Another entourage of Michigan artists will make their way to Austin later this month for performances surrounding the massive SXSW festival/conference. Here are some of their stories and hopes.
Austin-Bound: Lucas Powell, Nathan Walton & the Remedy, Lucylujah and more. (Photo/Alex Ogen/Jeff Brinn/Video Screenshot)
Grand Rapids’ Nathan Walton says diving into the wonders of South by Southwest helps to “reinvigorate” his music.
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Mid-Michigan singer-songwriter Lucas Powell hopes his first SXSW experience will broaden his audience while connecting with other artists on the same journey.
From SXSW veterans to up-and-coming artists making their first appearance at the mammoth March festival and conference, Michigan once again aims to make an impact at the upcoming SXSW 2025, with dozens upon dozens performing and otherwise “connecting” at the milestone industry event that features more than 2,000 acts from across the globe every year.
The festival and its conferences — boasting more than 150,000 attendees — also cover film, interactive technology, gaming, fashion, AI and other disciplines, with the music portion officially kicking off on March 10.
Many of the artists are performing as part of showcases organized by two different groups — Midwest House at two different locations March 7-11 and a week-long set of shows organized by Boxcar Entertainment.
Boxcar’s Austin Rhythm Revival Showcase at San Jac Saloon and the Blind Pig Pub will feature 15 Michigan acts in the Americana/tunesmith/country/rock/alternative vein: Jacki Daniels, Louie Lee, Nathan Walton & The Remedy, Hannah Rose Graves, Ethan Marc Band, Kira Blue, Marqu3tte, Badonna, Matthew Kysia, The Fox & The Fiddle, Silver Creek Revival, Dave Menzo, Matt Kysia, George Montrelle, Laura & Zack and Lucas Powell.
A separate Detroit hip hop/DJ showcase dubbed “Backwoods and Bonfires” will also take place at Austin’s Parlor Room on March 13 with performances by DeMaciiio, Lucylujah, Aza, Just Shacoi and Patty Savvy.
“It’s great. There’s just more stages, better production, better promotion and more bands,” said Detroit-area producer Yorg Kerasiotis, who’s organized shows at SXSW the past 15 years. (He’s co-producing this year’s event with Ann Arbor’s Chris Hines, Detroit’s Mike Reyes and Virginia’s Jason Farlow.)
Kerasiotis noted that “some heavy-hitters” are on this year’s bill, giving many emerging Michigan artists a chance to rub elbows with some established acts. “That’s so big. Now all these people can tour together and do all kinds of stuff.” More details available here.
The Sonic Coast internet radio station will also conduct daily interviews with some of the Michigan artists during SXSW.
Midwest House (which has now incorporated what formerly was known as Michigan House at SXSW), meanwhile, will feature a host of seminars, panel discussions and performances as part of its offerings. Learn more on the Midwest House Facebook page.
You can also view a roster of some independently arranged showcase performers identifying themselves as Michigan artists and where they’ll be performing at SXSW here: https://schedule.sxsw.com/2025/search/artist?q=Michigan. The roster includes Detroit rapper/producer Mark Cooper, Flint pop duo BFF, Grand Rapids nerdcore artist FrivolousShara and St. Johns folk artist Spitzer Space Telescope.
Local Spins asked a few Michiganders performing at SXSW about what they expect and what makes this global gathering special.
NATHAN WALTON & THE REMEDY (Grand Rapids soul-rock band)
Local Spins: What can you tell me about the atmosphere In Austin during SXSW?
Shelby Andenno: I feel like it was really different the first year than it was last year. The first year was packed. The streets were just loaded with people. I think it was kind of coming off of the COVID a little bit, so everyone was excited to have so much live music.
Nathan Walton: I think it always has this slightly political vibe. On the streets there always seems to be a few protest groups. Which is great. I think big festivals are meant for that. Bringing awareness to whatever it may be across the board. And there’s lots of good music. I got to meet The Zombies kind of in passing. It’s also very humbling, especially visiting the Stevie Ray Vaughan statue and just having all that connection with the blues and that town.
Local Spins: What moments are you looking forward to for this next trip?
Nathan: I hope it rains again. There was a thunderstorm. It was insane one year. It was really different from being up here in the snow and then being able to go down there and enjoy a good thunderstorm again, which I really like doing up here. It was just cool because it didn’t stop anybody and the town kept going. If anything, it made people revel even more, which was really nice just to see people getting after it and having nature be part of the city. It’s a beautiful part of that city.
Nathan Walton & The Remedy (Photo/Chelsea Whitaker)
Local Spins: What can you tell me about the Michigan community that is down there at the same time? Do you get chances and opportunities to hang out with people, to see their shows, to have community down there?
Shelby: Yeah, definitely I feel like a lot of the shows line up that we’re playing right before or right after each other, which is awesome. And then we’ve gotten to meet a lot of people from the east side too, which is really good to be able to network across the state like that. And being able to actually go back and see the same people again in the same place…That feels really special.
