This is the category gathering NYC based bands who play roots music in all its traditional glory. Or at least that's what we intended it to be - a couple of bands in the list (namely, Sewing Machines and The Balboans) obviously mis-categorized themselves when submitting for this poll...

Total Submissions in this category: 23

Artists Qualified to the Poll's Next Stage (starting soon):

1. Swear and Shake - 8.16 (out of 10)
2. The Ludlow Thieves - 7.66
3. The Courtesy Tier - 7.5

Honorable Mentions (score above 7):

Sewing Machines, The Balboans, Ten Ton Man, Runaway Dorothy, Zak Smith, Mail the Horse, Alana Amram & the Rough Gems, Kayleigh Goldsworthy, David King + The Confirmed Bachelors, Elijah Ocean, This Old Ghost, Thomas Bryan Eaton.

Jurors: Ben Toledo (Deli Portland), Jacqueline Caruso (Deli LA), QD Tran (Deli Philly)

The Deli' Staff

The penultimate day of my fourth SXSW was definitely the longest in my history of SX’s. Arriving at 10:30am at the Elvis Presley-themed Beale Street Tavern to host a show, I was out on the town for 16 hours to follow. Opening the morning, Austin’s Indie-meets-retro rock quartet, Ghost Bunny, and solo, blues-rock multi-instrumentalist and loop-master, Walker Lukens, got the ball rolling. Most attendants woke up and arrived for a bevy of Brooklyn bands: Black Taxi, The Courtesy Tier, and The Click Clack Boom. The string of East Coasters was broken by LA- born Vas Defrans (pictured), who put the sound system to the test with pounding drums and intricate instrumental layering. A laid back local favorite, The Naturals, contrasted with the strobe- light and projection illuminated, electro/dance-rock quartet, Kid Savant who followed suit. NYC’s Hollis Brown closed the afternoon with straight up great blues rock and Southern rock sentiments. Yet another Tex-Mex decompression resuscitated me for an extensive evening of street performances. Renegade rocker, Tom Morello, brought the aggressive music of Black Top Demon, Outernational, Anti-Flag, and Wayne Kramer outside the Swan Dive as part of Occupy SXSW. Morello himself marched into the crowd of hundreds for a finale while police swarmed the area. All ended without any blood shed, but it was an night/early morning to remember! –Meijin Bruttomesso