In recent years, Frightened Rabbit has led the pack of Scottish bands have made their mark on SXSW. They’re back again this year, as they get ready to follow up their successful 2008 album “The Midnight Organ Fight” with “The Winter of Mixed Drinks.” The band is bigger than ever, having added a member to create music that is more layered and complex than their previous work. We talked with front Rabbit Scott Hutchison about the new album, touring and what it’s like as a band at the festival.

How has the band grown since the last album?
We’ve grown in the most literal sense, from four to five members, but we’ve grown in ambition as well. I suppose that happens with every record, but more than last time we were able to execute our mission because we had much more time to finish the record. Experience makes you more confident, more able and things just become easier. This is our first record where we didn’t all have a couple of jobs here and there, where we felt like we’re a proper band and this is what we do.

What made you decide to go for a bigger sound on the new album?
It’s something that we had to, to get it out of our system, to make a big record. It has layers, horns and strings. The decision was made because there’s a small part of me that didn’t think we got it right the last of couple of times. I don’t regret it, it doesn’t keep me up at night, but this time around we wanted to make sure that we put everything into it. As a result it may be a little overblown in places, I’ll be the first to admit it, but it’s what we needed to do.

Did you put a lot of pressure on yourselves when you put the album together?
Yeah, we all do. The most important thing when you have that is to convert what could become negative pressure to something positive. That’s what drives us now, living up to that pressure.

What have you learned with the amount of touring you’ve done?
There are so many things. You learn how to become a professional in a lot of ways. It’s the same with every job. You’re green to start out with; you don’t know quite what you’re doing, you don’t know how to work with people. For me an important part of this is growing from being quite socially awkward and not really knowing how to deal with people to acquiring those skills. You also learn about your own material, playing it out every night, the things that you don’t like, things that you do like.

Deep in the midst of what one journalistic wag has dubbed “The John Mayer Implosion Era,” the heartthrob guitarist and songwriter brought his “Battle Studies” tour to the Erwin Center on Monday. And one may be forgiven for wondering what affect the backlash to the recent way-too-candid interviews in “Rolling Stone” and “Playboy” featuring Mayer’s inflammatory racial and sexual remarks would have on his performance, and his audience.

The answer was “not much.”

“Everybody wants to know about the ‘Playboy’ thing,” was Mayer’s only comment on the uproar, reacting to one sign held up by a fan, and you couldn’t help but hear a trace of resignation in his voice.

But otherwise Mayer played it straight, letting his emotive and fluid guitar work do the talking through the course of a technically flawless 90-minute show.

Still, lyrics like “I wanted water/But I’ll walk through fire” and “What do they want from me/All these vultures/Hiding right outside my door” must be taking on a new poignancy for Mayer these days.

Not that the fans seemed to mind. They accorded Mayer a rapturous reception from the first notes of “Heartbreak Warfare” from the new album, which was followed in short order by a Cream-flavored “Crossroads,” “Vultures” and “Bigger Than My Body.” A segue from Jimi Hendrix’s “Wait Until Tomorrow” into his own “Who Did You Think I Was” closed out the first half of the show.

When all the hype and pop star clutter is cleared away, Mayer emerges as an uncommonly talented blues-flavored guitarist. His command of all the basics — tone, dexterity, harmonics, precision — are impressive, as is his yearning voice which can leap into an appealing falsetto when the mood demands.

Several times Mayer virtually turned his back on the audience to engage in long, string-bending duets with his two guitarists, Ryan Harris and Robbie McIntosh, and he used the tips of his finger and a drumstick to wring dramatic effects from his own instrument during “Assassin.” A languid, piercing solo during Mayer’s cover of the Bill Withers soul classic “Ain’t No Sunshine” was one of the night’s high points.

Before the encore, prefacing “Gravity,” Mayer made a passionate acknowledgment of his renewed appreciation for the bond between audience and performer. Citing the cathartic and healing powers of music, he said, “If we can be that for you…that puts me on a whole new path as a musician.”

Mayer might never completely shed the TMZ-style pretty-boy pop culture caricature with which he contends (and admittedly, sometimes he doesn’t contend very hard). But away from the paparazzi’s flash bulbs and the tabloid’s chatter, he proves himself a pretty fair hand with a guitar and a songwriter’s pen.

In what must surely be interpreted as a sign of the Way We Live Now, Fader has released the preliminary lineup for all four days of this year’s Levi’s Fader Fort via iPhone app.

As with last year, the Fort will make its home at E. Fifth and Waller streets, with entrance free and open to the public with an RSVP — we don’t have an RSVP link just yet, but will update you as soon as that changes.

All eyes, of course, will be on the headliners, who are currently still down as “to be announced,” particularly on Saturday night. Lest anyone forget, that’s the time slot occupied last year by voice of this generation and decade Kanye West.

Speculation aside, though, the announced lineup boast an impressive array of the kind of up-and-coming acts you’d expect from from Fader — including We Were Promised Jetpacks, Freelance Whales, Austin’s own Harlem on Thursday, Japandroids and Dam-Funk, among many, many others. Check out the schedule — sans headliners — after the jump.

The former Levi’s/ Fader Fort on East Fourth St. near San Jacinto Boulevard, will vibrate with the sounds of the Emerald Isle on St. Patrick’s Day. The free, all-day party is open to the public.

A former childhood friend of Thin Lizzy’s Phil Lynott, Frank Murray has had quite the colorful career. That he knows everyone in Ireland’s music biz should speak well for the lineup, which is not yet finalized. Check back for details. Fourteen acts from Ireland will be in town for SXSW.

We do know that the legendary writer/ publicist BP Fallon will revive his “Death Disco” days as the party’s DJ. Fallon recently released a collaboration with Jack White on JW’s Third Man Records. “Fame #9” will be available as an 8-inch “Texas-sized” 45 during SXSW.

BP Fallon interview

Los Angeles-based rockers Everest are a sort of an under-the-radar super group. Various members have played with or are connected to Sebadoh, the Watson Twins, Jenny Lewis and John Vanderslice, among others. Add to that an endorsement by Neil Young, who heard the band, signed them to his label and took them on tour last year. In April they’ll be releasing their second album, “On Approach.” Below, guitarist/drummer Russell Pollard talks about Neil, recording and how the band got its name.

Is this your first time at sxsw?
No, this will be our second time.

How would you describe your sound to people who haven’t heard your music?
We have a wide variety to our sound. We can go from loud Sabbath gates-of-hell noise and Maggot Brain groove to Velvet’s boozy sunrise. Never know what you’re gonna get.

You recorded your last album on Neil Young’s label and went on to tour with him. How did that come about?
He saw us play a few years ago, I guess he’d heard about us through Elliot Roberts, his manager. The two of them liked our band and offered to put out our record. Shortly after it came out, Neil invited us to play some shows in Europe, the first being at a castle in Ireland…uh…yeah. After the second or third show, Neil pulled us aside and said some things, one of them being that we were gonna play more together. We were freaked out and joyous and humbled by the whole experience. It was life changing.