South by Southwest returns to Austin from March 11 to 18, bringing a week of sonic excitement and industry engagement across multiple venues. At SXSW 2024, developing artists will have the opportunity to showcase their artistry in front of leading industry professionals — including managers, A&R executives, and public relations teams.

In addition to myriad performances, artists and entertainment professionals can attend panel conversations on a variety of topics pertinent to the music industry. Many members of the Recording Academy will be panelists and moderators of these events, including Chief Awards and Industry Officer Ruby Marchand, Sr. Director of Member and Outreach Ashley Thomas, and Membership Manager Amanda Davenport.

From panels on music and democracy to artists-as-brands, get excited for these seven must-see panels happening at SXSW 2024. 

Fan-First Solutions for Fair Ticketing in Live Entertainment 

March 11

For years, concerns over live event and concert ticketing have been impacting music fans and venue managers alike. With the recent questioning of fair practices — including Ticketmaster’s system crashing during presales of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour tickets — the conversation on equitable execution of ticket sales websites is at the forefront of consumers' minds. 

Hosted by Dayna Frank from NIVA, Deb Girard of Newport Festivals Foundation, Lyndsey Parker of Lyndsanity, and Russ Tannen from DICE, this panel will discuss the need for ticketing practices that places fans first through transparency of up-front costs. 

From the White House to local stages, learn more about how these organizations prioritize sustainable ticketing practices on March 11 at the Austin Convention Center.

The People’s Playlist: Diplomacy and American Music

March 12

New to SXSW 2024 is the People’s Playlist: Diplomacy and American Music panel. This event will be a conversation that discusses the ways in which American music is a “universal language, influential cultural export, and force multiplier for diplomacy.” 

America’s music diplomacy will be discussed as an asset to forge coalitions and bridge divides on a global music scale. Moderated by the Academy’s Chief Awards and Industry Officer, Ruby Marchand, the panel will feature Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy Elizabeth Allen, and Latin GRAMMY nominee Gina Chavez. 

Latin Music Momentum in the Age of Glocalization

March 12

Latin music continues to dominate the mainstream, and will be spotlighted throughout SXSW 2024 events, including Rolling Stone’s Future of Music showcase featuring Latin GRAMMY winner Peso Pluma and Latin GRAMMY nominee J Noa, along with Puerto Rican singer/songwriter, Pink Pablo. 

On March 12, the panel Latin Music Momentum will highlight the successes of Spanish-language tracks and records by Bad Bunny and Eslabon Armado, who are crossing borders, genres, and language barriers.

This conversation will be held at the Austin Convention Center and hosted by Leila Cobo (Billboard), Cris Garcia Falcão (Virgin Music Group), Sandra Jimenez (YouTube), and Pedro Kurtz (Deezer). 

In CTRL: Voices Behind the Board

March 12

With March being the official celebration of Women’s History Month, this panel will feature four influential women engineers, producers, and songwriters who have worked on music by Dua Lipa, Brandi Carlile and Sia.

Gena Johnson (audio engineer/producer), Gloria Kaba (Redsoul Music), Taylor Mims (Billboard), and GRAMMY-nominated producer/songwriter Suzy Shinn will share stories about building their careers and personal brands all while combating gender bias. The panel will provide unfiltered insight on how these experienced mentors from We Are Moving The Needle’s soundBoard navigated a career path in producing and engineering — a sector of the music industry where women are greatly underrepresented.

Indie Distribution A&R: Finding the Right Partner for You

March 13

For independent artists, finding the right music distributor is essential. Eddie Blackmon (ONErpm), Katie Garcia (Bayonet Records), Josh Madell (Secretly Distribution) and Bryan Mooney (Downtown Music Services) discuss what distributors look for in a direct artist or label partnership. 

These experts will model business plans and analyze risk and investment opportunities amongst distribution A&R. With the evolving physical and digital landscape, this panel will help provide a better understanding of indie distributors' marketing strategies.

Off Stage Presence: Artists as Brands

March 13

Today, it’s easier than ever for artists to share music internationally and interact with fans. In addition to social media, online content, personalized merchandise and physically distributed music, artists have many avenues to build on their image and create their own brand. From Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty to Machine Gun Kelly’s nail polish UN/DN LAQR, Off Stage Presence will explore how artists can channel musical talent into creative branding businesses. 

