The cast of Short Term 12 aka I Heart John Gallagher photo by Rick Kern/Wire Image

It's the first full night of Music! It's the Interactive Awards! It's the Film Awards! There's Comedy! I just used a lot of exclamation points because that's how exciting this is!

Meat Puppets have released a stream for "Down," the first single from their 14th studio album, Rat Farm, out April 16 on Megaforce Records. Click here to listen. The album features the brothers' almost-there harmonies, latticed guitar work and the sort of mind-bending psychedelic sound that cements their contribution to the cosmic country genre, stretching back to the Louvin Brothers and beyond. The legendary desert punks have announced their SXSW appearances, including the opening slot for Dave Grohl and the Sound City Players on Thursday, March 14 at Stubb's in Austin at Grohl's invitation. The live band consists of the Kirkwood brothers, singer/guitarist Curt Kirkwood and bassist Cris Kirkwood with drummer Shandon Sahm and new addition on second guitar, Elmo Kirkwood (Curt's son).

Need to get from Point A to Point B in a hurry? Austin traffic got you down? Stop waiting and start moving with SXcycles, the official SXSW bike share program! While you're there, power down in the world of NBC’s Revolution! Enjoy unplugged gaming—ping pong, shuffle board and corn hole to name a few—interactive art, a recharge bar (for when you need to re-enter the digital world), and SXcycles bikes to borrow.

The Trade Show Block Party is Today!Join us today at 4pm in the SXSW Trade Show to explore the annual Block Party hosted by our exhibitors. With this years new twist, visit participating booths to collect stamps on your competition card to be entered in the draw for a pair of platinum badges and enjoy their custom hostibitality with complimentary refreshments.

Gap, the official concert T-shirt of this year’s South by Southwest Music Festival, is gearing up to kick off their partnership with Filter and Tumblr at SXSW Music 2013. Hosted at one of Austin's favorite Rainey St bars, Clive, the fun begins at 2:00pm on March 15 with an afternoon lineup you don't want to miss: Ra Ra Riot, Shout Out Louds, Peace, Ducktails and Vacationer.

Make sure you stick around for their nighttime showcase, featuring Macklemore, Andrew W.K., Fidlar and Kitten, open to SXSW badge holders.

Spinner's SXSW 2013 showcase is just days away. This year, they're proud to present a show headlined by Dawes and Iron and Wine taking place in the grand Austin City Limits Live at the Moody Theater.

Join us on Wednesday, March 13 beginning at 7:45PM with a set from Family of the Year. The L.A. quintet released their second full-length, Loma Vista, last year and made a fan out of Aerosmith's Steven Tyler, who calls them "the Mamas and the Papas on acid." Up next is Lord Huron, the indie-folk group from Los Angeles who are building on the buzz of their 2012 debut, Lonesome Dreams.

All showcases scheduled at 404 Austin have been moved to Club 119 (119 W. 8th St., Austin, Tx, 78701). This includes Tuesday Presented by "Cannon Steps Back", Wednesday Presented by "SOB's", Thursday Presented by "Lawless Inc", Friday Presented by "LiveMixtapes.com DirtyGloveBastard.net & ThaFixx.com", and Saturday Presented by "WorldStarHipHop". You can check out the full showcase schedule here.

Brita has officially teamed up with SXSW to encourage a passionate community of music artists and fans to pledge to reduce waste in Austin, Texas and beyond. The partnership with SXSW is the next step in Brita’s mission to empower artists and fans to make small changes that will have a positive impact on the environment.

If you're looking to take a break from the bustle of downtown, head to the SXSW Urban Oasis Presented by Brita® to relax, rehydrate and recharge using clean solar power in the comfort of the environmentally responsible lounge. This annual favorite (formerly known as the Green Zone) is centrally-located at 7th and Red River in the heart of SXSW Music, offering free Brita FilterForGood® Nalgene bottles and filtered water, a solar-powered cell phone charging station, plenty of seating, shade, greenery and more. Brita® eliminates the need for nearly 10,000 disposable bottles at the 2013 SXSW Urban Oasis.

Jared Leto to Speak at SXSW Music Conference

SXSW Music Conference is excited to announce that actor and 30 Seconds To Mars frontman Jared Leto will speak TOMORROW, Wed. March 13 at 2:00PM. Jared will sit down with Chris Kantrowitz of Gobbler to discuss ARTIFACT, a film about the making of the band's album This is War and their subsequent battle with label EMI, and his directorial debut film, showing at SXSW Film. Leto will also share his recent forays into the startup/tech world, where he's spearheaded the streaming live music broadcast venture, VyRT.

Please join us for this special session.

SPIN is back at SXSW for four nights of showcases and three days of parties at Easy Tiger! And of course the perennial SPIN at Stubbs party is back on Friday afternoon.

SXSW Music and Platinum Badges, Wristbands, and Artist Wristbands will receive priority access to the SPIN daytime events, but an RSVP is required. RSVP now for SPIN House and SPIN at Stubbs while there's still space available! (RSVP not required for Badges and Wristbands to attend SPIN's nighttime showcases at Easy Tiger.)