Zaki Ibrahim, Wintersleep, Buck 65 and capped the night off with some comedy where I saw Janeane Garafolo perform (WIN!) and got to meet her (double win!).
Sunday was spent lazing about P&D's. Then came Monday which will now be referred to as "the worst day ever". Delayed flight due to broken door? Wtf? Miss connecting flight in Washington, have to wait four extra hours. Arrive in Toronto finally only to discover that my luggage had been left in Washington. What should have been a four hour flight quickly evolved into a 14 hour mission that left me feeling not so warm and fuzzy about United Airlines.
Overall, my first SXSW experience hit a few too many bumps for my liking, but I still had a great time taking in all the sights and sounds that Austin had to offer and will have to give it another go next year!
Emma-Lee
