The engaging stories and up-lifting melodies of folk music always make for an inviting night of live music. Take this, make a night of it, and host it in the increasingly popular Surry Hills bar The Soda Factory; you now have the new hang-out for a Wednesday night, and entry is completely free.

the AU review takes Melinda and Simon from Sydney duo The Falls to Allen's Boots in Austin, Texas on the last day of SXSW to try on some cowboy boots, new shirts and whatever else they find along the way...

The annual The Aussie BBQ music showcase hits Maggie Mae's at SXSW with performances by The Good Ship, Andy Clockwise, The Falls (pictured) and Rites Wild.

Photos by Johnny Au

In just over a month, the city of Austin, Texas will be throwing open its doors to tens of thousands of music fans, industry officials and musicians for the annual SXSW music festival and conference. Amongst that number are over thirty Australian artists. Over the course of the next couple of weeks we'll be profiling these artists, offering a brief introduction to what they’re about and what they have to offer.

Sydney Pop-Folk duo The Falls are a band with a great story and a great sound, both of which intertwine to make everything they do seem inviting and familiar, yet new at the dame time. Their bio puts their story perfectly, simply stating. “They met, they fell in love, they wrote songs. They fought, they made up, they broke up, they made songs”.

Hello and welcome back to our weekly wrap of music industry shenanigans that have happened around Australia (and the world). It’s been a few sleepy weeks with Santa bringing all kinds of things for everyone. Everyone seems to now be busily making tunes or wheeling’ deals again, so let’s get into the thick of things.

This week: ARIA action for 2012 and in the last week, more Australian acts announced for SXSW, and a new crowd-funding site specifically for musicians to fund albums, projects and videos.

Some great Australian and New Zealand talent have been announced as featuring on this year's SXSW line up, as the festival reveals its third wave artist announcement. This bunch of artists brings the total of participating musicians for SXSW 2013 to a whopping 1300...and still counting.

Check out the Aussie/NZ contingent below and congratulations!

360
The Audreys
The Beards
Jonathan Boulet
Clairy Browne & The Bangin' Rackettes
Kirin J Callinan
Jack Carty
Dead Letter Circus

The day starts hard and fast, as the sun bears down on tents and the music kicks off with Daily Meds onstage at The Lyrebird, for a wicked 10:30am set. Honest, hung over and bleary eyed, both the band and the crowd work themselves up for a killer show and dance. The band work their way through the hits from their debut album Happy Daze, with help from an awesome back-up break dancer and Big Village guests.

MGM showcase with The Trouble with Templeton, The Falls, Oceanics, Battleships & Lime Cordiale played Upstairs Beresford as part of ARIA week.
Photography by Pete Dovgan

Pictured: Charlie Mayfair.

For something different, we arranged a co-written review - support to review headliner, and vice versa.

Hannah and Irena from Charlie Mayfair: