Northants band The Keepers heading to America for South By Southwest performance

The annual event has grown into one of the best-known music, film and interactive media festivals and conferences on the calendar and helps to promote up-and-coming talent from across the world.

The Keepers frontman Jordan Jones said: “We applied online and a few days later we got an email saying ‘congratulations you’ve been picked to play'.

“We got the email really early in the morning so it took a minute to sink in.

“We were all on the phone to each other frantically. It’s started to feel as if the hard work is paying off.”

Each year, South By Southwest (SXSW) brings artists, fans and music professionals together with more than 2,000 official performers.

Gigs and showcases take place at venues across the city during six days from March 16 to March 20 and are curated by SXSW in collaboration with record labels, booking agencies, management and PR firms, publishers, media outlets and lifestyle brands.

Gigs take place in bars, clubs, parks, churches and hotels around downtown Austin.

The Keepers comprise singer and guitarist Jones, guitarist Jack Isaac, bassist Charlie Pinnock and drummer Steve Smith.

They have previously supported the likes of The Beat, The Spitfires and VANT while appearing at festivals with acts including Ocean Colour Scene, Shed Seven and Peter Hook and The Light.

Last year they released the single All You Need Is Hope with a further three singles released the previous year.

“This will be my first time in the US,” explains Jordan.

“The closest thing we’ve ever done was playing at Mano Musik Festival in Marburg, Germany.

“Anyone who’s anyone in the music industry will be there so we’re treating this as a networking event and we will be pitching ourselves to anyone and everyone.

“The line-up looks fantastic and there’s some really interesting conferences - Kim Gordon from Sonic Youth is holding one so that will be great to attend.”

The Keepers are still waiting for details on the venue they will be playing.

Looking back at 2019, Jordan explains it was it the year the band “got a proper sense of direction”.

“We’re on another level now,” he adds. “The musicianship is on top form and it’s best we’ve ever sounded.

“We spent a lot more time in the studio recording and learning. We’ve got four new singles that will be released which we are in the final stages of sorting.

“We’re going to be very busy gigging across England in some new places for us and a few festivals. “There’s also talks of going back to France to play some shows and elsewhere in Europe.”

Also representing Northampton at the event will be singer songwriter Katie Malco.

For more details about The Keepers, visit fb.com/thekeepersuk and for SXSW visit www.sxsw.com