SXSW 2012 Tuesday Showcases

City of Austin

8pm, The Parish If there's one thing the city of Austin does particularly well it's branding. This local showcase spotlights some of the most remarkable – and marketable – talent in town. Relative newcomer Click-Clack sounds like a Texas alternative to Sage Francis' Strange Famous hip-hop collective on his free, downloadable debut, Housework. Teen punks Schmillion take all the right cues from the Runaways. The mostly female outfit appeared in Spike Jonze's Grammy-winning short, "The Suburbs," and earned an opening slot on Arcade Fire's Texas tour last year. Endearing folk-pop trio Marmalakes recalls a collegiate version of Vampire Weekend, bound for bigger stages and radio airplay. Burly bluesman Nakia thrilled television audiences in prime time last year on The Voice, but his solo work is even more visceral and engaging. Fresh off an appearance with his former coach Cee Lo Green at the Austin City Limits Music Festival, the Twitter celebrity just released a new autobiographical anthem, "Dreamin' Big." Local Latin specialists El Tule close the evening with big-band panache. – Austin Powell

Frenchie Smith Records

8pm, Hotel Vegas Even if Chris "Frenchie" Smith hadn't produced and/or engineered half the city's musical output, he's enshrined in Austin hearts for his axe work in Sixteen Deluxe and Young Heart Attack. Now, he's expanding into running a label. Promoting a Smith-helmed third album, Black Bone Child (8pm) swaggers first, self-assuredly toking on the blues-rock vibe of long-gone classic rockers like Free. Leaping from solid ground to outer space, the Boxing Lesson's (9pm) prog-frosted psychedelia blazes galaxyward. Swamp thing Dax Riggs (10pm) comes next, proving that while he calls Austin home, he hasn't left his Louisiana acid blues behind. Scorpion Child (11pm) roars into the black-lit denim Seventies, howling Zep-rawk finely baked in the Texas sun. Splitting the difference between psilocybin and beer is Smoke & Feathers (12mid), luxuriating in guitars, grunge, and fucked-up dreams. The night closes out with ... And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead (1am), still high from its Frenchie-produced progressive 2011 masterpiece, The Tao of the Dead. – Michael Toland

Xtra Mile/AIM

9pm, Latitude 30 Latitude 30 maintains its status as the SXSW British embassy despite a name referring to the geographical location of Cuba. No matter. Folk-punk upstarts Jim Lockey & the Solemn Sun (9pm) kick off the showcase in support of upcoming sophomore release Death; and Scottish trio, the Xcerts (10pm), unleashes a loose, youthful brand of power pop. But it will be Welsh quartet Future of the Left (11pm; also Thursday, March 15, 1am, at Swan Dive) that draws curious media with its electro attitude. Since 2009's acclaimed Travels With Myself and Another, it hasn't done a damn thing but change members and release an EP. Upcoming third full-length album, The Plot Against Common Sense, kicks off touring. Frank Turner (12mid) is riding high, too. After the success of last year's England Keep My Bones, few can challenge him as the preeminent British troubadour. Closing the night will be London's superslick indie rockers fiN (1am). – Kevin Curtin