The Biggest Takeaways from SXSW 2025

You don’t enjoy SXSW—the annual musical gathering in Austin, Texas every mid March. You endure it. You survive it. SXSW might not survive itself with the way it’s been spiraling since COVID, and has strayed so far from it’s soul (more on that soon). But if you stick to the margins and the periphery, you can still see some excellent music and discover something new, while re-connecting with some of your favorite artists in the meantime.

Here are Saving Country Music’s biggest takeaways from SXSW 2025. For more coverage from SXSW and live events, follow Saving Country Music on Instagram.

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Kimmi Bitter

It’s truly impossible to put into words the power that Kimmi Bitter calls upon to make you feel things through music that no other soul is capable of evoking. The easy thing to do is compare her to Patsy Cline. But after watching her perform, you wonder if future generations will be comparing the preeminent singers of the time to Kimmi Bitter. Don’t take it for granted that this woman has chosen to grace her voice to old school country.

After recently being picked up as an opener for the Old ’97s, Kimmi and her band—including guitarist/partner Willis Farnsworth—have taken the live show to even another level. This really is the project waiting to take the world by storm, and her 2024 album Old School is excellent. Not enough can be said about Kimmi.

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Silverada

Silverada is the best damn band in country music. There’s not much else to say. Tell your friends, shout it from the rooftops, go listen to their records, and if these dudes are rolling through your town, absolutely DO NOT pass up the opportunity to see them live. THOUSANDS of artists and bands descended upon Austin, TX for SXSW. But the best band you could see was already there.

It feels weird to still be talking about Silverada as if they’re undiscovered or up-and-coming. Compared to many, they’re living high on the hog. But there might not be another band that still has more upside potential than Silverada. The world is still waiting to discover them.

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Jesse Welles

It is difficult to impossible to be accused of falling into hyperbole when trying to articulate the creative explosion that reigning Saving Country Music Songwriter of the Year Jesse Welles has been riding upon for going on a year.

A pioneer of what could be called “fast folk” where he synthesizes current events in real time into incredibly clever, complex, and insightful songs, he makes wickedly entertaining music while somehow overriding the political and cultural binary that so many musicians, pundits, and the public itself have fallen prey to.

Jesse Welles is one of the hottest acts in all of roots music at the moment, selling out dates as soon as they’re posted. Do not pass up an opportunity to see him in small venues while you still can.

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Brennen Leigh / Wonder Women of Country

Brennen Leigh and The Wonder Women of Country don’t need no guitar-slinging buckaroo with his smelly feet stinking up the touring coach. Brennen can sing ‘em, write ‘em, AND pick ‘em, all while looking fabulous. She is a Queen of Country with Kelly Willis and Melissa Carper of the Wonder Women, whether the commercial world recognizes them or not.

They were one of the gem’s of Willie Nelson’s Luck Reunion.

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John R. Miller

John R. Miller’s music consists of listless muses from the underbelly of life, and real world dispatches from his dysfunctional past and present. It’s the sound of abandoned buildings and broken down old rusty cars, and bleary spirits from bad decisions that want to blame themselves on others, but know deep down they’re self-inflicted.

His music is the act of finding beauty in the decay, and perseverance in the struggle. It’s an appreciation for old things that hold up over time, and finding a strange sense of happiness from hapless fates. “A well-travelled wordsmith mapping out the world he’s seen, three chords at a time,” is how Tyler Childers considers him. Many listeners consider John R. Miller as one of the preeminent Appalachian songwriters of our time.

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Nick Garza

Nick Garza isn’t just a spitting image for a young Townes Van Zandt, he one of Austin’s premier Western artists, mixing a little Texas Tejano in with Western themes. It’s music that features accordion and intentional songwriting with a poetic disposition. It’s music for music’s sake that is refreshingly unpretentious. If you like what Colter Wall is up to, check out Mr. Garza too. He just released three new songs.

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Waxahatchee / Katie Crutchfield

Of all the indie rock projects that love to tease around the edges of country music that you wish would haul off and release a full-blown country project someday, Katie Crutchfield and Waxahatchee has to be near the top. Originally from Alabama, she’s a great songwriter with a strong voice, and an infectious spirit that’s hard to resist no matter your musical sensibilities.

She played a surprise, unannounced set at Willie’s Luck Reunion.

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Ken Pomeroy

Oklahoma’s Ken Pomery has gone from a a precocious songwriting prodigy and side player in Kyle Nix’s band The 38s, to one of the most promising up-and-coming songwriters in the Americana space. Her Rounder Records debut album Cruel Joke is out May 16th.

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Charley Crockett

Ahead of the release of Charley Crockett’s new album Lonesome Drifter, he played an intimate acoustic set in the legendary chapel of Willie Nelson’s little Western town called Luck outside of Austin. People waited hours in line for the opportunity to see Charley in the tiny space, where he told stories, and played songs from the new record.

Charley explained that the song “Life of a Country Singer” was inspired by Willie Nelson and the time Willie live in Houston, and had to sell his song “Family Bible” for $50 so he could feed his family.

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Julien Baker and Torres

A lot has been made about these two indie rockers recording and releasing a “country” album together called Send a Prayer My Way (April18th). One of the first tastes the public had for just how “country” the album would be was at Willie Nelson’s Luck Reunion. Along with playing songs from the album, they also played numerous covers, including a pretty rousing version of Merle Haggard’s “Mama Tried” while dressed in their custom made Nudie suits.

We still need to hear the full album to determine just how country this indie rock duo is, but they did endear themselves to the audience in Luck, and from the look on their faces, had one hell of a time in the process.

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