Jack White kicks off Season 38′s second half

As a bandleader, Jack White has visited the Austin City Limits studio before, ripping it up with the Raconteurs back in 2006. Now Jack White returns to our stage as a solo artist to demonstrate exactly why he’s one of today’s most exciting musicians.

Ever the risk-taker, White hits the stage bathed in blue light and accompanied by not one but two bands. Working without a net, White eschews a set list and draws from nearly every project of his prolific career. So this episode treats you to some White Stripes (“I’m Slowly Turning Into You,” “We’re Going to Be Friends,” “Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground”), a little Raconteurs (“Top Yourself”), a pinch of Dead Weather (“Blue Blood Blues”), a blues cover (Blind Willie Johnson’s “John the Revelator”) and White’s contribution (“You Know That I Know”) to The Lost Notebooks of Hank Williams, a collection of Williams lyrics set to music by contemporary songwriters.

Of course, much of the show is dedicated to songs from Blunderbuss, White’s much-acclaimed solo debut. Watch him burn through “Freedom at 21” and “Missing Pieces” with his all-male group the Buzzards, then blaze through “Hypocritical Kiss” and “Love Interruption” with his all-female band the Peacocks. The mostly acoustic title tune serves as the transition point, as Buzzards give way to Peacocks before the guitars finish feeding back and “Love Interruption” begins.

Jack White “Blunderbuss” from Austin City Limits on Vimeo.

White is already riding high, as Blunderbuss garners Grammy nods and appears on numerous year-end top 10 lists. Now he’s got one more reason to celebrate: a landmark episode of Austin City Limits. See more about the show here, then check your local PBS listings to find out when to tune in to see for yourself. Next week: the ACL debut of Rodrigo y Gabriela.

ACL Salutes the 2013 Grammy Nominees!

The nominations for the 55th annual Grammy Awards were announced last night, and we’re happy to note that many ACL artists got the nod. Congrats to the Black Keys for their five nominations (including Record of the Year and Album of the Year), Jack White for his three (including Album of the Year), Mumford & Sons for their four (including Album of the Year), Alabama Shakes for their three (including Best New Artist) and Esperanza Spalding for her three (including Best Jazz Vocal Album). We also tip our hat to alumni Bonnie Raitt, Jimmy Cliff, Florence + the Machine, Coldplay, Miranda Lambert, Tom Waits, John Legend, The Roots, Dr. John, the Civil Wars and the Avett Brothers for their Grammy nods.

If you want to see some of these fine folks in action, we have a repeat of the Black Keys’ episode with Sonic Youth on December 29, and new episodes featuring Jack White on January 5, Alabama Shakes on February 16 and Esperanza Spalding on February 23. Plus Mumford & Sons’ episode with Flogging Molly is streaming at PBS Video here. Please join us in cheering on our nominees – the Grammy Awards ceremony airs live on February 10.

And speaking of good vibes, we also want to give a shout out to our own Terry Lickona – ACL’s executive producer is also, for the second year in a row, co-producer of the Grammy telecast, as well as the former Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Recording Academy, the Grammys’ parent organization. The Grammys are in good hands!

Jack White:
child of the Rock Hall and the Opry

Though most associated with Detroit, the city in which he got his start and from which the White Stripes sprang, Jack White has long been a resident of Nashville. If his solo career is an exploration of the midpoint between Music City roots music and Detroit power rock, White’s ACL taping was a great illustration of his continuing evolution as one of contemporary rock’s most charismatic provocateurs. Or, as @odam tweeted after tonight, show, “If Grand Ole Opry & Rock & Roll Hall of Fame had an illegitimate child, it would be Jack White.”

Highlighting his acclaimed debut record Blunderbuss but drawing from his previous work with the Stripes, the Raconteurs and the Dead Weather, White and his two – you read that right, two – bands (the all-male Buzzards and the all-female Peacocks) blasted through over an hour of music without a setlist, ranging from high energy blues rock to melodic country. Bathed in blue light and starting out with the Buzzards, White roared through solo songs “Freedom at 21” and “Missing Pieces,” before picking up his acoustic guitar for a run through the unreleased Hank Williams tune “You Know That I Know” and “Blunderbuss” (“dedicated to a girl up in Detroit who called the police on me one time”). Back on his Telecaster, he underscored his place in the tradition of heavy blues rock with a medley of the White Stripes’ “Broken Brick” and “Ball & Biscuit,“ interspersed with Howlin’ Wolf’s classic “I Asked For Water (She Gave Me Gasoline).”

As the feedback hummed, the Buzzards left the stage to be replaced by the Peacocks. White and the band launched into “Love Interruption,” the single that heralded Blunderbuss’ arrival, rocking it up with extra fiddle and steel guitar and prominently featuring, as on the record, backing vocalist Ruby Amanfu. The Peacocks continued their countrified ways on the Stripes’ “Hotel Yorba” and a beautifully atmospheric “Hypocritical Kiss,” but proved they could rock hard on the Dead Weather’s “Blue Blood Blues” and the Stripes” “I’m Slowly Turning Into You.” The band closed the set with more country, giving the Raconteurs’ “Top Yourself” and the Stripes’ “We’re Going to Be Friends” a Nashville spin.

After a show described by @Rowling as “incendiary,” White left the crowd wanting more. Fortunately, they – and you – will get more once we edit this into an hour of rocking music television. This episode will air in early winter – don’t miss it!

Ticket Giveaway: Jack White 10/14

Austin City Limits will be taping a performance by Jack White on Sunday, October 14th, at 8 pm at ACL Live at The Moody Theater (310 W. 2nd Street, Willie Nelson Blvd). We will be giving away a limited number of space available passes to this taping. Enter your name and email address on the below form by 9 am Thursday, October 11th. Passes are not transferable and cannot be sold. Standing may be required.

Taping Announcement: Jack White

As charismatic as he is talented, there’s no denying that Jack White is one of the most exciting musicians to hit the scene in the last decade. The Detroit native brought blues-based rock & roll back to the mainstream with the White Stripes and indulged in acclaimed side projects the Raconteurs (who graced our stage in 2006) and the Dead Weather. Earlier this year came Blunderbuss, White’s first album under his own name, which debuted at #1 on the charts in the US, UK, Canada and Switzerland. Q Magazine calls the eclectic record “a concentrated shot of charisma, undiluted and intoxicating,” while Rolling Stone notes that it has “huge riffs, wild ideas, tunes for miles: Jack White has created a classic.” The Guardian asserts that “Blunderbuss is White at his most strange, contradictory and unfathomable, and therefore at his best.” Now White is coming to Austin to headline one night of the Austin City Limits Music Festival, and we couldn’t resist enticing him to bring music from every stage of his career, to our stage for an episode of ACL. Please join us on October 14 for an unforgettable night of rock & roll.