Messin' with Texas

There's a huge list of major music festivals around the world that continually draw name bands and even larger audiences of musicphiles who need to hit at least one big fest before they die. Think Coachella, Glastonbury, Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza and even our own Detroit Electronic Music Festival. Most of said fests host the up-to-the-moment touring bands and buzzed up-and-comers. Austin, Texas' huge South by Southwest Music Conference (March 15-20) showcases thousands of the great, the good, the bad and the ugly. And, for the past handful of years, rock 'n' roll bands from Detroit have kicked Austin's ass and gained more followers and respect because of it.

Bands such as the Sights, the Hard Lessons, Thunderbirds Are Now!, the Paybacks, the Dirtbombs, and countless others have showed wide-eyed SXSW music heads why Detroit's Rock City.

Last year, Ilana Weaver (aka Invincible), threw a couple of key showcases in Austin that highlighted the crème de la crème of Detroit hip hop such as the "DXSW" event and The Revival: SXSW Women in Hip Hop showcase that ended up being, in the opinion of many, two of the best received shows in Austin, regardless of genre.

This year, another kind-hearted Detroit promoter who's developed a reputation as a doer rather than a talker, Shannon DeVries, is organizing a Michigan hip-hop music showcase in Texas with an interesting twist. DeVries, who's also called Six Two (it's her stature), works as Live Nation rep by day and manages rapper Ro Spit in her spare time, and is also a huge supporter of Detroit's hip-hop community.

She can remember being thoroughly impressed with Invincible's showcases last year but also daunted by the amount of work that went into making sure the Detroit artists were represented well.

"I was at the show that Invincible did in Austin last year, and I really enjoyed it," DeVries says. "I told her that I want to be a part of it next year, but because [Invincible] decided to be more of an artist this year, she's not organizing a Detroit show. She had so much on her plate last year. ... I was kind of intimidated to take on the role in her absence this year, but I realize it's important to the Michigan hip-hop acts to have a showcase to play, so I'm doing it."

Thus DeVries has assembled a local show set for this Friday called Coney's and Cuervo that'll feature the same 15 artists who will, eight days later, rock the Michigan music showcase at Mi Casa Cantina in the heart of Austin.

This could be the first time that a dual hip-hop showcase starring Michigan artists has taken place in two cities based on one event.

"It's a chance for the people who can't get to Austin this year to see what we're going down there to do," says emcee and clothing store owner Ro Spit. "But it's also a fundraiser. There are costs that go into putting on a show like this out of state. It's hard enough to put on a show in your own back yard, let alone thousands of miles away."

> Email Jonathan Cunningham