Held at the Austin Convention Center, this panel features Steve Astephen (The Familie), Candy Harris (UNDN LAQR), Jaden Hossler, and Molly Neuman (Downtown Music Holdings). 

Music Catalog Deals: The Ins & Outs Explained by Experts

March 14

Catalog sales of musicians continue to be a conversation amongst record labels and artist managers. For instance, in 2023, Katy Perry sold her rights to Litmus Music for $225 million, which includes Perry’s stakes in master recordings and publishing rights for five albums. This panel of experts will delve into catalog valuation and the motives behind why artists such as Perry, Justin Bieber, Dr. Dre, Justin Timberlake have sold their catalogs. 

Learn more about the future of catalog sales during this conversation at the Austin Convention Center hosted by Katie Baron  (Alter, Kendrick & Baron, LLP), Evan Bogart (Seeker Music), Rell Lafargue (Reservoir Media),  Bill Werde (Syracuse University). 

​​Learn From Texas: How A New Generation Of Artists And Creatives Is Blazing Trails In Today's Texas Rap Scene

South By Southwest lures more than 250,000 people to Austin each year to learn about a range of topics, including education, the cannabis industry, technology, film, and video gaming, but music is the heart and driving force of SXSW. The festival kicks off March 8, and a dizzying array of musical performances brings the festival to life from March 11 to 16.

The festival has grown exponentially since its inception in 1987 as a showcase for mostly unknown alternative acts. Roughly 2,000 musical artists will perform on more than 100 stages spread out across Austin and the possibilities for discovery feel endless.

SXSW can generate much buzz and help launch careers: Odd Future, the hip-hop/R&B collective that provided the springboard for Tyler, the Creator and Frank Ocean, played just a few short sets there in 2011, and Diddy declared them the future of rap music. HAIM, Janelle Monáe, John Mayer, M.I.A., and countless others have had significant early-career moments at SXSW. And legacy artists like New Order and RZA also come to the festival each year to share their wisdom in interviews and perform new material.

As the 2024 festival kicks off, check out some of the emerging and legacy artists appearing at SXSW, including a multiple GRAMMY-winning garage duo, an all-female post-punk group from Los Angeles that embraces "nihilism and loneliness," a modern Texas cumbia collective, an '80s light rock icon, a funk pioneer, modern funk innovators, Glasgow '90s post-rock, and more.

The Black Keys

The Black Keys helped usher in the garage rock revival of the early 2000s on just two instruments: drums and guitar. Their stripped-down sound, originally just made up of "old blues rip-offs and words made up on the spot" in Akron, Ohio, eventually grew to become a well-crafted, major-label rock sound that landed them in arenas and earned more than two dozen award nominations and multiple GRAMMY wins. They’ve released 11 studio albums.

The duo will perform at the 2024 festival in support of a new documentary, This Is A Film About The Black Keys, that traces their trajectory from jamming in basements to major-label rock band. Rolling Stone Senior Writer Angie Martoccio will interview members Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney in a keynote event.

Automatic

Since the release of their 2019 debut album, Signal, the gloomy post-punk band Automatic has toured the U.S. and abroad, composed the soundtrack for Hedi Slimane’s 2020 Paris Fashion Week show for Céline, and opened for legendary post-punks Bauhaus ( drummer Lola Dompé is a daughter of the English goth rock band’s drummer Kevin Haskins).

The band’s three members — Dompé, Izzy Glaudini, and Halle Saxon-Gaines — draw inspiration from krautrock, dub reggae, and the off-kilter, moody atmosphere of films by auteurs like David Lynch. Their live performances are uptempo and melancholy at the same time, and have shared stages with Parquet Courts, Tame Impala, and Thee Osees. Automatic  once described their music as "fixated on the intersection between ’70s underground culture and the ’80s mainstream, ‘That fleeting moment when what was once cool quickly turned and became mainstream, all for the sake of consumerism.’"

Mogwai

When the Glasgow-based rock band released their first single in 1996, they were anxious to replace the '90s Britpop of well-known UK bands like Oasis and Blur with something a bit more emotional and dark: lengthy guitar-based instrumental pieces full of distortion and heavy effects that offered dynamic contrast and melodic bass guitar lines. 

They’ve since gone on to embrace electronica and instrumental music, and over the years has provided music for multiple film soundtracks. Their basic song formula typically begins with something low-key that grows into something gentle and melodic, and then pushes toward louder, layered driving rock. 

