Above image: Jukebox The Ghost by Eric Ryan Anderson

What was once a mellow little 3-day gathering of regional bands that came together each March to play the many honky tonks and bars along 6th St in downtown Austin, South By Southwest (this year March 13-22) has exploded into a mega entertainment juggernaut. It now spans a week plus and includes film, interactive, and music conferences. Just keeping the 30,000+ attendees in beer and BBQ for that long is in itself a staggering achievement.

Every band desperately wants to play SX, even with the understanding that their midnight showcase and 11am party the next day will most likely not be witnessed by anyone who can help their career. That dude from Tucson will really dig it, though.

IFC, they who have brought us Portlandia (which, in a sense, brilliantly parodies the indie culture that spawned SXSW), will be rocking Austin with their all day Fairgrounds, intent on entertaining music lovers who are spending a year’s rent to drag their guitars into the Texas sun.

To help you defray some of the cost, IFC Fairgrounds is giving away four SXSW wristbands to BlackBook readers who tweet that they’re heading to Austin, and include the #IFCFairgrounds and #BlackBook.

Said wristband will get the wearer into any and all shows at the conference, subject to capacity of course. So get those tweets rolling; and while youre waiting to see if you won, check out the Spotify playlist featuring all the bands who are playing this year’s IFC Fairgrounds, including Jukebox The Ghost, Priory, Colony House (pictured above) and Rubblebucket. Good luck!