Out of My Depth

Because I live in "the live music capital of the world" and because my old college friend Ken Weinstein works in the music industry, I've had the opportunity to spend time with him during a couple of his visits here in the two and a half years since I moved here from New York. The first visit was during the Austin City Limits festival, and the second was today, during South by Southwest.

I picked Ken up at the home of a friend of his this morning at about 10. He looked reasonably well rested, despite having come in on the late flight from JFK. On his suggestion we went to Juan in a Million, on East Cesar Chavez, where we dined on migas which I actually love (Who knew?) and caught up with each other's lives.

From there we drove downtown, meeting up with Ken's friend, local deejay Andy Langer at Franks on 4th and Colorado, where we watched Jack White (formerly of the White Stripes). He started out by noting, "I see more black gadgets than faces," because the crowd around him were holding up our iPhones and Blackberrys, shooting pictures and video of him the entire time. At one point Kenny noted, "The only reason I can see anything is because I'm watching him through that guy's iPhone."

Jack played two songs on acoustic guitar, the first being "Not Fade Away," which he introduced as "a Texas song." The other was "Dead Leavein the Dirty Ground," a White Stripes song.

After the brief showcase was over, Kenny and I walked east to the Convention Center, where he got his badge. Then, Ken began bumping into people, including his business partner, Jim. And then a guy named Andy. And then a guy named Lyle. And then a woman whose name I can't remember. Then another. And another. And another.

We made our way with Jim back over to Franks, where Ken ran into Rolling Stone senior editor David Fricke who was extremely pleasant, graciously indulging fans who approached him, asking to have their pictures taken with him. After driving Ken, Jim and Andy over to the Four Seasons hotel to drop off Ken's stuff, I had the option to continue on with them. But I thought of Jeanette and the kids, and decided I needed to make my way back to them.

I think I may have been a little intimidated by the Industry Talk. I realized at some point that for these guys the festival is work. I was tagging along, and I think I needed to find some familiar ground.

It's not the last of South by Southwest for me this year; I'll try and get some sleep tonight and jump back in at some point, either tomorrow or Friday. It was great to see my old friend, but for me he was really the headliner of the festival today. Everything else made me feel a little out of my depth.