Josh I have a question and I need your help ASAP. I would like to attend the SXSW, which to me will be a great commitment as I live in the Midwest. Doing some research I've discovered that SXSW not free to attend and like many music festivals requires a TO

Actually, the free shows are, in fact, the only part of the SXSW thing I would recommend bothering with these days. But I don’t know how helpful I can be wrt finding them. When I lived downtown, I remember attending a free show featuring Priestess and other bands at Waterloo (the record store, not the icehouse) so you may want to look that store up and see what’s going on. There was also a free Fastball concert at Auditorium Shores, but I got that info from the band’s facebook page. Perhaps look up pages of various Austin bands and see if they’re doing the same thing this year?

Sorry I can’t be of more help, but hopefully that can get you started. Good luck!