SXSWORLD

CELEBRATING 30 YEARS The Austin Chronicle celebrates 30 years as Austin's independent news source, covering music, fi lm, arts, and politics. The Chronicle is the eloquent and incisive voice of the city, GOING MOBILE Check out our mobile site, with easy-to-use Food, Music, Film, and SXSW Listings austinchronicle.com/m as Austin's fi nest independent news source Kermit Ruffi ns is one of the many notable New Orleans musicians who plays himself in Treme producer Mark Bingham, who plays himself in the second season of Treme. "Eight people see the same exact thing happen in front of them, and you get eight versions of what happened. So David Simon and Eric Overmyer have their own version of New Orleans. When people fi rst get enamoured of New Orleans, they jump on certain things. I think Treme is kind of indicative of that kind of fi rst love of the city. Th ey're trying to make art, and we're trying to analyze whether it's real or not. But what's real? My New Orleans is a diff erent experience from Davis' New Orleans or Mitch Landrieu's New Orleans. I play myself in the studio, but playing yourself means saying things you would never say. You're given lines that you would never say in real life." Treme, like New Atlantis, creates its own version of reality out of "Th e real world is like that famous Japanese fi lm Roshomon," says the New Orleans subjects that fi t the narrative. Th e book deals at some length with the local rock band Th e Radiators, who called it quits after 33 years between the time I fi nished writing the book and the time it was published. Treme fi lmed a scene with the band playing at Tipitina's. Th ough the music was real and the crowd of extras appeared authentic, the real-time event had nothing to do with any Radiators show I had ever attended. But now that the band no longer exists, fans can still watch the Rads playing at Tips, thanks to the surreal New Orleans reality TV of Treme. ■ John Swenson is the author of New Atlantis: Musicians Battle for the Survival of New Orleans and will moderate a Treme panel at SXSW Music 2012. expressing the community's political and environmental concerns and supporting its active cultural scene. If it's important to Austin, it's in the Chronicle. FIND HAPPINESS Download our free happy hour app during SXSW! happyhours. austinchronicle.com FORKFLY.COM Not just another daily deal site, it's your community au s t inc h ronic l e. com SXSW ORLD / N OVEMBER 2011 27 COURTESY OF BASIN STREET RECORDS

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