‘Tis the season for giving as the SXSW organizers have announced the first handful of acts set to perform March 18-22 in Austin, Texas.

Ra Ra Riot (Syracuse, NY)
Gabriella Cilmi (AUSTRALIA)
Ximena Sariñara (Mexico City, MEXICO)
Primal Scream (Glasgow SCOTLAND/UK)
Friendly Fires (St Albans, ENGLAND/UK)
B.o.B (Atlanta, GA)
Sage Francis (Providence, RI)
Buraka Som Sistema (Lisbon, PORTUGAL)
Arc Angels (Austin, TX)
Courteeners (Manchester, England/UK)
Raul Malo (Nashville, TN)
8Ball & MJG (Memphis, TN)
Reflection Eternal (New York, NY/Cincinnati, OH)
Wale (Washington, DC)
Pete & the Pirates (Reading, ENGLAND/UK)
Ben Harper and Relentless7 (Los Angeles, CA)

It’s only a matter of time before we start hearing about day parties. And, be on the lookout during the second half of January for Donewaiting’s pre-coverage of SXSW 2009 to kick into full steam. Without giving too much away, we’ll be taking things to a new level in ‘09 and beyond.

Related: the first wave of Australian bands heading to Texas in March have been announced.

Ra Ra Riot photo by Frank Yang

On Tuesday, April 29, Ra Ra Riot and The Little Ones are coming to Columbus to perform at The Basement. Click here for tickets.

We’ve got two pairs of tix to give out to the handsome and beautiful readers of donewaiting.com. To enter, send a blank e-mail to wintix@donewaiting.com with the subject “RA RA RIOT THE LITTLE ONES”. Winners will randomly be chosen on April 28.

Get to know the bands:

MP3: St Peter’s Day Festival by Ra Ra Riot
MP3: Ra Ra Riot @ WOXY
MP3: The Little Ones @ Hype Machine