SXSW Releases V-I-R-T-U-A-L 2021 Music Roster

South by Southwest laid out an initial roster of music acts playing their first ever virtual festival, running March 16-20. Highlights include young British post-punk/pop/trip-hop duo Sorry, Brooklyn noiseniks A Place to Bury Strangers, and Aussie singer-songwriter Didirri.

More than 90% of the showcasing artists announced today source from outside the United States. Toronto’s Holy Fuck motoriks a deep house sound, Indonesia accounts for Grrrl Gang’s heartfelt melodic indie rock, Jamaica yields “I Learnt Some Jazz Today” songwriter/producer Tessellated, and Spain sources Belako’s passionate post-punk.

The showcases, which largely cultivate through industry presenters rather than the festival itself, host an initial wealth of notables from England. Singer-songwriter Connie Constance arrives as an emergent voice on their scene and neo-soul artist Ego Ella May, high-voiced country/pop/indie song charmer Katy J Pearson, and sad-pop vocalist Lilla Vargen all boast international breakout potential. Heavier sounds emit from Liverpool rockers the Mysterines and mathy post-punk live wires Squid. Meanwhile, SXSW also taps two exquisite and versatile instrumentalists from London’s red hot jazz scene in tuba-ist Theon Cross and drummer Richard Spaven.

The culturally sovereign land of Austin gets in on the action with Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears, Golden Dawn Arkestra, Sir Woman, Blushing, and Nané.

Other interesting acts appearing on home devices during SXSW’s pandemic pivot include Japanese punk spazzes Otoboke Beaver, Chilean poet and feminist pop sensation Francisca Valenzuela, Dublin’s Pillow Queens, who play melodic rock with noisy guitars and strong songwriting, Mexico City garage favorites Los Blenders, Korean indie surf outfit Say Sue Me, Cali-based Afro-Cuban jazz pianist Dayramir Gonzalez, quality Brazilian hitmakers Tuyo, Australian garage-psych band Beans, and Irish alt hip-hop duo Tebi Rex.

More musical acts will emerge leading up to the fest, though nowhere near the 2,000 performers SXSW Music usually hosts. For all things SXSW 2021, including speakers and film announcements, check out our continuing coverage here.

Airy (Nowon Gu, South Korea)

Alexander Biggs (Melbourne, Australia)

Alice Skye (Melbourne, Australia)

Alien Tango (Murcia, Spain)

Anna B Savage (London, England)

A Place to Bury Strangers (Brooklyn, NY.)

Astrid Sonne (Copenhagen, Denmark)

Autre Monde (Dublin, Ireland)

Baby Kahlo (Baltimore, MD.)

Beans (Geelong, Australia)

Belako (Bilbao, Spain)

Benji Wild (Cardiff, Wales)

Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears (Austin)

Blushing (Austin)

Braids (Montreal, Canada)

Caiine (Manchester, England)

Campfire Social (Wrexham, Wales)

Candeleros (Madrid, Spain)

Connie Constance (Watford, England)

Dan Bettridge (Cardiff, Wales)

Daniel Casimir & Tess Hirst (London, England)

Data Animal (Auckland, New Zealand)

Dayramir Gonzalez (Hacienda Heights, CA.)

Death by Denim (Perth, Australia)

Didirri (Melbourne, Australia)

Dingo Bells (Porto Alegre, Brazil)

Do Nothing (Nottingham, England)

Drinking Boys & Girls Choir (Daegu, South Korea)

Ego Ella May (London, England)

El Shirota (Mexico City)

Enno Cheng (Taipei City, Taiwan)

Enola Gay (Belfast, Ireland)

Family Jools (Bristol, England)

Fire EX. (Kaohsiung, Taiwan)

Francisca Valenzuela (Santiago, Chile)

Golden Dawn Arkestra (Austin)

Grrrl Gang (Yogyakarta, Indonesia)

Haepaary (Seoul, South Korea)

Hazy Sour Cherry (Tokyo, Japan)

Holy Fuck (Toronto, Canada)

Indigo Sparke (Byron Bay, Australia)

Jealous (Berlin, Germany)

Jekyll (Blackpool, England)

Kalpee (Chaguanas, Trinidad & Tobago)

Katy J Pearson (Bristol, England)

Kee'ahn (Melbourne, Australia)

Lau.ra (London, England)

Lilla Vargen (Ballymena, England)

Los Blenders (Mexico City)

Loshh (London, England)

Luisa e os Alquimistas (Natal, Brazil)

The Merindas (Melbourne, Australia)

Mimi Bay (Gothenburg, Sweden)

The Mysterines (Liverpool, England)

Nané (Austin)

Nanpa Básico (Bogotá, Colombia)

Nayana Iz (London, England)

NekoJam (Taipei City, Taiwan)

No Money Enterprise (Brisbane, Australia)

Noya Rao (Leeds, England)

Otoboke Beaver (Kyoto, Japan)

Paul Jacobs (Montreal, Canada)

Paupière (Montreal, Canada)

Petite Amie (Mexico City)

Pillow Queens (Dublin, Ireland)

Pote (Paris, France)

Purple Pilgrims (Coromandel, New Zealand)

PVA (London, England)

Quanna (Savannah, GA.)

The Queendom (Atlanta, GA.)

Remi Burgz (London, England)

Richard Spaven (London, England)

Robocobra Quartet (Belfast, Ireland)

Rosehip Teahouse (Cardiff, Wales)

Ruido Rosa (Mexico City)

Samantha Sanchez (Miami, FL.)

Say Sue Me (Busan, South Korea)

School of X (Copenhagen, Denmark)

Seed Ensemble (London, England)

Shannen James (Melbourne, Australia)

Sinead O'Brien (Limerick, Ireland)

Sir Woman (Austin)

Sorry (London, England)

Squid (Bristol, England)

Tebi Rex (Maynooth, Ireland)

Teke :: Teke (Montreal, Canada)

Tengger (Seoul, South Korea)

Tessellated (Kingston, Jamaica)

Theon Cross (London, England)

Tuyo (Curitiba, Brazil)

TV Priest (London, England)

Vaya Futuro (Mexico City)

Virginia Wing (Manchester, England)

Vocal Vidas (Santiago, Cuba)

Walt Disco (Glasgow, Scotland)

Wavy the Creator (Lagos, Nigeria)

Weird Milk (Buckingham, England)

Y2K92 (Seoul, South Korea)

Ydegirl (Copenhagen, Denmark)

Yoshi Vintage (Flint, MI.)