Last month Austin City Limits kicked off their season 50 tapings with the city’s current biggest act, Black Pumas.

Any Austin-based or Austin-headed music fan worth their salt starts encountering the same line of questioning come March: Anyone you’re excited to see at South by Southwest?

South by Southwest started with a rally Friday as dozens gathered outside the Convention Center to protest the festival’s U.S. Army sponsorship and hosting of defense companies like Collins Aerospace in the midst of the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Ahead of South by Southwest’s Friday kickoff, several visiting musical artists including Squirrel Flower and Mamalarky have dropped out of their official showcasing concerts in protest of the festival’s U.S. Army sponsorship.

Booked like first-year Lollapalooza and staged à la ACL Fest, Circuit of the Americas’ Latin music eclipse, Besame Mucho on March 2, manifested a first for Austin and who knows where else: an alternate reality.

Austin musician W.C. Clark, known as “the Godfather of Austin Blues” and a mentor to Stevie Ray Vaughan, has died. He was 84.

Changing venues, delayed set times, notoriously erratic Texas weather: Almost nothing about South by Southwest is predictable. Right as rain, however, comes Hair of the 3-Legged Dog, the Chronicle’s annual March day party.

Beginning with hair flips and Dr. Martens kicks, Olivia Rodrigo’s Wednesday stop in Austin constructed a rock-and-pop sandwich.

Vision: 8291, a collaboration between DAWA (Diversity Awareness and Wellness in Action) and South by Southwest, presents its third annual Unity music showcase.