A CELEBRATION OF THE BEST IN AMERICANA MUSIC
Austin City Limits returns to the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville for a special broadcast featuring standout moments from the 24th Annual Americana Honors. For nearly 25 years, this cornerstone celebration of roots music has shone a spotlight on the beacons of the Americana genre, showcasing unforgettable performances and collaborations from pioneering mainstays and trailblazing newcomers alike.
This year’s hourlong presentation features musical highlights from award-winning legends, breakthrough artists and longtime fan favorites, including (in order of appearance): Medium Build, Maggie Rose, Jesse Welles, Old 97s, I’m With Her’s Sarah Jarosz, Sara Watkins and Aoife O’Donovan, Darrell Scott, Nathaniel Rateliff, David Rawlings, Gillian Welch, Dawes, Joy Oladokun, Margo Price, John C. Reilly, Emmylou Harris, Daniel Lanois and John Fogerty.
The special premieres Saturday, November 29 @ 8pm ET/7pm CT on PBS and the PBS app and varies by market (check local listings for times). Check PBS listings for local airtimes. The broadcast will be available to music fans everywhere to stream on pbs.org/austincitylimits and the free PBS app. The program’s official hashtags: #acltv and #americanafest.
Recorded live at Nashville’s historic “Mother Church,” the Ryman Auditorium, in September 2025, the Americana Music Association’s 24th Annual Americana Honors & Awards celebrates the powerful intersection of roots, blues, soul, folk and country music. For the fourteenth year, the producers of Austin City Limits, in conjunction with producers Martin Fischer, Michelle Aquilato, and Jed Hilly for the Americana Music Association, proudly deliver a special ACL Presents.
Hosted for the first time by actor-singer and longtime Americana champion John C. Reilly, the hour brims with roots music magic and unforgettable performances from top honorees.
A pair of Album of the Year-nominated acts take the stage together for a moving collaboration as Nathaniel Rateliff, newly crowned Album of the Year winner, takes the stage with Duo/Group of the Year recipients Gillian Welch & David Rawlings for a stirring “Center of Me” from Rateliff and his band The Night Sweats awarded album South of Here. The acclaimed trio I’m With Her—Sarah Jarosz, Aoife O’Donovan and Sara Watkins—performs their Song of the Year-winning “Ancient Light,” written by the three songwriters, and newly-nominated for two 2026 Grammys, including Best American Roots Song. Valerie June introduces a fellow genre standout, Artist of the Year nominee Joy Oladokun, who earns a Ryman standing ovation with her breathtaking solo acoustic performance of “I’d Miss the Birds.”
Multiple distinguished honorees deliver show-stopping performances. Folk-rocker Jesse Welles, recipient of the Spirit of Americana Free Speech in Music Award, performs his searing protest song “War Isn’t Murder.” The Arkansas singer-songwriter recently scored a stunning quartet of 2026 Grammy nominations including Best Americana Album and Best Folk Album. Rosanne Cash presents a Lifetime Achievement Honor to alt-country trailblazers Old 97s, who ignite the room with their signature “Timebomb.” Hayes Carll honors Lifetime Achievement Honoree Darrell Scott, and the Kentucky-born singer-songwriter performs his oft-covered coal-mining classic “You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive,” raising the Ryman rafters in a soaring rendition amplified by the vocals of fellow Lifetime Achievement Honorees, gospel greats The McCrary Sisters.
The venerable Ryman stage is the scene of multiple magical moments: LA band Dawes performs their “Time Spent in Los Angeles,” dedicated to those affected by this year’s devastating wildfires. Host John C. Reilly joins Americana favorite Margo Price to salute the 50th anniversary of Americana North Star Willie Nelson’s landmark 1975 album Red Headed Stranger; they deliver a gorgeous duet of his classic “Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain.” Genre icons Emmylou Harris and Daniel Lanois reunite to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Harris’s seminal Wrecking Ball, with a spellbinding “May This Be Love.”
Two Emerging Act of the Year nominees deliver revelatory performances backed by the mighty Americana All-Stars Band: Singer-songwriter Nick Carpenter, who performs as Medium Build, opens the hour with “Drug Dealer,” his standout song about loneliness and parasocial relationships. Nashville-based Maggie Rose, a 2026 Grammy contender for Best Americana Performance, showcases her powerhouse vocals on her sparkling tour de force “No One Gets Out Alive.”
The luminous hour concludes with an ecstatic finale as the legendary John Fogerty unleashes a high-energy rendition of the Creedence classic “Up Around the Bend.”
Americana MVP Buddy Miller returns as the longstanding musical director for the Americana All-Star Band, featuring Don Was, Larry Campbell, Fred Eltringham, Jen Gunderman, Jim Hoke, and The McCrary Sisters backing many of the hour’s performances.
Broadcast setlist:
- Medium Build — “Drug Dealer”
- Maggie Rose — “No One Gets Out Alive”
- Jesse Welles — “War Isn’t Murder”
- Old 97s — “Timebomb”
- I’m With Her — “Ancient Light”
- Darrell Scott — “You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive”
- Nathaniel Rateliff with David Rawlings & Gillian Welch — “Center of Me”
- Dawes — “Time Spent in Los Angeles”
- Joy Oladokun — “I’d Miss the Birds”
- Margo Price & John C. Reilly — “Blue Eyes Crying In the Rain”
- Emmylou Harris & Daniel Lanois — “May This Be Love”
- John Fogerty — “Up Around the Bend”
Watch new Austin City Limits episodes live, stream online, or download the PBS App. Viewers can visit acltv.com for news regarding the Season 51 second half broadcast line-up and episode schedules or follow ACL on Facebook, Twitter, IG and TikTok. Fans can also browse the ACL YouTube channel for exclusive songs, behind-the-scenes videos and full-length artist interviews.
