Hoe-Down Under Texas Aussie Music Party

Acording to the online Aussie newspaper theage.com.au

Australian bands will perform in a Second Life virtual concert on March 14, 2007; 7:00 until 10:00 pm SLT, to coincide with the South by Southwest Music Conference and Festival being held in Austin, Texas.

According to Tony George, a business development manager at Austrade’s Australian music office in Los Angeles, “It’s uncharted territory – this is the first event we know of its kind.” (I beg to differ) “The bands will be rendered into their virtual avatars, which will lip-sync to streaming music.” (this I have to see)

Austrade will invite music industry representatives to attend the event. Greg Nunan, lead singer and guitarist for the band Maids’, says “this foray into the virtual world is novel, but hopes it will help the band get noticed.”

“The opportunity to impress music labels is fantastic, but it is just one side of the coin. The other side is marketing ourselves directly to Second Life’s online community, and to get our current fan base involved in the event online,” Greg states.

Little Birdy, Paul Kelly, and The John Butler Trio are flying into Austin, Texas to take part in the South by Southwest Music Conference and Festival, “the world’s biggest music industry conference.” Of course not all Aussie Bands who would like to have the exposure can afford the air tickets, thus the Second Life Event.

Katherine Beard, Highroad Music manager, says Hoe-Down Under “is a knock-out opportunity for a selection of Australian bands, who otherwise would have been unable to attend South by Southwest in person. It would have cost upwards of $25,000 per band to attend this event.”