A quick introduction – my name is Amy Mantis and I play guitar in and write songs for Canary, a five-piece rock n roll band comprised entirely of Berklee students. You can download our new EP (for free!) at www.canarytheband.com.
Last week, Canary had the chance of a lifetime – to play at South by Southwest (SXSW) through Heavy Rotation Records (HRR) at Berklee’s 7th Annual SXSW Party.
Last week dozens (hundreds?) of Berklee alumni, students, faculty, and staff traveled to Austin, TX to participate in the SXSW 2012 Music, Film, and Interactive Conferences. We played shows, threw parties, presented and attended panels, networked with fans and industry pros, and consumed massive amounts of barbeque. At the center of all this activity was our seventh annual Official Day Party at Friends bar on 6th Street.
The day was a huge success, featuring student and Heavy Rotation Records band Canary (above), as well as 7 different alumni acts from all around the country.
From Boston to Austin: A South By Southwest Story
SKIZZ SXSW 2012
After playing at the SXSW (South by South West) Festival in Austin Texas, I am completely relieved, relaxed, and ready to finish my video-documentary of the festival and my bands’ experience that I’ve been working on. But not only did I organize for my band to play… I organized a professional showcase of Berklee College of Music students on Monday night at the Flamingo Cantina right after an Interactive Google Private Party! Soundkitty.com is the name of the blog I manage, edit, video record, and write for.
Here it is, folks – video from our 2nd annual Lucky Lounge Party, featuring Berklee student and alumni bands, and hosted by Austin alumni chapter head Sarah Sharp (shown below, with Jitterbug Vipers). More video to follow from Friends and our alumni barbeque – if you’ve got some of your own, link to it here, or send it our way! (berkleeblogs@gmail.com)
Back from SXSW in Austin, where Berklee hosted three events again this year. The thirteen alumni and student bands who played at Berklee’s parties made their mark among the dozens of alumni bands performing at shows and parties around Austin last week (who were in turn among 2,000 plus (!) bands playing at the 25th Anniversary of SXSW.
We had a good turnout at Off the Record at the Lucky Lounge (St. Patrick’s Day no less) and possibly our biggest crowd yet at Friends on 6th St. the following day for Berklee’s 6th Annual Official SXSW Party. The club counted nearly 750 people during the course of the day.
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