As a music journalist, I often attend various industry events. By far the most interesting of these is South by Southwest (SXSW), a major showcase and music festival that takes place every year in Austin, Texas. Hundreds of bands and artists perform at a seemingly endless parade of venues located in and around downtown Austin. At the associated trade show, an assortment of music Web sites, indie labels, media outlets, merchandise manufacturers, and the occasional equipment company display their wares. The show features panels and seminars, and artists can get their demos critiqued by industry experts. There's even a mentoring program in which registrants can get career advice from an industry insider. (For more information, go to www.sxsw.com.)

But the real attraction of South by Southwest is the live music. As you walk down Sixth Street — Austin's answer to Bourbon Street — music blares from almost every doorway. Quite a few name acts play at the festival: this year's crop included the Black Crowes, the Cult, Lucinda Williams, Rodney Crowell, Junior Brown, and Eric Johnson. But the majority are lesser-known acts (both signed and unsigned) that play at SXSW in hopes of catching the attention of an industry bigwig.

As I spent a couple of SXSW nights club hopping, trying to take in as much music as possible, I was struck by the incredible variety. Punk (and lots of it), metal, blues, country, bluegrass, folk — all were represented. Although SXSW has more music than you can possibly take in, it's often hard to get into the venues where the bigger name acts are playing unless you're willing to stand in line for hours. Nevertheless, I heard some great stuff, including the sweet vocal tones of alt-country up-and-comer Kasey Chambers and an incredibly funky set from Theryl “The Houseman” DeClouet, who is best known for his work as Galactic's lead singer.

Speaking of funky music and distinctive vocals, our cover story this month features the Neville Brothers, a band that has, through the years, become synonymous with New Orleans music. The story's author, Ed Ivey, spoke with Aaron, Art, and Charles Neville, as well as some of their sideplayers and crew, and he's written a piece that takes you inside the brothers' music, history, and gear. I think you'll find it compelling.

At Onstage, we're always looking for ways to give you more. To that end, we've added a cool new feature on our Web site (www.onstagemag.com) called the Demo Room. There you can view instructional and demo videos from various equipment manufacturers. Some will be paid advertisements placed by manufacturers, but others will relate specifically to products mentioned in our “Performance Tools” section (see p. 10). The Onstage editorial staff will choose three Demo Room videos every month. If you see the Demo Room icon (at left) next to a product in “Performance Tools,” you'll find a corresponding video on the site.