For the past three years, the folks at Armed Forces Entertainment have come to SXSW to host a party, do business in the SXSW trade show and scout out bands to travel overseas to play for US troops stationed abroad. AFE is about entertaining the troops and giving artists an opportunity to travel to and play in places they never dreamed they would go like Japan, Korea, Italy, Greece, Spain and the Middle East. AFE hosts about 1,200 shows at 270 military installations every year. The bands get all travel and lodging covered and a per diem is allotted to each member of the group. AFE also provides the bands a stipend to produce merchandise (CDs, t-shirts, etc.) to give away to the troops.

Several of the bands who've toured with the program played to about 1,000 SXSW registrants at AFE's sanctioned SXSW party this year at Brush Square Park, including Tripdavon, Five Star Iris and Urban Sophisticates, who were signed on at SXSW 2007. After this year's SXSW, AFE received about 330 applications and have signed up nine bands for tours.

The Gin Blossoms, Edwin McCain, Bret Michaels and Kid Rock have toured with AFE and in 2007, popular Texas country musicians Charlie Robison and Kevin Fowler toured with AFE in Iraq, playing military bases in Baghdad, Kirkuk, Al Asad, and Balad.

"Personally, it was the most amazing experience ever," says Robison. "They (AFE) contacted me out of the blue and asked me to tour with them. It took me about one second to say yes once I heard what they are about. But it was a way I could do my duty, and the experience of playing to and talking to those soldiers made it all worthwhile."

Bands currently touring throughout the summer include Hinder, Scratch Track, King Cone, CatchPenny and The Scarlet Ending.

Photo of Charlie Robison by Woody Welch.