First they take Austin

Members of the Irish delegation to SXSW festival in Austin, Texas, have returned to Dublin, confident that this year's trip was the most productive yet.

"It was brilliant," Keith Johnson of IMRO told Hot Press. "There was a real buzz of excitement about the Irish acts, and we had full houses all the way for the shows, so I think the omens are really good."

Paddy Casey, Cathy Davey and Fight Like Apes were the spearheads of the Irish invasion, and the momentum they generated was surely helped considerably by the recent Oscar success of The Frames' Glen Hansard.

"Paddy went down really well," Keith reports. "For this album he's got the support of SonyBMG and there seemed to be a lot of radio interest. On the evidence of the reaction he generated, Paddy is going to start making inroads in the US pretty quickly."

Cathy Davey also wowed audiences with a hugely impressive live performance. "She did herself a power of good," Johnson observes. "She's really on form now, the live show works really well, and I think her music suits the US market, so I'd be very optimistic for her."

Meanwhile, Hot Press diarists (see our next issue) Fight Like Apes also impressed. "They got a fantastic reaction," Keith says. "I've been championing them for a long time now, and I think they really have what it takes. They have a great attitude, they don't mind putting the work in – so with the right management and the right label, they'll be real contenders.

"It might be a bit harder to get them on daytime radio – but they're the sort of band that will get there by building up a live following, though doing great shows – and they proved that they can do that over in Austin."

The full list of Irish acts at the event also included Delorentos, Iain Archer, Channel One, The Lost Brothers, Angel Pier, The Bleedin’ Bleedins and Oppenheimer – who travelled onwards, undertaking a 20-hour drive from Austin to LA for a show at the Viper Room.

Overall, then, the prognosis is a good one. "There's lots there to build on, that's for sure," Johnson concludes.

Read the complete Fight Like Apes SXSW tour diary in the next issue of Hot Press