Now that SXSW is over, I wanted to point out something about the community of musicians that lives in Austin. Everywhere I went where the myriad of entertainment was going on, there was a common thread that ran through all the events. It was the willingness of all the musicians to help each other. Each show I went to, up on stage there were people helping all the bands with their equipment, "Do you need anything?", "I've got some extra cords if you need them" "A buddy of mine has some extra mike stands you can use". Everywhere, at any time of the day, they were willing to do what had to be done to keep it moving and sounding good.
And it wasn't just musicians either, there were bartenders, waitresses, club owners, taxi drivers, students, bikers, people coming from everywhere just to help make sure this thing worked. It's an amazing thing to watch, all this humanity coming together for the sake of the music. People just want to be a part of it and they realize that it's an event that will change lives for many of the fans that are in the audience. It's a huge reunion for many that brings old friends from all over the world together for the few days that it lasts and for many musicians, one of the few times a year that they get to see some of the others that are participating.
It was just a great thing to witness and a source of inspiration for me. I thoroughly enjoyed it all, even the traffic was tolerable (most of the time) and it was a time to reflect and ponder the possibility of what could happen if it were like this all the time and if everybody, politicians included, could take some pointers from the musicians in this town and "Just get along".
I'm ready for next year.
