SXSW is thrilled to announce Yoko Ono as a very special featured speaker for the 25th Music Conference and Festival. Ms. Ono will sit down with Jody Denberg for a SXSW Interview on Friday March 18th. From her pioneering work in the Fluxus movement of the 1960s to the recent Imagine Peace Tower in Iceland, Ono's art has challenged and informed, melding the personal to the universal in simple and unique ways. Her marriage and creative collaboration with John Lennon was a love story played out on the global stage.

Scala & Kolacny Brothers are, technically, a choir with a rotating roster of more than 200 young Belgian women (with 20 or so usually performing at any one time), with one conductor (Stijn Kolacny) and one pianist/composer (Steven Kolacny).

Saint Motel is known for their over-the-top performances and an explosive, psychedelic, indie-pop sound. In the world of Saint Motel, nothing bows to convention: Stages become forests and living rooms, and shows become kaleidoscopic mind explosions in 3D. The band's live shows are marked by this effusive energy and the spectacle of exciting visual soundscapes that blend the sonic with the artful.

Not even three months in, 2010 has already proven to be a banner year for Nneka.  The Nigerian-born artist continues her mission of spreading hope, optimism, and truth with a series of performances at SXSW.  Her US album debut, Concrete Jungle, has been lauded by critics and fans alike.  From playing sold-out shows to performing on “Late Night With David Letterman” to being cited as an artist to watch by Rolling Stone and SPIN, Nneka’s message has proven itself to be universal.

To coincide with the happenings at South By Southwest in Austin, the Backbeat Foundation will present Export NOLA on Wednesday, March 17th at Momo's. The showcase will feature New Orleans artists that represent various styles of music that the Crescent City is known for, including Anders Osborne, Big Sam's Funky Nation, and The Stooges Brass Band.

Big Sam's Funky Nation is a driving force of urban funk.

The Mother Hips release their SXSW performance schedule and a slew of spring dates, including the (((folkYEAH!))) presentation of the second annual Mother Hips Family Hipnic at the Fernwood Resort in breathtaking Big Sur, California on April 30 & May 1, 2010.

We Are Wolves have announced a new run of U.S. tour dates in April. The tour, which follows their previously announced Canadian shows in support of fellow lupine-monikered Wolf Parade, will take them from The Echo in Los Angeles, CA, on April 8th and up the west coast to The Vera Project in Seattle, WA, on April 13th. The band will then head back eastward through Canada on the Pop Montreal-sponsored POP OFF!

T Bird and the Breaks, the 10-piece Austin soul band releasing monthly original songs on real vinyl, again plays South By Southwest Music Festival & Media Conference, with its showcase slated for March 20.