Small Sins Sample Texas BBQ, Spot Michael Cera at SXSW -- Road Report

For Spinner's SXSW Road Report we wanted to find a band that wasn't afraid to get down and dirty, and, of course, tell us all about it, which is why we've teamed up with Toronto's Small Sins. No stranger to the madhouse that is Austin mid-March, the enterprising indie rockers are seasoned pros at making the most of the five-day blitz (March 16-20), taking in the sights and sounds and BBQ of SXSW at all hours (and we do mean ALL hours). Stay tuned for faithful updates from keyboardist Kevin Hilliard as he details Small Sins adventures (and misadventures) while in the good ol' Lone Star State this week.
Day Three:

Our Austin experience got off to a roaring start as the band took a field trip of sorts to the small town of Lockheart, TX. About a half hour east of Austin, Lockheart was declared 'The home of Texas BBQ' by Gov. George W. Bush in the '90s. I don't agree with that guy on much but I can't argue with him there!

The whole town is build around the business of this delicious pork, sausage and beef and has huge arena-sized BBQ emporiums. We went to our old standby, Smitty's market and, damn, we were not let down. It's always a great day when the first thing you eat is BBQ ribs. Yum.


Now on to the meat of the matter, the festival. Today [Thursday, March 17] we had a gig at the Threadless party at the Trophy Room on 6th Ave. Once again we got stuck in traffic on the way to the gig and when we finally got to where we thought the gig was, we quickly realized that the info our agent gave us was wrong. Not to split hairs here but there is a huge difference in being on 600 whatever street EAST and 600 whatever street WEST. S---.

That left us with 15 minutes to get to the gig through crawling traffic, set up and get the ball rollin'.

Somehow we managed to do it in classic Small Sins seat-of-our-pants style. The show seemed to go over well and I even managed to get out on a window sill on 6th Ave and get some of the folks out on the street clapping along. Sometimes you gotta lead the horse...

The highlight for me however, was post gig. Since the place was tiny and jammed, it was hot hot hot. So after the gig Brent our drummer was loading gear into the van with his shirt off, as a good looking guy like him does from time to time. Next thing we knew, a huge black SUV pulls up with a police escort and out of the club next door pops Jewel.

Imagine her surprise when she turns to get into the van and is now face-to-face with a half-naked, sweaty drummer. She didn't seem too impressed but I guess someone of her stature is used to seeing naked, sweaty dudes, I guess. I tried to snap a shot but was a little too late. Oh well, you get the picture -- she's the blonde blur here.

Tomorrow it's off to the Onion party. We are the first band on at noon so I look forward to playing to hangovers/early risers alike.

Top celebrity sighting Thurs: Jewel (although Thom claims he saw Lenny Kravitz walking down the street during our set).

Top celebrity sighting Wed: Dave Foley (obviously) and Michael Cera walking across the Congress St. bridge with 3 cute girls. Sigh.