photo by Jessica Lehrman

Have you ever gotten scabies from a hotel room? Fat Tony has. 

Fat Tony (government name: Anthony Obi) hails from Houston, Texas. When he isn't busy eating lemongrass tofu or being a regular customer at Whataburger, he can be found concocting some of the dopest underground raps today. His effortless delivery over his oft-collaboration partner Tom Cruz's hypnotic tracks show why Fat Tony has racked up nods from A$AP Rocky and Bun B to the Houston Music Press Awards as a three-time winner of their "Best Underground Hip Hop" title.

Brent Grulke with Smokey Robinson and Roland Swenson

Last August we lost our friend and colleague, Creative Director Brent Grulke. Brent was a legendary figure whose love for music motivated much of what he did.

SXSW is excited to partner with Nike this year. Follow @NikeFuel to see how the Nike+ community is using the Nike+ FuelBand at SXSW. Life is a sport and, whether it's going for a morning run, walking to the local BBQ, rushing to the next panel, or dancing the night away, we look forward to seeing who can make it count during their time here.

 #SXSWCOUNTS

The Sonos Studio at SXSW will explore the intersection of music, art and tech with events all throughout the days of March 11-15. 

Come and explore the Sonos Playground, an interactive sonic projection-mapping installation inspired by the Sonos Playbar. Enjoy live daily radio broadcasts with renowned L.A. DJ Jason Bentley and KCRW's Morning Become Eclectic from 11:00am - 2:00pm. Build your own speaker in hands-on Speaker Labs throughout the day. Don't miss live performances from Poolside, Allah-las, Robert Delong, Sir Sly, Cloud Nothings, The Robert Glasper Experiment and many more, from 3:00pm-8:00pm daily. 

SXSW GO®, presented by Showtime, is the official mobile app for getting the most out of attending SXSW 2013. The app allows you to view/build/share your schedule, network with other Attendees, navigate the trade show, stay connected to the social world and more!

New for 2013 is "Trending Now", Showtime's guide to the top locations, eateries, and bars around the city. Check out this new feature under the Experience section of SXSW GO.

Download the SXSW GO 2013 App now! Click the buttons below to download the iPhone, iPad, or Android.

Can’t make it to SXSW but want in on the action? Get the Doritos360 app at the Apple App Store to catch the first gig ever to be live-streamed on your phone in 360°. Then tweet your thumbs out to decide how bold the gigs get!

Austin, Chicago and NYC-based music blog BrooklynVegan returns to SXSW this year with four big day parties, and three evening showcases that span indie rock, punk, electronic, hip hop and metal.

The BrooklynVegan day parties, which run from noon-6pm on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, happen across the two stages at 603 Red River (corner of 6th Street). You might remember the space as the old location of Emo's, but these days we call it The Main & The Jr.

NI at SXSW Film, 'Good Vibrations' with Terri Hooley

NI at SXSW is the collective brand for Northern Ireland’s Film, Music and Interactive presence at South By Southwest. Across those three sectors 25 companies have made the trip across, including a delegation around the film, Good Vibrations, celebrating Terri Hooley and the birth of punk in Northern Ireland with its North American premiere today.

NI at SXSW Artist, Tim Wheeler Also making the journey over, interactive companies such as Inflyte, a mobile music promotion platform, plus emerging and established bands across genres from techno to folk to shoegaze post-punk.

The party will celebrate all three strands of Northern Ireland’s creative industries and will feature live performances from Tim Wheeler (Ash), Psycatron, The Lost Brothers and Girls Names.

NI at SXSW Monday, March 11th
8pm-late
Latitude 30

Email info@nisxsw.com to RSVP

SXSW Eco Light Garden at Republic Square Park. photo by Scott Wilcox

Welcome, welcome to Day Four of the SXSW. Music registration opens today and it's always fascinating how as soon as that reset button gets pushed, the jeans get tighter, the facial hair increases, and we turn the beat around.

Information Station

• SXSW Convergence continues today. Music registrants can head to the Long Center after they pick up their badges and see some killer programming. Shaq! They Might Be Giants! Wut?! Film and IA peeps, you've been converging for days, right?

Every day the SXSW Staff have been taking loads of fun and interesting shots around the festival. We've been posting them to our super groovy Flickr Group (which you should join -- and post to -- as well, because photographical evidence = huzzah!).

Here's a brief rundown of the first few days at SXSW (from top to bottom, left to right):