My 48-Hour SXSW Trip Showed Why Music (& How We Listen To It) Matters

I’ve always wanted to go to SXSW. Ever since I was a young journalist whose first full-time job was reporting on Los Angeles’ growing tech scene (then dubbed the cringiest moniker of “Silicon Beach”), the annual tech conference was the Coachella of the startup world. Since then, SXSW has evolved to also be part-Sundance with a slate of film premieres (we’re still wondering about the rumored Another Simple Favor drama) and actually functions more like Coachella than Coachella does these days by highlighting big and small musical acts during its 10-day run. 

So when JBL, the festival’s exclusive audio partner that's best known for its popular portable Bluetooth speakers, invited me to Austin, Texas, to hear the sounds of SXSW, the young journalist in me jumped at the chance. What happened was a 48-hour journey that took me back down memory lane and reminded me why music (and how you experience it) matters.

Even though I've just landed, it's time to get the show on the road. After securing my travel essentials — a late lunch/early dinner at Velvet Taco, water for my hotel room, and a phone charger (because I, of course, forgot to bring mine) — I head over to the JBL Sound Bodega. 3TEN at downtown Austin’s live music venue ACL Live has been completely reimagined as a funky convenience store with a dance floor. Lining the shelves are JBL’s newly launched fan-fave speaker lines, the Flip 7 and Charge 6, alongside bags of Texas trail mix, “Fully Flipped” energy drink cans, and “Bunches of Bass” cereal boxes. 

The bass is palpable. Every corner of the 350-person space is filled with the beats of DJ Pee.Wee aka Anderson.Paak who’s playing the soundtrack of my high school days and party-loving 20s. There’s Nelly Furtado’s “Promiscuous Girl” (which was on repeat as I drove to my high school Starbucks job) and Destiny’s Child “Lose My Breath (which I choreographed a dance to for a pep assembly). I hear “Trap Queen,” the Fetty Wap banger that was a time and takes me back to my 27th birthday when I saw him perform at the Hollywood Palladium, where, funny enough, Post Malone was the opening act. It was 2016 y’all, a lot’s changed clearly.

It’s bop after bop and a dance circle forms (Pee.Wee assures us it’s NOT for moshing). Jumping in are who I assume are professional dancers hired for the event, each of them holding JBL speakers while voguing and breaking. It’s all very intentional and I’m loving it. The Flip 7 and Charge 6 aren’t just functional and cutting edge with JBL’s AI Sound Boost tech that analyzes music to give more range, power, and bass without distorting the sound; they’re designed to be fashion accessories with their range of colors and detachable straps and key rings. Then a loud trumpet erupts, and I turn around and see jazz trumpeter and frequent Anderson.Paak collaborator Maurice Brown on the dance floor doing a call and response with DJ Pee.Wee to “Come Down.” We are in full vibe mode, and it's hard to leave but there's more music to come.

There’s nothing I love more than convenience, and staying around the corner from the third annual Rolling Stone Future of Music showcase, which JBL partnered with, is peak comfort. Okay, not having to wait in lines is actually the thing I love the most, and thanks to my JBL wristband, I glide through a separate entrance with ease. 

Showcase is the best way to describe the four-night concert series at the ACL Live’s Moody Theater that features rising artists across all music genres. This year’s headliners are Grammy-nominated Benson Boone, CMA's New Artist of the Year Megan Moroney, Ivan Cornejo, and Rema. 

On the first night, I join the crowd during the middle of Laila!’s set, and I marvel at just how precociously talented she is. Sure, there’s a little bit of nerves, but her voice comes through crystal clear on the speakers and I remind myself that she’s only 18 years old and has a lot of runway to really develop her skills. The "Not My Problem" singer (who's also Mos Def's daughter) is definitely more than a viral moment, as we said last year when R29 Somos spoke with her about her debut album Gap Year. And true to the event's mission, I’m excited to see what’s next for her.

The second night is all about country music — we are in Texas, after all — and while I’m not a huge country music person, I have my moments. Shania Twain? Absolute queen. 

I sway to the voices of sisters Rebecca and Megan Lovell of Larkin Poe and stick around for Megan Moroney, who croons her songs “Am I Okay?” and “Tennessee Orange” behind a bedazzled mic and mic stand. I don’t know any words and can’t sing along, but there is something soothing when you listen to an acoustic guitar and lyrical twang in Texas. It just fits. And strangely I feel at home. Kinda like when I heard an Italian cowboy sing “Country Road” at the top of the Spanish Steps on my first solo overseas trip.

Night 2’s vibe and crowd is very different from the previous one. Yes, there are a lot of cowboy boots and hats. And I can’t help but wonder, do they think Cowboy Carter is a country album? Did they cry, like I did, when Beyoncé finally won the Grammy for Album of the Year? I try to muster the courage to ask, but I chicken out because, again, I am in Texas so I leave with the assumption that we're all on board with Beyoncé's narrative arc of finally accomplishing the thing that's eluded her all these years.

On Day 2, I take an Uber to The Victory Lap at University of Texas, Austin, a college sports bar that sits amongst gleaming white sorority houses. Under Texas Longhorn flags, the space has been turned into JBL Campus as part of the brand’s program that partners with student-athletes and lifestyle influencers across colleges to prop up the next generation of innovators and culture-definers. There’s mini golf and a dunk tank, which the students are more than eager to hop into. I couldn’t. But if I were still in my college days with JBL speakers on the line, sure, sign me up.

The show kicks off with surf rock band West 22nd, which performs both original songs and covers including MGMT’s “Kids” and The Beatles’ “Twist and Shout.” I’m loving that an act from Austin is being featured because yes, we should always be uplifting the local culture. It’s why the Red Hot Chili Peppers means so much more to me as an Angeleno, and why I’ll always have a soft spot for No Doubt, which hails from Orange County where I grew up.

As the sun sets, XANDRA gets on the decks for a DJ set, but five minutes in, the power goes out. It’s unfortunate but hey, that’s live music for you. Things happen. What happens next though is not typical because all of a sudden, a voice on the mic screams, “Who wants free product?” and JBL speakers are being tossed into the audience. A hundred people clamor to the front of the stage, hands up, eager to snag their own Charge 6 or Flip 7. I see students emerge from the crowd with a speaker in hand — some holding five — and all are excited to bring one back to their dorm room. Beyond the tech and fashion, JBL has perfected the “cool” factor, and its JBL Campus program perfectly taps into the culture of how we experience music — on the go, with our friends, listening to our favorite songs.

After a 20-minute giveaway intermission, XANDRA is back and mixing songs like Chingy’s “Holidae In” and Sean Paul’s “Get Busy,” and I laugh to myself wondering how these students who were born after these hits were released know all the words. But they are club classics so I get it. As Galantis’ “Runaway” plays, I make my exit, not because I actually want to run away, but because it feels pretty apropos. I love a good story.

It’s officially my final morning in Austin, and as I savor the last few minutes in my hotel room with my JBL Charge 6 blasting “Trap Queen” (thanks DJ Pee.Wee for getting me back on this), I’m feeling reflective. Some songs are classic and some are definitely of the times, but all of them play a role in the soundtrack of our core memories, the experiences that we’ll never forget. I give my room a final look over and grab my Charge 6's handle and think to myself, so long SXSW. Thanks for the musical journey.

And yes, I can confirm: the barbecue in Austin is delicious.