From a thoughtful SXSW wrap-up by Kim Ruehl for nodepression.com. Reuhl writes about music for No Depression and lives in Asheville:
Earlier the same day, I sat by the river with Abigail Washburn, where she talked about trusting the process, trusting the music itself (more from that interview to come). Now, here in the street at 2:30 am, though, the idea of trusting the music itself is beginning to make better sense.
After all, outside this bubble, in the real world, it can feel a bit like the wheels are falling off the bus. A few artists have called to Japan and Wisconsin (and beyond) from the stage this week, recognizing the dire nature of our current world. This morning, the people of Egypt voted for a new constitution, even as radiation showed up in Japan’s milk and spinach; Libyans, Yemenis, Bahrainians determinedly persevered for change in their countries. A judge in Wisconsin put a union-busting bill on hold, as states around the country continued their pursuit of similar ends.
There’s a lot of shit going down – tumult, struggle, fear, desperation, people everywhere grasping to be heard, grasping to hear. For one solid week in Austin, Tex., these thousands of people are listening, though. Maybe not to the talking heads on the news or to their politicians, but to each other. They’re applauding each other’s need to improvise a melody, to follow each other’s voices across the terrain of a harmony. When the sound cuts out, they hop on a bench (as Washburn did at Mi Casa) and get the crowd to gather close together, sing without amplification – just a handful of voices and some tools that bend sound. They’re trusting the music.