Cobalt & the Hired Guns take South By Southwest music conference and festival by storm:

Thank you, Austin. Thank you for the shows. Thank you for the sun. Thanks for the free food and the free beer. Thanks for the friends we made. South By Southwest was incredible. I think. What I remember of it. There’s always a lot to take in. This was our first time down there as a full band but for 5 days and 5 nights, we made that city home. There was a lot to learn- sometime you learn from watching a band try to play a set when they’re too drunk, other times it’s some guy with white hair in a panel that throws you free blueberry muffins and proves he knows what he’s talking about, teaching you more in an hour than you’ve learned all year. Thanks to our friends in Austin that drive us around and take us out for pancakes and queso at 3 in the morning and drive us to the airport while we sing along to our own cd at the top of our lungs, throwing free demos to people in cars next to us at red lights. You know who you are, and you are loved. Thanks to the good weather that didn’t rain but a little while we were down there. Thanks to our softball team, who won it’s first game but lost in the semi-finals to the “talent buyers and venue owners” which was really just a bunch of ringers. There are a lot of REALLY good bands out there. At times it’s exhilarating and exhultant, at others it’s totally intimidating and you wonder why anyone would ever chose you, and why did you get into this business in the first place and shouldn’t you maybe just listen to dad and go to grad school. And then you remember that there’s nothing else you’d rather be doing, and to enjoy the little space you’ve made. And that if it wasn’t this band, it’d be another band. And you’d rather have it be this band. Go Cobalt & the Hired Guns. Clap your hands if you believe in us! (oh- and come to shows! please!).

and HEY if we met you down in that craziness give us a HOLLER! tell us what you think of the record. Tell us stories of your crazy times down at SXSW.