Canadian Acts Elisapie, NOBRO, Zoon and More Get Added to SXSW 2024
The Austin, Texas music festival and industry meet-up is also bringing a handful of Canadian festivals to present showcases.
Elisapie
Austin’s South By Southwest Music (SXSW) Festival has announced its second wave of artists for 2024, featuring a stacked list of Canadian talent. Canadian artists slated to perform at the festival’s 38th edition include Inuk singer-songwriter Elisapie, Montreal punks NOBRO, indie pop trio Afternoon Bike Ride, Anishinaabe shoegaze specialist Zoon and more.
Elisapie's performance at the major industry festival — held in March every year — follows the release of her latest album, Inuktitut, in September. On Inuktitut, Elisapie covers ten pop and rock songs, translating classics like “Dreams” by Fleetwood Mac and Blondie’s “Heart of Glass” into Inuktitut. She followed that up with a November cover of The Eurythmics’ “Love Is A Stranger.”
Montreal’s NOBRO also released a record this fall. After spending nearly a decade touring and building a following, they put out their full-length debut, Set Your Pussy Free, via Dine Alone records in October. Prior to SXSW, they’ll be performing at New York’s New Colossus Festival and Flogging Molly’s Shamrock Rebellion, a two-part St. Patrick's Day celebration in Orange County, CA, and Las Vegas.
The artists in SXSW’s second wave join previously announced Canadian acts like Kiwi Jr., Arielle Soucy and Sorry Girls. Canadian festivals BreakOut West, POP Montreal and M For Montreal will also return to the festival in 2024 for their annual showcases.
Other non-Canadian 2024 showcasing partners labels Father/Daughter Records and Don Giovanni Records, and agencies Mint Talent Group and Space Agency.
Since its founding in 1987, SXSW has grown to encompass film, comedy, tech and more. In 2023, the festival generated $380.9 million in spending activity for the city of Austin, with 150,000 people attending SXSW’s music festival alone. Of the 1577 acts who performed, 525 were international.
For musicians, the festival provides an opportunity to encounter industry members and play multiple showcasing events (though recently artists have pushed for the festival to improve its artist rates). The 2024 festival will take place March 8-16.
Here’s the full list of Canadian artists in the second wave:
- Afternoon Bike Ride (Montreal CANADA)
- Alex Nicol (Montreal CANADA)
- Chxrry22 (Toronto CANADA)
- Elisapie (Salluit CANADA)
- Field Guide (Winnipeg CANADA)
- FONTINE (Winnipeg CANADA)
- Jon Vinyl (Toronto CANADA)
- Ken Yates (London CANADA)
- maxime. (Montreal CANADA)
- Night Lunch (Montreal CANADA)
- NOBRO (Montreal CANADA)
- Planet Giza (Montreal CANADA)
- poolblood (Toronto CANADA)
- Population II (Montreal CANADA)
- TFD (Total Fucking Darkness) (Vancouver CANADA)
- Zoon (Winnipeg CANADA)
- zouz (Montréal CANADA)
P-MRC, the parent company of Billboard, is a SXSW stakeholder and long-term partner.
