2 – 2.30: Owen Tromans Lounge 

2.45 – 3.00: sxsc House Band Main room

3.15 – 3.45 Jason McNiff Lounge 

4.00 – 4.45 Ryan O’Reilly Band Main room

5.00 – 5.30 Jim Jones Lounge 

6.15 – 7.00 Beatnik Filmstars Main room

7.15 – 7.45 Whalebone Polly, Lounge

8.00 – 8.45 Peter Bruntnell Main room

9.00 – 9.30 Chris TT, Lounge 

9.45 - 11 Richmond Fontaine Main room

The SXSC Festival is SOLD OUT. Please don't come if you haven't got a ticket, as we won't be able to let you in.

Best new band I found at South By South West.
Have a look:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tG60OHPDoiE

Hello,
I noticed a news item recently about a guy who claimed to be the world gig-going champion. I have taken the opportunity of the Xmas break to update my list of gigs to prove that it is indeed I who should hold that title. The Gig List now runs to 94 pages and contains comments on all the gigs I have attended since 1964 (The Hollies) and 2008 (Ukelele Orchestra Of Great Britain). That's forty-four years of gigs, spanning pop, rock, folk, blues, prog, punk, Americana and a whole lot more.
Now you may think this is mad but when the book VOLUME was published a few years back, containing the list as it was then, I received emails from all over the world from people who were fascinated, pleased or outraged by it. "I was there", "I had forgotten I was there" and "I played in that band" were typical comments. As were "I agree" and "I disagree".

So maybe it should now reach a wider audience. Follow this link and have a look.

http://www.olivergray.com/?p=404

Happy New Year!

Oliver gets a bit emotional

Birgit and I went to Canada for a month this Autumn and all the time I was still on a high from the triumph that was the American Music Club show. When we set up sxsc this was the ultimate band we wanted to get but we never really believed it was going to happen. That it did was largely thanks to their manager Chris Metzler, who has displayed great faith and trust in us all along. It is hard to describe the feeling of euphoria we had as the band played the show of a lifetime, preceded by our oldest and best-loved musical friend, Peter Bruntnell.

But I have leapt forward. July saw our first show - a collaboration with the Tower Arts Centre - at Winchester's Discovery Centre, whose plushy comfort and fine acoustics proved ideal for Laura Veirs, visiting Winchester for the third time.

And then, the BIG ONE. Bruntnell, our lucky mascot, again opened for the mighty Ian McLagan and the Bump Band. Yes, that's Mac as in Small Faces, Faces, Rolling Stones ... The next morning he was asked on Radio 2 which was his favourite out of that lot, and he replied "My band, last night at the Railway Inn, Winchester!" I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. Seeing him still cheerfully nattering to landlord Fred at the bar at 1 am, pint of Guinness in hand, brought a tear to the eye.

In September, we were proud to welcome the Autumn Defense, featuring members of Wilco. I think even they would admit to being slightly upstaged by the extraordinary Liam Hayes of Plush, who turned up as support and brought the house down.

We were away when Alan Tyler played at the Railway but by all accounts it was well attended and good. Less well attended but utterly fantastic was the return visit of Luke Doucet and Melissa McClelland. Some people overlook our lower-key shows but they are invariably very rewarding. It was strange to think that they were going from playing to a handful of people in Winchester to 20 thousand seat arenas in Canada opening for James Blunt!

The return of the Deadstring Brothers saw a rocking show but the slightly unexpected absence of singer Masha, who is no longer with the band.

The season climaxed with another Canadian outfit we have been trying to get for years. We lost a shedload of money on The Sadies because of an inexplicably low turnout. But hell, we didn't mind, because the show was so thrilling that we didn't mind shelling out. We will get them back if we possibly can, and we'll sell it out!

The only downside of the season has been the abject failure of my brilliant T shirt idea. We sold a grand total of ONE! But the upside is that I will never have to buy another t-shirt as long as I live.

My atmospheric but not very proficient videos of Luke, Melissa and The Sadies can be viewed in the two blogs below this one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9YEGfkQPjA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ECUbi6NYd0

Live at the Railway Inn, October 2008.

SXSC T-SHIRTS Rich is responsible for the excellent design of our exclusive new T-shirts, which feature our logo on the front, and on the back, all the best artists to have played sxsc shows (see below). Apart from the fact that they are lovely (white on black, available in Medium or Large), Oliver needs to recoup his investment fast! So don't hesitate, send him a cheque for £12 (payable to Oliver Gray) to P.O. Box 71, Winchester S021 1ZE. Make new friends with people tapping you on the shoulder and saying "Blimey, where did you see that lot? Here's the list of names featured: Peter Bruntnell American Music Club Elliott Brood Old Crow Medicine Show Patty Hurst Shifter Centro-matic Neal Casal Eileen Rose Good Time Charlies Dead Rock West Mark Mulcahy Rachelle van Zanten NQ Arbuckle The Drams Mark Eitzel Deadstring Brothers Kate Stables Luke Doucet Charlemagne Horse Stories Kill Henry Sugar Richmond Fontaine Chuck Prophet and the Mission Express Ian McLagan Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter Melissa McLelland Broken Family Band John Parish Bob Frank and John Murry Blue Book Park Laura Veirs The Resentments Danny George Wilson Justin Rutledge South San Gabriel Stewboss Mark Mallman Sarah Sharp Ben Weaver The Sadies