A ustin's famed South By Southwest has long been considered by many to be the premiere music conference/showcase. However, The Nashville Entertainment Association's Extravaganza made a really strong showing on February 19th through the 22nd. Featuring over 200 signed and unsigned artists and groups ranging from "alternative" to "hip-hop" to country-tinged rock, there literally was something for everybody to enjoy. People took advantage of the opportunity too, as fans and industry-types alike packed playrooms across town, breaking fire codes while the bands burned the houses down with incendiary performances. Obviously, this reviewer couldn't see all 200 bands... or even close. What made it even harder is that, for example, when I drove to 12th & Porter to see songwriter Todd Snider, not only was the venue packed beyond capacity, but there was a line that stretched to the street. So I cruised over to The Station Inn to catch Dobro master Jerry Douglas only to find a paper plate taped to the door that said "Full... sorry." The best strategy I found was to commit to one club/night and try to achieve stylistic diversity by attending a different club each night. I saw two groups Thursday, three groups Friday and four bands Saturday... and had a great time hearing everybody. Thursday night at the Exit/In was about catching a glimpse at where music might be going. The first band, Jump Little Children, has been playing heavily in the southeast recently, garnering a strong grassroots following. The heartbeat of their music was the deep grooves, compliments of the Children's highly-skilled drummer and stand-up bass player. The lead singer strummed an overdriven Les Paul while the lead rapper played a Flatiron mandolin, harmonica and that little keyboard thingie that you blow into. The sound was rounded out by a cellist who ran his signal through an effects rack, achieving a large palette of ambient tones. Everyone in the group sang, so the catchy hooks were augmented by four-part vocals. The overall vibe was a strange cross of world music, jazz and pop. What was interesting to this reviewer (a guitar player) was that the guitar didn't play its normal dominant role in the song like it normally does in rock music. Could this be the trend? I hope not. Anyway, the beats were infectious, the sounds were unique, their outfits were wacky and when the horn section from the evening's headline act, Gran Torino, took the stage to help out with the closer, the already bumpin' audience was whipped into a frenzy. Following Jump Little Children was Capricorn recording artists Everything. This group featured an excellent bass/drum duo, funky lead guitarist, a singer/rapper/rhythm guitarist and a rhythm guitarist/sax player. Everything also had a take on the jazz/pop/world music thing, but just seemed less... um... festive than the previous band. This type of music is about colors, I think. They didn't look as colorful, they didn't sound as colorful. They didn't have the crowd seeing colors either. If Thursday was about where music might be headed, Friday paid fine tribute to where it's been. After the aforementioned futile attempts to get in 12th & Porter and The Station Inn, I headed to Henry's Great Coffeehouse to catch Victor Mecyssne. Fronting a band consisting of an upright bass player, drummer, backing vocalist and a killer sax player and equally-impressive lead guitarist, the J-45 wielding crooner gave the audience a grand tour of the seedy underbelly of town. The music had a smoky, "lounge" feel to it filled with lyric anecdotes of hookers, booze and love gone bad. Mecyssne's vocals kept it at a slow simmer until the sax and guitar battles whipped the music into a bubbling boil and back to simmer just to start the process over again. With Mecyssne being the final performer at Henry's that night, I cruised across the street to Wolfy's to catch one of this reviewer's favorite local acts; Badabing Badaboom. When I got there, Crowd of One had just taken the stage. Nashville-based Crowd of One is comprised of members hailing from places a disparate as Texas, Pennsylvania and Washington DC. Despite different roots, the band shares a common passion for straight-down-the-middle roots rock (think Bodeans or Wilco). They weren't exactly unpredictable, but the grooves were tight, the interplay between acoustic and electric guitar pleasing and the melodies were memorable. Badabing Badaboom has built a rabid local following in Nashville playing a decidedly un-southern style of music. Taking the stage after C.O.O., Bandleader/guitarist/part-time vocalist Eddie Mugavero (a common southern name, no?) lead his ragtag group through a set of big band-era jazz tunes with a decidedly uptown feel. Augmented by trumpet and fiddle, and fronted by a talented vocal duo reminiscent of the Andrews Sisters, the group teaches the town of twang how to swing. Being originally from the Chicago era, this reviewers personal favorite tune of theirs is called "That's What I like About The North." I can't see them landing a record deal out of an NEA Showcase, but to any rock weary A&R due who might have been in attendance, this could have been the most enjoyable show he or she saw all week. On Saturday, it was back to Wolfy's to see what was to be a trip down memory lane... of sorts. Two of the bands featured at Wolfy's hail from this reviewer's alma mater; University of Iowa. Being the little cultural center that it is, Iowa City's stalwart road dogs High & Lonesome and local fave Bo Ramsey proved that there's more than corn in Iowa. High & Lonesome is led by piano player/vocalist Dave Zolo. Not necessarily the strongest set of pipes ever to meet a microphone, his voice is soulful and his piano playing floats effortlessly above the music. Zolo's bluesey improv and carefree attitude is augmented by captivating duel guitar interplay. The overall sound has a woodstock-era feel with maybe a hint of country and southern rock. They didn't floor everybody, but certainly put on a strong and professional performance. Out of all the bands I saw all, Pinetop Seven were the ones I would sign if I were an A&R dude... but I'm not, so who cares? The lead vocalist has a deep and resonant voice a little like Brad Robert's (of the Crash Test Dummies). The Chicago-based group featured yet another bassist willing to drag a full-size upright to gigs. A guy served multiple duties playing accordion, tambourine and sometimes just became scenery. Another guy played banjo and the aforementioned silly little keyboard that you blow into (popularized in the '80s by the band The Hooters, no doubt). The guitarist took an ambient approach to guitar, using lots of effects while the skilled drummer proved an excellent backup singer too. What set this band apart was the unique and highly melodic nature of their songs. What was also interesting is that the songs didn't take on a standard verse/chorus/verse/chorus/bridge/chorus format. The tunes were more like mini symphonies with a natural musical progression that leads the ear from one idea to the next with the listener winding up in a different place than where they were in the beginning. The coolest thing about them was that they could increase intensity without necessarily increasing volume. Collectively based out of Nashville and Knoxville, the most incendiary performance of the night came from Shinola . Fronted by a certifiable stage lunatic named Brian Waldshagler (say that three times) who's part Elvis and part Barney Fife, the band took the audience on a mud slingin', snot flingin' bucking bronco ride of a set. With Waldshagler beating his Gibson acoustic to a pulp, the schizophrenic band swayed violently between country, bluegrass and rock featuring a Dobro and Flatiron mandola player at stage left and electric slide and guitar player at stage right. They were loud, rude and wonderfully merciless as they whipped the SRO crowd into an undulating mass of jubulent human flesh. Walshagler also told you where yo can get a good sandwich in Knoxville... bonus!!! The last show of this reviewer's Extravaganza Experience came compliments of Iowa City's favorite retro-rocker Bo Ramsey. If you want introspective, storyteller lyrics set to a backdrop of pulsating vintage tones, this is your guy. The reaction from the crowd was part enthusiasm and part respect to someone who has obviously lived the tales he tells. I've seen him many times before, in both acoustic and electric format. Bo was as great as he always was. But I was tired and four songs into the set, I had heard three straight eight-beat grooves too many.