South by Southwest is a week-long music event held annually in Austin, Texas. In the past it has showcased legends such as the Shins, Bruce Springsteen and Of Montreal. This year Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, Prince and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs were some of the headliners. Since all-access badges are expensive and because a lot of bands are trying to play as much as possible, the South by Southwest week means a lot of impromptu performances, house shows and restaurant and bar gigs. Pretty much anywhere you turn you can find live music. I showed up badgeless in Austin for the last weekend of South by Southwest and still ended up seeing a number of really good acts.

To start off, on Saturday at 2 p.m. right after landing, I saw a performer named Leo Rondeau at a fried chicken joint. Now, I have always liked country, but Rondeau made me love country. The lyrics were fresh and clever and the sound was lovely—fortified by the twangy lap steel. Maybe it was some sort of beginner’s luck that I fell in love with the first band I heard in Austin, but I was hooked. After their performance I also saw Randy Weeks and then Ramsay Midwood, but neither was as soul rattlin’.

I spent the next afternoon and evening walking around south Austin, past some of the large cordoned off venue spaces from the official South by Southwest events. Picking my way through the detritus of the past week, I made my way to a house show where, believe it or not, Leo Rondeau would be playing.

The house show had a small crowd, probably about 60 people in all, with groups mingling in the backyard and coming into the living room where the bands were when they liked the sound. It was a lovely night, 70 degrees or so, so lots of people were just sitting outside and chatting.

The first band I saw perform that night was called The Lonesome Heros. With an inventive use of the discoball and epic dobro player (see the woman and her instrument to the left), country won over my heart again. The dobro (lap steel meets guitar, or something like that), then and there, became my favorite instrument. And so you will now find me scouring the cities looking for dobro lessons.

After the Lonesome Heros on came Pretty Little Empire, a fairly well-established band from St. Louis. They had a softer, more alternative feel than most of the more country/bluegrassy bands I had heard since being in Austin. They were great, but the best part was the free vinyls they were giving away afterwards (now I just need to get myself a record player).

After Pretty Little Empire was the much anticipated second performance by Leo Rondeau. It lived up to anticipation. In fact, it was even better than the last. The buzzed, ready-to-dance crowd lent itself much better to the band’s music than the fried chicken sedated folks who had been watching the day before. I decided then and there that after graduation (still a year away) I would pack my bags and move to Austin.

The last band to play was a San Marcos, Texas band called Fire in the Pines. With their impassioned lead singer they were also an entertaining band to watch. After their performance, as they were clearing out sound equipment, what would prove my favorite performance began to coalesce: half a dozen of random band members and spectators began to jam together. The result was beautiful. I am not musical by any stretch of the imagination, but the spontaneous and loose way in which the six players interacted was a thing of beauty.

I was only on the peripheries of South by Southwest for two days but it made a lasting impression. I’ve chosen my newest hobby (which has yet to manifest itself in actual lessons) and I’ve decided where I want to live, for awhile at least. And I think it was been the peripheries that made it so special. You can see the big name bands whenever, wherever, but to spend two days stumbling over music and collaboration at every turn, that is what a music festival should be about.