Ink

740 miles. 30-plus bands. Commence migration.

Over the next few weeks, dozens of Kansas City bands are going to get to know Interstate 35 very well. It’s the path to South by Southwest, the annual music, film and interactive festival in Austin, Texas.

This year more local bands than ever are making the trip, cramming gear and bodies into vans and heading south to play at unofficial showcases. While national acts play at the festival’s official venues, smaller acts bring their music to the bars, churches, coffee shops and galleries in downtown Austin, hoping be seen and be inspired.

The atmosphere is the American Dream for musicians, dehydrated and condensed into five of the festival’s 10 days. It’s an Eden for the creative. The ultimate networking tool for artists. One big, drunk party. And this year, Kansas City music lovers aren’t just attending — they’re hosting.

A joint effort by Billy Smith of Czar Bar, Steve Tulipana of the Record Bar, Joshua Martinez of the Gusto Lounge, Midwest Music Foundation and Gnarly Enterprises is giving KC artists a home away from home at the festival. They’re calling it the Midwasteland Takeover, and it’s going to be busy. The showcase, which runs March 18 through 20 at the Canvas Bar & Gallery in Austin, features about 30 local bands and a few national acts sharing a stage to promote the Kansas City and Lawrence music scenes.

Martinez, who is originally from Austin, set the groundwork for the showcase last year while helping with a party that featured local electronica group Nomathmatics. This year, he wanted a showcase that would show off a wide range of KC musicians and artists.

“We’re sort of a mobile chamber of commerce for the city,” said Martinez, who he fell in love with the local scene so hard that he quit his job and moved to Kansas City to be a part of it. Now he’s working to support the musicians he loves by giving them a chance to get their name out there. After months of planning, Martinez said he brought friends Smith and Tulipana on board to help organize the Takeover.

“I think the thing I’m most excited about is seeing the bands that are going to drive 14 hours to play for 30 minutes,” said Smith, booking agent at Czar Bar. “What you do down there is all about how creative you get, how you sneak in to play other showcases, how you find couches to crash on. I’m looking forward to seeing how these guys rally up their bands for the trip.”

Tulipana said he's already feeling the pressure weeks before the event, scrambling with last-minute details.

“We weren’t even sure we had the venue until a couple weeks ago,” Tulipana said. “It’s all so last-minute, shuffling everyone’s schedules. We have national booking agents calling, asking, ‘do you have room for this or that?’ ”

Local hip-hop podcaster Adell Hendon helped bring together KC hip-hop artists to play the Takeover showcase.

“I think a lot of people our age are thinking ‘it’s 2010, and it’s time to win now,’ ” said Hendon, who runs underground hip-hop Web site www.metropalife .com. “We’re tired of doing little things around the city. For all of us, (South by Southwest) is a big deal,” he said. Hendon performs along with DJ Marcus Shadden, James Christos, Ces Cru and Deep Thinkers on Friday night of the showcase.

“I know we’ve been grinding at it here in Kansas City. Now it’s time for something bigger,” Hendon said.

But playing a festival comes with its own stresses. Tulipana, who has been making the trek to SXSW since 1993, knows how hard it can be to navigate the fest, which hosted upwards of 1,900 acts on 88 stages in 2009, according to organizers. “You’re lugging your gear four blocks down cobblestone thinking, ‘this sucks, why do they do this?’ And all to play a 30-minute show to maybe 40 people,” Tulipana said. “But if you like to play, it’s completely worth it. It gives you an excuse to rub shoulders with a lot of great musicians.”

If things go well, next year may bring even more exposure for local bands.

“Our ultimate goal is to pull (the showcase) off professionally and successfully so that everyone has fun and the venue makes money,” said Tulipana, who hopes KC residents making the trek will make the Takeover their home base. If the show goes well, the group hopes to submit for an official SXSW showcase next year.

Tulipana’s band Roman Numerals is set to perform at the Takeover and is competing for a slot at a second semilocal event, the Popwreckoning Showcase. The showcase is sponsored by Popwreckoning.com, a music Web site started in Kansas City by Josh Hammond. The site is sponsoring a Pre-SXSW Showcase on Friday at The Beaumont Club. Local groups Thieves, Capybara, The Grisly Hand, Olympic Size, Roman Numerals and Dreams are for Rookies are competing for two slots at the All Together Now Showcase, which is held March 17 to 20 at the Bayou Lounge in Austin.

“I think (the showcase) is a really strong lineup,” said Hammond, who has seen most of the acts live and has been “blown away every time.”

The competition starts at 6 p.m. Friday at The Beaumont and costs $10, which helps cover costs for the bands heading to Austin.

In addition to the Takeover and Popwreckoning, two local labels, The Record Machine and Anodyne Records, are hosting a March 18 showcase at The Jackalope, a bar in Austin, featuring Olympic Size, Capybara, Cowboy Indian Bear, Little Brazil, Roman Numerals and Open Hand.

With multiple unofficial showcases dedicating slots to Kansas City and Lawrence talent, many groups are taking the opportunity to bring their bands to Austin for the first time. C.J. Calhoun, guitarist and vocalist for Lawrence indie outfit Cowboy Indian Bear, made his first trip to the festival last year with friends.

“I’ve never been to Mardi Gras, but I’d imagine it’s like Mardi Gras for band people,” Calhoun said. “After some crazy night we ended up at a party hosted by Perez Hilton,” he recalled. “Couldn’t tell you how that happened.”

The details may be fuzzy, but Calhoun had such a good time he’s making the trip again, and this year he’s bringing the rest of the band with him. The group is scheduled to play at both The Record Machine’s unofficial showcase and the Midwasteland Takeover.

“It’s always been a dream of mine to play South by Southwest, so I’m really excited to do that,” Calhoun said.

While he realizes SXSW might not have the same power to get a band discovered as it did years ago — too much is happening for every band to get noticed — there is still power in having so many industry people in one place.

“It’ll be great to meet other bands trying to get on the road and do this as a career,” Calhoun said. “The best way for fledgling bands to make things work is through each other. Bands are always meeting other bands and making those connections, so this is just really concentrated into one weekend,” he said.

This year’s festival will be the first time Mike “Ubiquitous” Viglione (half of KC hip-hop duo Ces Cru) has been in the middle of the music madness. The pair performs March 19 at the Midwasteland Takeover.

“I’m really proud of our latest work and everything is well- tuned in terms of our stage show,” Viglione said. “I’m looking to meet other artists to collaborate with. I would love to impress somebody that is looking for an artist, producers or people who want to help Ces Cru make new tracks. I’ll try to keep my eyes open and see what happens,” he said.

In the end, members of KC bands hope they won’t let the work get too overwhelming. After all, the focus is still the music.

“I feel like I kind of downplay it by just saying, ‘it’s a party’ or networking,” Calhoun said. “I’ve only been once, but it was one of the most fun experiences I’ve ever had,” he said. “If you’re a person that really, really loves music, you’re surrounded by all these people interested in the same thing as you are. It’s something every music fan should go to.”