South By Southwest 2009 wrapped on Sunday, and we're back in New York, picking through the hours of tape we shot, reminiscing about the good times (check out our favorite SXSW moments) and trying very hard not to fall asleep on our keyboards. This is proving more difficult than I had imagined.

Because after the week-long party that is SXSW, there's the inevitable hangover. And, well, right now, that hangover is fierce — and I don't even drink!

I slept 10 hours last week. On Saturday night, I didn't sleep at all, as we wrapped production at 4:30 a.m., then headed right to the airport for our 7 a.m. flight. The scene at Austin-Bergstrom International was like something out of "Dawn of the Dead," with bands, publicists and hipsters wandering around the terminal like zombies, shoveling breakfast tacos into their mouths. There were bodies sprawled on the floor, heads buried in hooded sweatshirts, sunglasses covering bloodshot eyes. It was like one gigantic commercial for Promises. And it's only gotten worse since then!

I've been back for roughly 24 hours now, and — surprise, surprise — I still haven't been able to sleep, since my body was coached into staying awake until 5 a.m. every night. I have gigantic bags under my eyes, my hair is wild, and I'm sporting a really nasty SXSW beard — basically I look like some dude who'd be hanging out at a bus station somewhere. Or Joaquin Phoenix.

And what's worse, after writing so much, I cannot bring myself to write another word about SXSW ... about the Decemberists or Metallica or Asher Roth or Kanye or BLK JKS. I cannot think of a witty thing to say about BBQ, or the weather, or Sixth Street. I am officially tapped. In the words of Steve Malkmus, "I need to sleep ... why won't you let me sleep?"

Still, duty calls. So here's the final word (or words) on South by Southwest 2009: It was great. I had a blast. We all did. And we can't wait to go back again next year. And if I can say that right now — in the midst of a soul-crushing SXSW hangover — I really mean it!

MTV News was Live & Mobile at the South by Southwest festival last week, with blogs, articles plus live and on-demand video of all the bands, gigs and BBQ!

If one man was to build a completely new musical genre, they would have to be pretty talented. Craig Brewer, the man behind films like "Hustle and Flow" and "Black Snake Moan," which positively seep with the music of the South -- both old and new -- is probably the man to produce it.

Brewer's new Memphis-based Web series $5 Cover exposes the nitty-gritty heart of a town with music flowing through its aorta. "I'd like to believe that Memphis should be a genre itself" Brewer points out.

This is not such an easy task when your town cradles rock acts like Lucero, hip-hop acts like Al Kapone and noirish crooners like Amy LaVere. How can so many genres co-exist as one?

"The $5 Cover show is really about Memphis. Yeah we have rap and yeah, we have rock and roll. And we have singer song writers, but I really like to believe that Memphis itself should be a genre. ... It's more of the spirit of the city is reflected in the sound."

But what is it about Memphis that really binds these musicians together?

"I knew a lot of these musicians before my career took off" Brewer explains. "They've never really had much money.”

And with limited coin in their pockets, budding musicians that want to play out have to ask for a nominal fee. "I think there's a special time in every musician's life where they go from just playing in their house, to saying 'I think I am going to play for people.' "

Hence the show name: $5 Cover. "You're not too green, but you're not necessarily selling out stadiums."

MTV News will be all over the South by Southwest festival this week, with blogs, articles and video on all the gigs, the artists and the scene!

The Tigers finished the regular season 33-3, won their fourth-straight Conference USA title, and earned a #2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Oh, and on Saturday night, they beat the University of Maryland to advance to the Sweet 16. This is a big deal, trust me.

So naturally, when MTV News came out to cover a Memphis Music Showcase at the Dirty Dog Bar (featuring $5 Cover artists like Lucero, Al Kapone and Two Way Radio), I had to ask some of the best musicians in M-Town about the fortunes of their hometown team. Were they overcome with the fever-like symptoms of March Madness like I was? And did they like the Tigers to win it all?

Of course. Well, at least the ones who had any idea what I was talking about, anyway ...

Check out more after the jump.

Yes, it's true, I got plenty of blank stares when I asked about the Tigers -- seems, as far as sports fans go, most Memphis bands are pretty good musicians -- except for the guys in Lucero, that is. Seems that their brand of gruff, decidedly blue-collar punk (think the Hold Steady or the Gaslight Anthem, only sung by a dude with sandpaper in his larynx) also lends itself to serious basketball fandom.

Okay, that's an exaggeration. Frontman Ben Nichols (he's the one with the tats and the growl) seemed to have never even seen a basketball. But luckily, bassist John C. Stubblefield was there to pick up the slack.

It's always the bass players.

MTV News will be all over the South by Southwest festival this week, with blogs, articles and video on all the gigs, the artists and the scene!

In the real world, she's exactly the same. Though we can't vouch for the whole underwear thing.

Growing up on the Texas/Louisiana border, LaVere drifted to Detroit as a teenager, fronted a punk act, then eventually landed in Memphis, where she released a Country-tinged solo album and eventually caught the eye of Brewer, who cast her in his 2007 film "Black Snake Moan" (she also had a roll as Rockabilly queen Wanda Jackson in the Johnny Cash biopic "Walk The Line"). But acting isn't her first love ... music is.

Which is why, despite her burgeoning film career, LaVere shifted her focus back to writing and recording. She didn't want to be known just as the pretty little actor/musician with the upright bass ... this was Memphis, after all. And cute doesn't cut it.

For more on LaVere, read on.

In 2007, she released her second album, Anchors & Anvils, produced by Jim Dickinson, who has worked with everyone from the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan to the Replacements and the Mississippi Allstars. It's a rich and rewarding listen, full of softly brooding tales of love and loss, earning LaVere critical raves and placing her firmly at the front of the Memphis scene.

Which was somewhat fitting. Because Memphis -- or, more precisely, the decades-old musical legacy it carries with it -- helped shape the record. Like she says, "we're not screwing around here."

And we think she's pretty wonderful indeed.

MTV News will be all over the South by Southwest festival this week, with blogs, articles and video on all the gigs, the artists and the scene!