The Chronicle‘s annual SXSW teaser, “Picks to Click,” spotlighting local acts showcasing at the ever-burgeoning Music Festival, has traditionally skewed toward newer talent, performers still in the first blush of a local buzz. Last year, that included now-favorite indie staples Sound Team and This Microwave World; the year before it was Los Lonely Boys, just prior to the release of their national debut. In 2005, with Austin’s Red River district and venues like the Parish and Continental Club birthing and nurturing new rockers, six of our picks basically chose themselves. These are acts our Music staff is witnessing and raving about on a weekly basis. The seventh act had its sophomore CD land at the paper on the day the picking clicked. Already something of a vet on the local scene, this artist’s new album made it clear they’d taken their talent to the next level. We’ll let you match name and circumstance in this case, but that’s the P2C bottom line, no matter at what point in a career we check in with our local talent: These seven are ready for their close-up.

All showcase times subject to change

This article appears in March 4 • 2005.

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San Francisco native Raoul Hernandez crossed the border into Texas on July 2, 1992, and began writing about music for the Chronicle that fall, debuting with an album review of Keith Richards’ Main Offender. By virtue of local show previews – first “Recommendeds,” now calendar picks – his writing’s appeared in almost every issue since 1993.