Music takes over from tech at SXSW festival

Laptop-toting technology innovators gave way Wednesday to skinny-jeaned hipsters with guitars as the indie music segment of South by Southwest (SXSW) shifted into gear. With the interactive portion of the 10-day festival out of the way, more than 1,300 bands -- some hoping for fame, others already there -- are lined up to rock Austin, the state capital of Texas, through to Sunday. Leading the field is former Nirvana drummer and Foo Fighters founder Dave Grohl, who is not only performing with his supergroup Sound City players, but also presenting the keynote SXSW music talk. Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac fame, John Forgerty, Rick Nielsen from Cheap Trick and Australia's Rick Springfield are expected to appear on stage with him, according to Billboard, the recording industry trade journal. Others acts include Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Iggy and the Stooges, My Morning Jacket frontman Jim James, neo-psychedelic band Unknown Mortal Orchestra and YouTube teen rap sensation Kitty Pryde. And that's just Wednesday, at a festival overrun with free beer and Texas barbecue -- not to mention recording industry executives and music scribes on the prowl for up-and-coming talent. Upcoming days promise the likes of rock-folk guitar legend Richard Thompson, 2012 SXSW breakout act Kendrick Lamar, indie bands Paramore, Vampire Weekend and The Flaming Lips, and Snoop Dogg in his new reggae incarnation as Snoop Lion. Prince is reported to be turning up to play a private party on the weekend, while music mogul and producer Clive Davis -- author of a just-released autobiography -- is confirmed as a panel speaker. World music is well represented at SXSW, from Beijing punk band Carsick Cars and Singapore rapper Kevin Lester to Grammy-nominated Uruguayan group Campo and Terakaft, a desert blues group forced to live in exile by conflict in Mali. Still ongoing at SXSW is the film segment of the festival, which features a rich selection of music-related documentaries. The tech-oriented SXSW Interactive dominated the first five days.