Archive - Jan 9, 2009

High on the heels of the latest big announcement, the 2009 edition of the annual Wakarusa Music & Camping Festival has announced its first round of artists set to perform at the four-day event. Topping the bill with "two big sets" a piece are newgrass stalwarts Yonder Mountain String Band and electro-rockers Sound Tribe Sector 9. Late night spots were rewarded to two Waka-veterans including funksters Galactic, whom switched out their late-night spot last year with the tardy Cake, and virtuoso rock guitarist Buckethead, whom always pulls in a rather large crowd. Many bands will be playing the recently relocated festival for the first time this year including classic hip-hop group Digable Planets, the Trey Spruance (Faith No More/Mr. Bungle) fronted Secret Chiefs 3 and legendary reggae rhythm duo Sly & Robbie. As always, many more jambands are confirmed for the June 4th-7th, northwest Arkansas event.

See the full list of initial artists after the jump

SXSW recently released the initial lineup for its 2009 music conference, and as always there are a fuck-ton of bands on the list – by the time I got the bottom, I'd forgotten whose names I read at the top. Confirmed artists that I'm particularly excited about include 8Ball & MJG, Akron/Family, Amanda Blank, Bavu Blakes, Crystal Method, Dananananaykroyd, Dead Prez, Explosions in the Sky, Peter Bjorn & John, Sage Francis, St. Vincent, Temposhark, and The Knux. The ginourmous event – slated to take place March 18-22 in various venues around Austin – will also feature a slew of other diverse acts from across the globe.

See the full list after the jump