The South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference and Festival will have two special musical performances in conjunction with film premieres from March 9 – 17, 2012 in Austin, Texas.
At the Closing Night Film event on Saturday, March 17, members of the bands Mumford & Sons, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, and Old Crow Medicine Show will join BIG EASY EXPRESS director Emmett Malloy and producers Tim Lynch, Mike Luba and Bryan Ling. Those present will participate in a Q&A immediately following the world premiere of the film, and subsequently perform an exclusive acoustic set. Both screening and performance will take place at the historic Paramount Theatre (713 Congress Avenue in Austin).
For those without Badges, Passes or Wristbands, a limited number of advance single tickets are available for the BIG EASY EXPRESS event for $12 ($10 + $2 service fee) via the Paramount website (austintheatre.org/film).
Taking place on Thursday, March 15, also at the Paramount Theatre, SXSW Film will screen a work-in-progress of the documentary Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me. Following the screening, an all-star collective of musicians will gather to celebrate the Big Star legacy through a complete performance of the band’s seminal third album, Third. This highly anticipated event comes two years after the untimely death of legendary Big Star singer/songwriter Alex Chilton and a hastily organized tribute show that became an emotional and musical highlight of SXSW 2010. 
The show will consist of a core of top-tier musicians who will perform the album in its entirety including Jody Stephens of Big Star on drums; Mike Mills of R.E.M. on bass; Mitch Easter of Let’s Active and Chris Stamey on guitars; Charles Cleaver on piano; and for this performance, guest guitarists Peter Buck of R.E.M., Tommy Stinson of the Replacements, and Jon Auer and Ken Stringfellow of the Posies, as well as a wide range of guest vocalists who are still signing on for the evening. Austin’s own Tosca String Quartet, along with guest brass and wind musicians including Memphis’s Jim Spake, will perform the original orchestrations from the album. Austin’s GSD&M is the show’s executive producer in conjunction with SXSW and High Road Touring.
Renee Blodgett is the founder of We Blog the World. The site combines the magic of an online culture and travel magazine with a global blog network and has contributors from every continent in the world. Having lived in 10 countries and explored nearly 80, she is an avid traveler, and a lover, observer and participant in cultural diversity.
She is also the CEO and founder of Magic Sauce Media, a new media services consultancy focused on viral marketing, social media, branding, events and PR. For over 20 years, she has helped companies from 12 countries get traction in the market. Known for her global and organic approach to product and corporate launches, Renee practices what she pitches and as an active user of social media, she helps clients navigate digital waters from around the world. Renee has been blogging for over 16 years and regularly writes on her personal blog Down the Avenue, Huffington Post, BlogHer, We Blog the World and other sites. She was ranked #12 Social Media Influencer by Forbes Magazine and is listed as a new media influencer and game changer on various sites and books on the new media revolution. In 2013, she was listed as the 6th most influential woman in social media by Forbes Magazine on a Top 20 List.
Her passion for art, storytelling and photography led to the launch of Magic Sauce Photography, which is a visual extension of her writing, the result of which has led to producing six photo books: Galapagos Islands, London, South Africa, Rome, Urbanization and Ecuador.
Renee is also the co-founder of Traveling Geeks, an initiative that brings entrepreneurs, thought leaders, bloggers, creators, curators and influencers to other countries to share and learn from peers, governments, corporations, and the general public in order to educate, share, evaluate, and promote innovative technologies.