"Calling it ‘art’ would be a pretentious step too far, but it’s certainly something that feels exciting and different to most other pop," one British newspaper wrote. A new documentary from Antony Crook, If The Stars Had A Sound, which follows the independent Scottish band’s trajectory, will premiere at SXSW 2024. 

El Combo Oscuro

Modern-day interpretations of cumbia — a percussion-heavy genre of Latin American music originated in Colombia — have become more widespread in recent years, with some calling cumbia "the new punk" for a young generation of rockers who are politically engaged but want to have a good time.

On organ, guitars, bass, drums, and conga drums, El Combo Oscuro sounds modern and retro at the same time, by weaving together an "impenetrable wall of psychedelic Cumbia and Latin sounds" that "throws neon Tex-Mex tribalism," according to the Austin Chronicle. 

Almost immediately after forming in 2020 in Austin, El Combo Oscuro were nominated for an Austin Music Awards’ Best Latin Act, and their debut EP, Que Sonido Tan Rico, was No. 15 on the Austin Chronicle’s Top 100 Records of 2021. A second EP, 2022's Cumbia Capital, further showcased the sound of Texas. Their 2024 SXSW performance will also feature songs from their latest release, a 2023 debut full-length titled La Danza de las Sirenas.

Bootsy Collins

In addition to showcasing thousands of emerging acts, SXSW each year also honors legacy artists who continue to write, produce, and perform music. Bassist Bootsy Collins — who played with James Brown and Parliament-Funkadelic throughout the late '60s and '70s and, in recent years, has collaborated with Kali Uchis and Tyler, the Creator — will perform with the group Zapp. 

The performance is part of Bootsy's own anti-violence initiative, "Funk Not Fight," which includes a Cleveland-based (Collins is from Ohio) anti-violence hub designed to offer music recording and mentorship to local youth. During a free performance on March 15, Collins will release a new song and album of the same name. 

Collins’ previous album was 2021’s Nobody’s Perfect Experience. The GRAMMY-winning bassist was also inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997 with other members of Parliament-Funkadelic. Collins played on some of James Brown’s best-known and most political records – "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine" and "Superbad" – and also had a hand in pop hits like Deee-Lite’s "Groove Is in the Heart" and Fatboy Slim’s "Weapon of Choice."

At 72 years old, Collins shows no signs of giving up the funk. "Funk just brings people together, from the ground up," he told the Guardian. "It doesn’t have nothing to do with color. It has nothing to do with status. It just brings you to ‘the one’, and the one thing that we all have in common is that we all just want to live. That’s what it’s really all about. It’s making something from nothing, like me." 

John Oates

John Oats is one half of five-time GRAMMY-nominated pop-soul duo Hall & Oates. Twenty-nine of their 33 singles charted on Billboard’s Hot 100 between 1974 and 1991, and six of those songs — like "I Can’t Go For That" and "Private Eyes" — peaked at No. 1 . The two were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2014 and their music has been sampled by artists like 2 Chainz.

Oates, 75, has released five studio albums as a solo artist and published a memoir in 2017 titled Change of Seasons.

"I made a move to Nashville in the late '90s, early 2000s. The move, and the musicians and people I surrounded myself with, allowed me to rediscover the musician that I was before I met Daryl Hall," Oates told GRAMMY.com. "Because I was a blues, folk, rootsy musician, and I tapped back into my earliest influences.

At SXSW 2024, Oates will discuss fame, fortune, and managing a hit music career. His talk will be moderated by Alex Heiche, CEO & Founder of Sound Royalties. Coincidentally, Oates has been in the middle of a legal battle with his former songwriting partner. 

Slick Rick

When asked about hip-hop icon Slick Rick, Roots drummer and Tonight Show bandleader Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson told Rolling Stone, "Slick Rick's voice was the most beautiful thing to happen to hip-hop culture. Rick is full of punchlines, wit, melody, cool cadence, confidence and style. He is the blueprint." 

Slick Rick "The Ruler" — largely considered the most sampled hip-hop artist in history — launched his career performing with Doug E. Fresh’s Get Fresh Crew in the mid-80s, and his 1988 breakout solo album reached number one on Billboard’s R&B/Hip-Hop chart. Slick Rick has recently collaborated with Soul Rebels Brass Band. He received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2023 GRAMMYs, to honor his legacy as a masterful storyteller and pioneering melodic rapper who raps in a British accent with a leisurely cadence and an unforgettably nasal voice that sometimes swerves into cartoony vocal tones. 

