On Tuesday, Kesha arrived at SXSW to discuss online bullying with Refinery29’s Chief Content Officer Amy Emmerich. Although she hasn’t released new material in several years, 30-year-old Kesha Rose Sebert (she removed the $ in 2014) has developed a massive fan base in that time – for both her music and her activism.

For the past four South by Southwests, Justin Douglas earned a sizable paycheck from Converse by recording bands on behalf of Rubber Tracks, the shoe company’s program offering free studio time to artists with no strings attached.

Witch Taint. Mystikum. Have you ever heard such dark, brutal names of any black metal band in your life?

Shane Mauss is not afraid to explore the farthest reaches of his mind. The L.A.-based comic, who once broke both his feet while hiking and turned the experience into a hysterical album, is now winding through a six-months-and-counting tour all about psychedelic drugs. But this isn't a “far out, man” Cheech & Chong routine. Mauss gets real.

Chrissie Hynde made the most of her 48 hours in Austin. Starting Sunday when the Pretenders opened for Stevie Nicks at the Erwin Center – where she duetted on “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” – the Akron, Ohio, tough then upended the Austin Music Awards with impromptu punk. Monday at that same Moody Theater, her 40-year-old band debuted on Austin City Limits.

Few people would categorize Major Lazer’s style of rump-thumping global EDM as protest music, but Give Me Future proves that even the most fist-pumping party tunes become political when they reach the shores of Cuba.

If you don’t like the laws, buy some new ones. That’s not an option for most of us, but mega-corps Uber and Lyft have deep pockets and few scruples. If Austin officials and voters are not for sale, maybe state legislators will prove more agreeable.

A surprisingly complete cast – plus showrunner – appeared before a crowded ballroom to drop hints about (and a trailer for) season 6 of HBO’s award-winning and critically-beloved political comedy.

The surreal David Lynch must create. Obsessively, compulsively the wheels are turning, the creatures howling from inside.