k, did I mention that Dolly Parton was there too?.....And so another mad showcase has ended. The most important 4 days in the music business anywhere in the world has past and we are now nursing hangovers and reaching for those headache tablets. Austin for another year was the place to be: hundreds of acts playing to thousands of people in 68 different venues within 1 square mile. Now that you have statistics let me begin by saying that if you don''t know about South By Southwest then you should not be in a band or indeed have any minimal interest in music. This is the big deal and Emergenza was there with their partners "baby-sitting" over 20 musicians and making sure they they got drunk......oh yes, and play some great showcases as well. It all started when I landed on Thursday afternoon. I knew that if our bands would be playing on Friday and Saturday that I would have to prepare the previous day by meeting a lot of "music business people" and that meant a lot of "music talk" and a lot of drinking. The amount of bands showcasing there is insane but I suppose that is part of the job when you have to screen out what you “need” to see. On Friday our first band was METROVOX. The Chicago Awsome Foursome was the youngest band I had in Austin ever……that still didn’t stop them going to bars but that’s a different story. Friday afternoon at Nuno’s was an intimate affair but my good contacts from the publishing world had still some positive feedback bout them. The show was great and the boys just couldn’t wait to exercise their “star status” by hitting on girls and drink (of course leave the business to me and their good manager Taylor). Then it was the turn of FIREFLIES from NYC. 15 minutes before getting on stage I got a very sad phone call from one of the guys saying that Will, their guitarist is in hospital with a broken back. The lad had completely pulled his back out of place and the band could not play…..shame, but it’s not the end of their adventure so stay tuned. Friday night late at Darwin’s saw the rise and rise of probably one of the best live bands in the country: JULIUS C. The boys did it last year but were invited this year again so that they could show off their new batch of songs (which I must say went down a storm). The place was filled to the rafters and it was impossible to move. The band played an amazing show and caught the attention of an esteemed producer/songwriter/film scorer (who should remain nameless for the obvious reasons if not because I got him incredibly drunk and we behaved like teen-agers on heat chasing girls). I then wished them luck on their tour and the rest of the gigs around the country. Saturday was different day in the same city. I met Andrew Loog Oldham, the Roliing Stones creator and all round svengali/producer and director. This is a man that is still kicking about in the music business and is still passionate about it even though he made history (and is still around to prove it unlike the Beatles svengali who killed himself). After a small session with him where I asked all sorts of questions about the Stones (I know a few things about their 60’s record productions that will make your hair stand on the back of your neck) I also asked about the current state of the music business and his reply was: “do it yourself, you get better results”……..Thanks Mr Loog Oldham, it was an honour. As I was saying, Saturday saw an afternoon show of the amazing NEW HOTNESS from Los Angeles, a city so cynical it is refreshing to see such honest, raw energy rock and roll being played. They boys kicked arse (allow me to spell it the English way) and were just superlative. All the other bands came out to support them as well. Once again my good publisher friend took time off to come see my Emergenza bands and give me great feed back (as well as potentially good business leads). But what also happened that night? Yes, FIREFLIES were offered a chance to shine even tough they lost a guitarist and so Dan what q