In recent years, Slick Rick has collaborated with Missy Elliott, Mos Def, and the Black Eyed Peas. He performed a duet with Mariah Carey at Radio City Music Hall in 2019, and was signed to actor Idris Alba’s record label. He will perform an all-ages showcase performance — badge-required — at The Mohawk on March 12.  

BALTHVS 

Funk music in recent years has taken on a more global sound, incorporating elements of Asian and Middle Eastern music, surf rock, reggae, and cumbia, thanks to bands like Khruangbin and BALTHVS, a Colombian psychedelic funk trio that has toured the world and released three full-length albums since forming in 2019. The band aims to make "cosmic music" that can combat anger and anxiety.

Band members Balthazar Aguirre (guitar), Johanna Mercuriana (bass), and Santiago Lizcano (drums) produce, mix, and master all of their music and design all of their artwork. Their most recently release, Third Vibration, incorporates funk, disco, dream pop, vaporwave, soul, and R&B into their songs.

Aguirre hypes those genres and more on his Cubensis Records YouTube page, where subscribers can better understand the BALTHVS universe by exploring a vast library of eclectic music, like the mystical 1968 Gabor Szabo album "Dreams," or Stefano Torossi’s 1974 Italian jazz fusion album "Feelings." For super fans, it’s a giant rabbit hole of discovery that helps illustrate the band’s musical recipe.

Brainstory

Brainstory is another modern funk outfit with an eclectic musical blueprint: the three members of Brainstory grew up in the Inland Empire area outside Los Angeles, and by the mid-2010s, they were developing a version of California retro soul music that combines jazz and funk with psychedelic rock and 70s R&B. 

"That's what we were all into at the time—jazz," says guitarist and singer Kevin Martin, who happens to be a big Bob Dylan fan. "And that's what we wanted to do with our first EP in 2014—take our songs and expand them, improvise, weld jazz onto them. We wanted to trick people into listening to jazz, basically." 

The band, made up of Kevin, his brother Tony Martin, and Eric Hagstrom, has released one full-length album, an instrumental album, and an EP. Their new record, Sounds Good, produced for Big Crown Records by Leon Michels — who recently collaborated with Black Thought of the Roots — drops on April 19. The band is touring this spring. Previously they’ve performed with soul singer Lady Wray, and singer Claire "Clairo" Cottrill has a guest feature on the new album.

Vulva Voce

SXSW is more associated with rock music than classical, but the UK-based, all-female string quartet Vulva Voce has applied a rock attitude to their ensemble. Formed during Covid lockdown, they compose much of their own music — which combines elements of folk, jazz, contemporary, and experimental music.

"In terms of our identity — and especially in terms of our business model — we treat ourselves like a band rather than a classical string quartet," violist Nadia Eskandari said. 

Vulva Voce also employ a bit of a punk attitude, performing outside classical concert halls, at open mic nights and pop-up performances. They also play a wide range of music written by female composers.

"We want all the music we play to feel accessible to anyone, because when you are playing music by women, it is even more important that anyone can connect to it, not just classical audiences,"  Eskandari adds.

Artists Who Are Going On Tour In 2024: The Rolling Stones, Drake, Olivia Rodrigo & More

Every year in March the SXSW Music Festival in Austin brings tons of artists, industry professionals and music lovers alike to the self-appointed music capital of the U.S., with thousands of official and unofficial shows over the week-long event, plus hundreds of workshops and talks with big name speakers. On Oct. 17 SXSW announced the first round of artists, many of them exciting up-and-coming acts, set to perform at the official events from March 11-17, 2019, and the list is already pretty impressive.

The SXSW round one music lineup includes Maybe April, an all-female Americana/country trio who met at GRAMMY Camp, GRAMMY-winning rapper Wyclef Jean, who will also be a featured speaker, Los Angeles-based (by way of San Francisco) psych-rock group Thee Oh Sees, plus plenty of international talent including Argentinean Latin trap star Ecko, Netherlands-born, Australia-based pop songstress Wafia, New Zealand indie-rockers The Beths and many more artists from across genres and around the world.

One of the groups to watch out for is Maybe April, comprised of Katy Bishop, Kristen Castro and Alaina Stacey. The trio met at GRAMMY Camp, a music summer camp for high school students, in Nashville in 2012. They formed their group then and later relocated to Nashville in pursuit of music. While they have played several festivals, they couldn't be more thrilled to be a part of the colossal event that is SXSW.

For more information on SXSW Music Festival, the full lineup, tickets and more, visit their website.

Inside Austin City Limits Festival 2018 With The Recording Academy

(To learn more about supporting fair pay for music creators, and The Recording Academy's Advocacy & Public Policy initiatives, visit www.grammy.org/advocacy.)

The United States shares a dubious distinction when it comes to compensating artists for terrestrial radio airplay: It is one of the few developed countries without the right, joining nations such as China, North Korea and Iran.

This startling fact formed the root of Artist Rights, Fights, Advocacy, Policy, And Legislation, a South by Southwest panel on March 18 that addressed the need for copyright law updates and The Recording Academy's push for passage of the proposed Fair Play Fair Pay Act. As a reflection of the fact that The Recording Academy represents an array of music professionals, panelist Todd Dupler, The Academy's Senior Director for Advocacy & Public Policy, noted the first word of the panel title should be changed to "Creators" to address compensation for producers and engineers, as well as songwriters and performers.

A SXSW continuing legal education offering, the panel was moderated by Recording Academy Trustee and CLE co-chair Ken Abdo, chair of Minneapolis law firm Lommen Abdo's entertainment law department and past Chair of the GRAMMY Foundation's Entertainment Law Initiative. He expertly questioned Dupler and fellow panelists Kevin Russell and Curtis Philp about their experiences, perspectives and insights regarding the need for copyright reform and the related challenges and obstacles.

Austin, Texas, native Russell, who performs under the moniker Shinyribs and serves on The Recording Academy Texas Chapter Board, discussed his evolution from a "typical musician," who let others worry about his career, to a committed advocate for creators' rights. It began when he learned the version of Snoop Dogg's "Gin And Juice" he recorded with his former band, the Gourds, was one of the most downloaded songs on a then-new digital music platform: Napster.

"When money started waning, it got your attention," Abdo observed. 

Dupler mentioned that other countries collect airplay royalties for American artists, but they don't pay because there's no reciprocal agreement in place. He estimated this costs American artists approximately $100 million annually in lost royalties.

Russell addressed these issues in an October 2015 op-ed in the Austin American-Statesman after paying a visit to Rep. Roger Williams (R-Texas) to seek his co-sponsorship of the Fair Play Fair Pay Act. Abdo encouraged others to do the same.

"This has become a survival issue. It's become a cultural issue," said Abdo. "Intellectual property is the United States' No. 1 export. Music is a big part of that. … It can't be a passive matter anymore. These people that have the power, they need to know it's important."

Philp, deputy chief of staff to Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), admitted learning more about the issues has changed his perspective on music. He used to be a consumer of entertainment, but now he's studying the business itself.

"We have to learn more about the actual business models … what it takes for artists, for songwriters, labels, for publishers, and for folks who distribute it to consumers," said Philp. "Without that input, I don't know how we can make an accurate policy choice or consideration."

Of course, Philp hears from what Abdo termed "the other side": the broadcasting lobbyists who oppose the bill because it would cost them money. But Philp said it makes a world of difference when people such as Russell visit their representatives and put into perspective their life's work.

"It means so much more to hear it from the folks who are out there creating the entertainment for us," said Philp.

Dupler offered details of the legislation and why it's important to update not only current copyright laws, but to close loopholes that prevent royalty payments on pre-1972 recordings. Part of his role is to serve as a lobbyist to speak for The Recording Academy's nearly 25,000 members, as well as all creators affected by copyright laws.

"We just represent the people who make music," said Dupler, "and we’re advocating on their behalf to ensure that all music creators — songwriters, performers, and studio professionals — earn fair pay for their work across every platform."

 (Austin, Texas-based writer/editor Lynne Margolis contributes regularly to print, broadcast and online media including American Songwriter and Lone Star Music magazines. Outlets also have included the Christian Science Monitor, Paste, Rollingstone.com, and NPR. A contributing editor to the encyclopedia, The Ties That Bind: Bruce Springsteen From A To E To Z, Margolis also writes bios for new and established artists.)