Local Spins: What does the change of climate going from late winter down to Austin do for you in that span of time that you’re there?
Nathan: For me, it’s f—ing great. It’s so neat in March. In March, I want to start my garden, I want to go outside, I want to do all this stuff, but it’s still just a total shit show in Michigan. And it’s so nice to go somewhere where it’s like 70 degrees. It’s not super super hot. It’s perfect down there. But we’ve got a lot of rain the last couple of times we’ve been down there. They’re beautiful rainstorms. It does give me a good restart.
Local Spins: How do you think the trip will affect you once you return home?
Shelby: I mean it’s always It’s just kind of refreshing to get away. And kind of be fully in that experience of making music and living life but not just grinding. I always come back feeling really inspired. And also I think for me personally, Texas has been a great place to kind of hone my chops a little bit and my performance skills because you’re performing in a different sort of environment. When I’m down there I’m confident that I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing And I’m just more motivated to throw more of myself into that. And also I think another big part of it too is the connections. Keeping those connections that we’ve made down there and continuing to foster those and build on those and keep those alive.
Nathan: It’s about taking back some of that culture with you. Texas is a wonderful place that has a lot of history and culture that I could not deny in any way. There’s a lot of great music that’s come from there and obviously the lay of the land is impressive so It’s something that sticks with you. Once you go, it’s something that helps kind of reinvigorate the music. And if I’m going to do it I want to feel like I’m part of it and understand really where it’s coming from.
SILVER CREEK REVIVAL (Northern Michigan folk/Americana band)
Local Spins: Has Silver Creek Revival ever been to SXSW? When and where are you performing this year?
Jack Jensen: We have not been to SXSW before. We’re playing Wednesday March 12 and Thursday March 13 at SanJac Saloon.
Silver Creek Revival (Courtesy Photo)
Local Spins: What is your hope for this SXSW experience and how excited is the band about heading to Austin?
Jack: We are ridiculously excited for this opportunity. It’s a funny coincidence that Candi Jenkins (Katie Toupin, formerly of Houndmouth), is playing after us on Thursday night, since Shane Cody, former Houndmouth drummer, produced our album. Boxcar Entertainment has really put together some amazing showcases.
Local Spins: Is this another step in building Silver Creek Revival’s resume for the future?
Jack: This is definitely another step in building our resume for the future. We have a very busy summer ahead of us and are booking shows all over the Midwest. We’re looking forward to announcing some pretty big festivals that we have booked very soon, and we’re currently writing and arranging songs for our third album. We’re really excited for the SpeakEZ Lounge show on April 9 (in Grand Rapids, hosted by Local Spins).
LUCAS POWELL (Mid-Michigan singer-songwriter)
Local Spins: Have you ever been to Austin before?
Lucas Powell: This is my first time ever traveling to Texas in any way, let alone SXSW, so it’s gonna be a whole new experience.
Local Spins: What are you anticipating; what does that feel like?
Lucas: I’m anticipating that it’s going to be really exciting to be surrounded by people who are in the same stage as me, who are trying to kind of broaden their audience and connect with people and you know, have this experience together.
Local Spins: What can you tell me about the showcases you’re playing?
Lucas: The showcases that we’re playing are unofficial, so there are going to be a lot of DIY additions, which is kind of the same thing that we’re doing, so I’m excited for that. But I expect to be kind of overwhelmed and I’m excited for the opportunity to go with just like me and Bridget so that we can kind of scout out the scene, because we’d love to do it obviously many more times and we’d love to bring our band.
Lucas Powell (Courtesy Photo)
Local Spins: Why did you decide not to bring the full band down?
Lucas: It was one of those things where I thought, ‘I’m not bringing the band the first time I do this.’ I want to go down and scout it because I anticipate everything’s going to be kind of crazy and fast paced and overwhelming. And I’m sure we’ll get back and realize there’s so many things that we missed out on while we were there. There’s very few times that you get to go to something and it feels like a business conference for musicians, right? I think performances will be amazing and there’ll be a lot of art and a lot of feelings and that stuff. But there’ll also be a lot of logistics I’m excited for, like to hear people’s stories of where they’re traveling from and how they piece together what they do.
Local Spins: How are you preparing for the trip?
Lucas: I don’t know, I think there’s a lot to learn. I want to go into the mindset of learning from the other people who are there, hearing their stories and kind of letting that inform and teach me.
Local Spins: I’m curious what you hope to bring back home with you, in a metaphorical sense or physical sense or just musical, creative ways?
Lucas: A huge part of it is the last thing that you said, the creative sense. I think there’ll be a lot of inspiration from getting to do it. I have a lot of friends that have been musicians for a long time that have never gotten to do it. So there’s even that aspect of like, we’re kind of going, and even if we get to do this once, we get to say that we did it. We’re definitely trying to bring home memories in that regard. To be able to say that we did it. I’m definitely one of those sort of hopeless romantics in a sense. Every time we play something that’s really cool, I think if this is the last thing we have to do, it’s cool that we got here.
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