Yaogun Invasion: USA

A small contingent of yaogunners will imminently arrive in the United States, headed for that celebrated land of music conference and festival South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, Texas. Audiences in a select few cities outside of Austin, where the festival goes down, will also have a chance to catch the acts.

Baishui is a new artist to me, discovered only from perusing, many months back, the list of bands invited to attend SXSW. I was blown away by what I heard, and am heading to Austin to help spread the word. Hailing from the small Sichuanese city of Yibin, from whence he has created a large catalogue of amazing music ranging from traditional folk to ambient and experimental. Not only is Baishui geographically miles away from anywhere remotely yaogun (he’s 300 km away from the very rockin’ city of Chengdu), but musically his work is much subtler than most of what’s being produced in the rest of the country. In addition to gigs at SXSW (see here), Things are in the works for elsewhere in the USA. Stay tuned for updates…

Baishui – “City Of Lost (Live In Beijing 2012)”: SXSW 2013 Showcasing Artist from SXSW on Vimeo.

Though initially the only Chinese artist on the SXSW lineup, Baishui will be joined by record label Maybe Mars‘ artists, mostly no strangers to the Austin event, White+, Carsick Cars and the Gar. The three Maybe Mars bands will perform in San Francisco (March 7 & 12), LA (March 10), New York (March 16).

“Two Mothers” from The Gar (2009):