Haia!

It took me a while but finally I got around to sorting out our photos from the recent trip to USA with the 3 Crunchy bands. It was a really fun trip and we got a lot out of it in terms of business. We had great shows and great food - and drinks aplenty. Like it should be.

You can see Jessica's pictures from the trip at flickr with my comments. As you'll notice we brought our son Henry on the trip, so it was hard to find pix without him in them (that's what happens when you become a parent - you can't stop photographing the little buggers!). Anyway: we at CF HQ thought that it'd be of general interest to the citizens of the planet, so please go to our flickr-page and get an eyefull (and isn't he cute btw?).

We also put a small video snippet of 18th Dye on there. If you wanna watch some PowerSolo from the trip you'll find some stuff in this very blog.

Here's also some Youtube-stuff from the Music Slut dayparty show of Snake and Jet. 

Enjoy! We did!

 y 

Some nice people caught Snake & Jet's Amazing Bullit Band on camera at SXSW 2009. Here we go:

So if you're like me and stuck back home during the SXSW, where it seems that anyone and everyone cool and interesting will be playing, then you know it sucks... Not only does it suck not being there, but it also sucks because every single blog, music site and news site known to man is constantly reminding how mindblowingly awesome it would be if you were there. Yes, it is truly unfair that the [insert culprit] has deprived me/you of a ticket to the wild and wonderful SXSW ('cause you have to blame someone!). Bastards.

However! There is light at the end of the tunnel, because not only can you comfort yourself with the lovely jovely free MP3's up for offer, but now some wonderful people have also made a site for all of us not at SXSW. NotAtSXSW is a site dedicated to tweets (how very high-tech, I know) from people who are not at you-know-what in you-know-where and for us all to share in a non-conference (as they say).

Now I'm off to tweet about having late lunch or something important like that... 

If you're at SXSW... I got the idea to share some good shopping and dining tips in Austin.

I have been to SXSW pretty much every year since 2000 and I've come to really like the city. Yebo and I have had the fortune to staying at our good old friend and Crunchy relative, Matt Caldwell. They live out in beautiful Enfield, where there is this really oldschool diner/drugstore that serves the perfect hangover breakfast. I dig the place so much, I bought two T-shirts. How is that for a recommendation??

In general for shopping: South Congress and North Guadalupe have a lot of cool boutiques and of course dining options. See some addresses below:

Chuy's: Barton Springs Rd. good tex-mex in a rock 'n' roll atmosphere http://www.chuys.com/

Guero's Taco Bar: South Congress. Great for snacking with a margarita on the porch - if you can get a table outside. http://www.guerostacobar.com/

Magnolia Café: South Congress. Not to miss. Great for brunch and breakfast. Crowded during SXSW. Use waiting time in the gaget's shop next door. http://www.cafemagnolia.com/

Jo's Coffee: South Congress. Very nice outdoor coffeeshop. http://www.joscoffee.com/

Kerbey lane café: 4 locations in the city. Open 24 hours. Genious breakfast (served 24 hrs) and night snacks.  http://www.kerbeylanecafe.com/

Nau's Enfield Drug: 1115 W Lynn St, Enfield/Austin. Authentic and very old school drugstore and diner. Mexican mamas will serve you good breakfast and burgers. And the best milkshakes!

Flipnotics: Barton Springs Rd. coffeeshop feel.  http://www.flipnotics.com/

Hickory street bar and grill: 800 Congress (at W 8th St)3 dollar margaritas. Good place for a snack while you wait for the next concert. chicken wings are yummie!

BBQ_Ironworks BBQ: 100 Red River Austin (DOWNTOWN). Very crowded during SXSW. http://www.ironworksbbq.com/

Stubb's BBQ: 801 Red River (DOWNTOWN) Extremely crowded during SXSW. http://www.stubbsaustin.com/rest_home.html

Sam's BBQ: 2000 E 12th St Austin. Legendary BBQ. No bullshit fancyness. Small place with walls full of celebrities who visited. http://www.samsbbq.com/

Saltlick BBQ: 3801 N Capital of Texas Hwy, Austin. You will need a car. It's worth the 40 min ride. Big place. You can bring your own beer. Cosy outdoor waiting area. http://www.saltlickbbq.com/

Kreuz Market BBQ: 619 N. Colorado St, Lockhart. Meat and toast. That's all you need! http://www.kreuzmarket.com/

Black's BBQ: 215 North Main Street, Lockhart. Great sausages! http://www.blacksbbq.com/default.aspx

Waterloo Records: 600A North Lamar. Good spot to catch some new and cool bands play instores. http://www.waterloorecords.com/

Antone's Records: 2928 Guadalupe. Lots of vinyl. http://antonesrecordshop.homestead.com/storeinfo.html

Continental Club: South Congress. Legendary garage venue. I was lucky to catch André Williams and Wanda Jackson there - on the same night! Not to miss. http://www.continentalclub.com/

Allens Boots: South Congress. Gear up to become a cowboy. http://www.allensboots.com/site/page/pg1736-pn_Allens_Boots_Western_Wear_Austin_Texas.html

Enjoy!

- Jessica

The SXSWfestival is just around the corner and final details about the line-up of bandsplaying official showcases has been released. Among the many fine artists andbands that will attend SXSW are Crunchy Frog’s very own PowerSolo, Snake andJet’s Amazing Bullit Band and 18^th Dye.

One of the coolthings about the SXSW festival is that every year, simultaneously withannouncing the full list of performing artists and bands, they make a songavailable for download for many of the bands. It’s a great way of getting newand free songs for your collection as well discovering some of the many up andcoming acts… and of course the always awesome crunchy acts.

You can get SAJABB’s 10 Cities Beyond (here), 18^th Dye’s Soft the Hard Way(here) and PowerSolo’s Pirates of the Oblivion for free download (here). Allawesome Crunchy tunes for you listening pleasure. Enjoy!

Othertracks/acts recommended to check out:

GoldieLocks– Cold Sweat (here), Abe Vigoda – Don’t Lie (here), Ungdomskulen – Idunno (here),Hatcham Social – So So Happy Making (here), Au RevoirSimone – A Violent Yet Flammable World (here), We Have Band – Hear It In Cans (here), The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Come Saturday (here),Port O’Brien – I Woke Up Today (here), Lemonade – Big Weekend (here),Efterklang – Mirador (here) and many many more (here)… you should really check themall out. So much good music, so little time.