It's that time of year again, and the city of Austin's ego is so big it is about to burst. For the 15th straight year, the self-proclaimed live music capital of the world is engrossed in its South By Southwest film and music conferences.

Luckily for festivalgoers, almost three dozen of the 1,000 bands scheduled to play SXSW are from our little Metroplex, and that may just be the saving grace for the festival. Certainly HearSay would spend $105 to spend a business-slash-pleasure weekend with Sugarbomb, Eleven Hundred Springs, Polyphonic Spree, Brave Combo, Centro-matic, Chomsky, Pinkston, The Burden Brothers, and +The Deathray Davies. With a side order of Slobberbone, El Gato, Macavity, Clumsy, Lift to Experience, and Slow Roosevelt.

It's a business trip for SXSW rookies Soviet Space. They're recruiting: "Ultimately, we are looking for attention from labels, but we're also looking for booking agents, promoters, and publicists," said drummer Jordan Richardson.

Six-time SXSW participant and Zac Maloy Band frontman Zac Maloy is going for the gusto. "[The festival] is not what it set out to be, but it is still a good time. If something comes out of it for us, great, but if not, it is still another show in Austin and a great week."

There's a psychic up on Davis Boulevard who works by appointment only. You have to call her to tell her you're on your way. HearSay has never understood that. Similarly, HearSay is skeptical of stealing from someone who communicates with God. Just seems like a bad idea.

Nonetheless, last week some infidel sawed the hinges off Leroy the Prophet's trailer and stole nearly $10,000 worth of gear, including a 1957 Gibson Les Paul guitar, a rare German amplifier, and a bass amp valued around $2,000.

Lead singer Gabriel Gomez feels it wasn't a random hit. "It has to be somebody who's been watching the band. They went through the trailer and weeded out the stuff they didn't want and just took all the vintage stuff." With Leroy the Prophet scheduled to tour the East Coast in the coming months, Gomez said, the divinely inspired yet uninsured band is hoarding its pennies toward replacements.

Leroy the Prophet will borrow gear to use at two fundraising shows, March 30 at the Wreck Room and April 13 at the Aardvark. Anyone with info on the purloined property can contact the band through their web site, www.leroytheprophet.com, or send HearSay a psychic message.