Punchlines flew with nearly as much speed as a Ramones song during Celebrating 40 Years Of The Ramones, this year's annual GRAMMY Museum Musical Milestones panel at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas, on March 17. The panel and an evening showcase were held as a prelude to the exhibit Hey! Ho! Let's Go: The Ramones And The Birth Of Punk, opening April 10 at the Queens Museum in New York and Sept. 16 at the GRAMMY Museum at L.A. Live.

Rolling Stone senior writer David Fricke, Sire Records co-founder Seymour Stein, pioneering punk singer/songwriter John Doe (X, the Knitters, the Blasters) and Johnny Ramone's widow, Linda Ramone, needed little prompting from GRAMMY Museum Executive Director and panel moderator Bob Santelli as they regaled a room full of acolytes with recollections and insights about the band's history and continuing impact.

Fricke was writing for a local weekly in Philadelphia when a radio DJ gave him an album. The DJ knew his station would never air the self-titled 1976 debut by four Queens, N.Y., guys who took on the same last name and look: ripped jeans, biker jackets and black hair cut in longer-locked versions of a Prince Valiant pageboy. 

"As soon as I put it on, it was like, head blown," Fricke recalled. "It was everything I wanted at incredible velocity." The writer, who wears his locks in a shoulder-length Ramones cut, added, "And the look. I ripped that look off immediately. I said, 'You guys invented it, but it's mine now.'"

Speaking of hair and punchlines, Linda Ramone drew a round of laughs by reciting the time Johnny Ramone came home from auditioning bass players and pronounced with disgust, "Oh God, one of them had curly hair."

Fricke said that witnessing the Ramones for the first time at a University of Pennsylvania coffee house informed his entire career, calling the show "one of the most astonishing things I've ever seen."

Whether the Ramones marked the birth of punk was in some dispute, because as the panelists observed, their songs really were pop — just done at lightning speed.

Though the band's chart impact was minimal — the 1977 single "Rockaway Beach," their biggest hit, reached No. 66 — 40 years on, new fans continue to discover songs the panelists cited as favorites, including "I Wanna Be Sedated," "Do You Remember Rock 'N' Roll Radio?" and "Blitzkrieg Bop."

"The songs were so sharp," Fricke said. "They were concise. And there was lot of thought in there."

Stein, who signed The Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award recipients to his then-new label, had to rent a studio for an hour so he could hear them play because he kept missing their shows while signing bands in England.

"They must have done 15 songs in 18 minutes or 18 songs in 15 minutes," he said, drawing laughs. "They could have stopped after five minutes. I wanted to sign them. It was like having your hand in a light socket. We used the other 45 minutes to discuss the deal. And they were in the studio a couple of days later and they were done."

Doe said the Ramones influenced X lead guitarist Billy Zoom's playing style, as well as the L.A. punk band's song lengths.

"The Ramones were a conceptual art piece that had nothing to do with fine art. It was pop art," said Doe. "It was the connection between Andy Warhol and the street and popular music. And we wanted to be part of that."

Noting that the 1976 music scene included both California rock and prog rock, Santelli observed, "It seems like the Ramones were the great correction."

Describing New York at the time as a disintegrating disaster mitigated by a cultural surge "at all levels," Fricke responded, "It wasn't that rock needed a correction. It was that there was a city where something could happen — needed to happen." The Ramones, he added, just took their influences, from the Bay City Rollers to girl groups, "and sucked all the unnecessary air out of it."

Stein disagreed, saying, "It wasn't so much that New York needed a correction; it needed an infusion. And the Ramones led the way because they were the most extreme."

Doe countered, "I think rock and roll absolutely needed a correction — absolutely needed to be knocked upside the head. It was the Eagles, Linda Ronstadt and Yes and all that. As a youngster, whether you're 15 or 25, you can't necessarily play all those notes and don't want to have to be a virtuoso. That has nothing to do with rock and roll."

Regardless of their preferences, all seemed to agree with Stein's pronouncement, "There's great music coming from everywhere. And the reason that rock and roll has survived is because of its ability to change."

(Austin, Texas-based writer/editor Lynne Margolis contributes regularly to print, broadcast and online media including American Songwriter and Lone Star Music magazines. Outlets also have included the Christian Science Monitor, Paste, Rollingstone.com, and NPR. A contributing editor to the encyclopedia, The Ties That Bind: Bruce Springsteen From A To E To Z, Margolis also writes bios for new and established artists.)