SXSW 2008: Three Artists to Watch

By Renee Montagne,

Published March 12, 2008 at 12:25 PM PDT

This week, the South by Southwest music festival brings more than 1,700 bands to Austin, Texas, for a weekend that's all about volume in more ways than one. Narrowing down the seemingly limitless options isn't easy, but here are three acts likely to win some new fans in the coming days.

See all of NPR's SXSW coverage, including live concert webcasts, blogs, interviews, and reports from Austin.

1 of 3 — Bon Iver

2 of 3 — Cover for Let My People Go

3 of 3 — Bulat (200)

Renee Montagne

Renee Montagne, one of the best-known names in public radio, is a special correspondent and host for NPR News.

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Stephen Thompson

Stephen Thompson is a writer, editor and reviewer for NPR Music, where he speaks into any microphone that will have him and appears as a frequent panelist on All Songs Considered. Since 2010, Thompson has been a fixture on the NPR roundtable podcast Pop Culture Happy Hour, which he created and developed with NPR correspondent Linda Holmes. In 2008, he and Bob Boilen created the NPR Music video series Tiny Desk Concerts, in which musicians perform at Boilen's desk. (To be more specific, Thompson had the idea, which took seconds, while Boilen created the series, which took years. Thompson will insist upon equal billing until the day he dies.)

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