Timothy S. Griffin

Daniel Johnston released 'Space Ducks', celebrated with Built to Spill & friends @ SXSW (pics)

March 19, 2012

Timothy S. Griffin

Daniel Johnston @ The Belmont on 3/13

“A packed house of fans and well-wishers turned out to the Belmont Lounge Tuesday night for an official South by Southwest showcase to celebrate the release of Daniel Johnston‘s new graphic novel, “Space Ducks: An Infinite Comic Book of Musical Greatness.” The event, which was hosted by Brooklyn Vegan, included performances by Built to Spill, Will Sheff of Okkervil River, R. Stevie Moore, Kimya Dawson and Johnston himself. Alex Maas of Black Angels, Matt Vasquez of Delta Spirit and Irish folk singer Foy Vance all each performed Johnston covers before the renowned songwriter took the stage.

Nearly all who performed had some accolades to offer Johnston, the legendarily troubled outsider artist-turned-indie rock darling whose notoriety was cemented by Kurt Cobain when the Nirvana frontman famously wore a T-shirt of the cover to Johnston’s album, Hi, How Are You?. [Hollywood Reporter]

We kicked off SXSW in style Tuesday night, our first of three official BrooklynVegan showcases at the Austin festival this year, with six hours of music including “special guest” Caveman who we couldn’t announce due to another show they had to play that night. Dinosaur Feathers began things right at 8pm.

It was all in celebration of “Space Ducks” which is out now as a Boom Comics graphic novel, and as a FREE iPad app you can download now, new Daniel Johnston music and tributes included (the soundtrack will get a physical release in a few weeks). Props to the team at Wieden + Kennedy for helping Daniel create something so cool with his art, and to Search Party, Primary Wave, Strike Team, Eternal Yip Eye Music, all the artists who played, and everyone else that helped us make the Tuesday night show and comic happen.

Almost everyone on the bill covered a Daniel Johnston song, and many came back to join Daniel on “True Love Will Find You in the End.” Jeffrey Lewis, with help from Kimya (collectively they are the Bundles), debuted new song “Space Ducks” which Jeffrey wrote for the app at our request. New DJ-inspired songs are unlocked after you work your way through the Space Ducks galaxy. There are also songs in the app, co-curated by Search Party, by Deer Tick, Eleanor Friedberger, Lavender Diamond, and others.

Built to Spill closed down the outdoor show beautifully; it was just too bad that Austin has a 2am curfew…

Co-headliners Built to Spill couldn’t begin their set until 1:15, and frontman Doug Martsch vowed to “play until they make us stop,” which was going to be 2:00 regardless. It’s a common rock show cliché, but true to their word, they kept going until the Belmont’s people had to get on the sound system to tell them to stop, prompting a chorus of boos. But the elder indie statesmen were still able to cap it off by driving through an extended version of “Conventional Wisdom,” effectively ensuring everyone would still be going home happy.” [IDSNews]

Here’s a set of pictures from the special evening (and we have a second set coming soon on BV Austin. UPDATE: here they are). More below…

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