These conferences cram a month's worth of activity into 5-10 days, so you almost have to psych yourself up and get in shape to take it all in. Here's a look at the two leading music conferences in both the general and the Christian marketplaces.

SXSW 2003
The South By Southwest Interactive-Film-Music Conference explodes in Austin once a year during Spring Break, turning the Convention Center into a magnet for computer geeks, film buffs, and musos for a little over a week; filling rooms and theaters across town day and night with the latest films; as well as packing out 50 clubs with stages that platform 1,000 artists.

Film
I started off my SXSW 2003 experience with a great movie called The Journey. It's a documentary filmed by Eric Saperston and his friends (Dave Murcott and Kathleen Kelly), one of whom (Paige O'Brien) was working camera for MTV Road Rules, whom he recruited to join the trip with little to no budget. It started out with the idea of interviewing several people, mostly leaders like former President Jimmy Carter and corporate CEOs, garnering wisdom to pass on to the younger generation. Like a good concert that finds my mind swirling around personal and artistic dreams, this movie stirred up visions and dreams that I've had for a while. Great stuff. Like many of the "reality tv" shows of its day, it shows all the warts, fights, and shenanigans that 3-4 people crammed in a VW bus experience in a really long cross-country road trip. Twas fascinating to see this haphazard plan reveal truth from the voice of many. Fun.

Went to see another super feel-good documentary called The Dance two nights later. Twas about a man named Billy Roth that has been going into Louisiana state prisons for about 40 years, teaching, coaching and befriending inmates through the sport of boxing. Quite a hero the guy is, quietly and selflessly serving in the Name of Jesus. It was awesome to see the role model himself down in front on stage with the producers after the screening (which was the world premiere).

A number of other films played during the nine days that spanned the film side of the conference. A Mighty Wind made a must-see appearance at the illustrious Paramount Theater in downtown Austin. This one is now making the rounds in national theaters. Imagine Spinal Tap and O Brother, Where Art Thou? morph-ing together on film. Reno: Rebel Without A Pause is a presentation of stand-up comic discussing the events of 9/11. Like anything to do with September 11th, this movie drew me in immediately after reading the description. A resident of Manhattan who was jarred out of sleep by concerned friends, calling to say, 'You don't want to sleep through this,' finds a way to tell her story utilizing the healing balm of comedy. While coming from a died-in-the-wool liberal voice, Reno's heart for people rings through, even amidst the barbs flung at Christianity and Creation Science.

Having just seen The Rookie for the first time (I am terribly behind in some cases), I was thrilled to view The Life And Times Of Hank Greenburg, which is an in-depth documentary of an American hero. Being the first Jewish baseball superstar really helped tear down a lot of ignorant walls of bigotry. Footage of his career with the Detroit Tigers is deftly mingled with scores of interviews from celebrities, peers, children, and sports commentators. I?m glad to see this movie is now on sale on DVD.

Music
Unfortunately for us, SXSW occurs right in the last week of our production deadline for the May/June issue (thanks for moving your convention date up two weeks, GMA!) SXSW was a blur of writing, work, writing, work, editing, work, and all the things it takes to oversee an issue going to press (like gathering ad files). Late at night I snuck out to catch a few shows. I walked into a small club called Privilege, who, like many clubs this week, adds a stage or two to expand its musical performance capabilities. Upon entering and flashing my badge, I made the choice to go right at the entrance instead of left. I patiently waited for the show to start as 6 musicians set up on a stage not much bigger than a king-sized mattress. "That's not Ester Drang!" I quickly concluded, but I couldn't help but watch these noise terrors go nuts. They're called Swarm of Angels and they were insane. I quickly explored the venue and found the outdoor Patio stage where Ester Drang were already in musical stride. Their dreamy guitars were sounding sweet, and they kept a decent-sized crowd pretty captivated.

Next off was a set by Soviet, who were playing at the same time three blocks down the road at the infamous Emo's. There were four huge lines to get in - those with SXSW registration badges, those with music festival wristbands, and those with cash tickets waited in block-long lines outside two entrances. By the time I navigated to the right door, Soviet had just finished impressing the snot out of the audience members by the stage that I jealously interviewed. I wanted to see what all the fuss was about the coyly named local (non-sacred) band And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of The Dead who went on at 1 a.m., but I figured I'd have to sit there for a couple sets that I was only mildly interested in SubPop's Kinski and Jungle Brothers. I stuck around for a few songs of Kinski. Nice ethereal and spastic jamming. I hoofed it over to another infamous club, Antone's, to catch the next Texas legend - Gary Clark Jr. This young lad (I think he's just now above voting age, and - to those that are wondering - I'm not sure of his faith perspective) is quite the classic blues virtuoso. It'll only be a matter of time until he becomes another household word in blues circles. I could only sneak a peek from an open door outside, as the long lines outside were only moving as people exited (Thanks in part to the fire in Rhode Island the month previous), not to mention the ire drawn by cutting in front of someone who's been patiently waiting just because you've got a badge and they don't...

• Cornerstone FL 2003