This year’s South By Southwest, the massive music industry conference that invades Austin, Texas each year, is already shaping up to be quite the show.
There’s 40 Australian bands confirmed to be flying the flag for their country at the ten day music and media conference, while Foo Fighter/drummer-for-hire/Sound City director/sleepless, prolific musician Dave Grohl has also been announced to give a key address; along with industry veteran and famed talent finder Clive Davis who is also a featured speaker at SXSW 2013.
Organisers have now added another venerable name to the list, with the announcement that Eric Burdon will be a Featured Speaker on Friday, March 15th, in a conversation with noted Rolling Stone scribe and music journalist David Fricke, whose publication Rolling Stone, named Burdon as the 57th greatest in their list of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time.
A Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, Burdon is one of rock’s most distinctive and prolific artists, realeasing nearly 50 records in as many years, as frontman for both The Animals and WAR, as well as his extensive career as a solo act.
Last year’s SXSW say The Boss himself, Bruce Springsteen, paying tribute to Eric Burdon as a key influence on his own work, and even asked The Animals singer to join him and the E Street Band to deliver a version of “We Gotta Get Out Of This Place.”
This year, the English singer-songwriter will also be delivering his unique brand of aggressive stage presence in a showcase on Friday 15th March to promote the release of his latest album Til Your River Runs Dry, following his interview with David Fricke.
Burdon’s appearance at SXSW 2013 is another major highlight of the music industry conference, which will hold sessions from various speakers, musicians, and industry figures to provide registrants a unique perspective and music education.
Altogether, SXSW presents unmatched networking opportunities, career-building conference programming and over 100 stages of music for showcasing bands and conference attendees. SXSW Music takes place Tuesday, March 12 – Sunday, March 17, 2013 in Austin, Texas. For more information on every aspect of SXSW, head to: http://www.sxsw.com.
