South By Southwest Showcases Announced; R.E.M., My Morning Jacket Lead the Way

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The South By Southwest line-up is in, and it is predictably massive. Among the marquee names playing the Austin arts festival are R.E.M., My Morning Jacket, N.E.R.D., Ice Cube, the Raveonettesand Kevin Shields (sans My Bloody Valentine). The four day event will also showcase a bunch of Rolling Stone favorites (Kate Walsh, Black Mountain, Bodies of Water, Holy Fuck, Santogold, MGMT, Ingrid Michaelson. White Denim) and a couple of our Best Bands on Myspace winners (Airborne Toxic Event, the Voom Blooms.) There are also twenty bands that begin with the word "Black," a group from Uzbekistan (Navruz), a band named after Wayne's World's Tia Carrera and eighties pop group Was (Not Was). Rock Daily will be on the scene from March 12-16, reporting on the best shows, best parties and pictures from the festival.

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Song Stories

“Everyday People”

Sly and the Family Stone | 1968

"Everyday People" managed to trailblaze in two different ways -- it was one of the first pop hits to deal with the subject of racial harmony, and it utilized Larry Graham's "slap" technique on the bass guitar, which would soon be copied by countless other bassists. Graham once said about his pulsating style, "I'd never done that before … that's where the freedom of creativity came in for the band, that we'd be allowed to do that." In 1978, the song's line "Different strokes for different folks" would be borrowed for the title of the hit television show Diff'rent Strokes.

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