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!

Encore: Miranda Lambert & Jeff Bridges

Couldn’t make it to the Stagecoach festival this weekend? Well look no further because this Cinco de Mayo, Austin City Limits is bringing you some southern twang, pink guitars, shotgun mic stands and serious country with this encore episode featuring Miranda Lambert and Jeff Bridges.

Miranda Lambert has become a household name since her appearance on Nashville Star back in 2003 and is now, undoubtedly, one of country music’s biggest names. Miranda, whose father is a singer/songwriter, admits that she wasn’t always keen on singing growing up, but once she turned 17 she realized that music was the most natural way for her to express herself. Since then Miranda has released four studio albums and now has a side project with Ashley Monroe and Angaleena Presley called Pistol Annies, who join Lambert to sing “Hell On Wheels,” their biggest hit of their album by the same name.

photo by Scott Newton

The highly acclaimed actor/singer Jeff Bridges joins Miranda in this episode singing hits from the Crazy Heart soundtrack as well as songs from his 2011 self-titled debut. Known for his prolific acting career, Bridges shows fans a different side displaying his singing and songwriting ability. While shooting Crazy Heart, Bridges realized that he was a bit tired of the “acting thing” and wanted to go back to his original interest: music. Highlights of the performance include the songs, “Somebody Else” and “What a Little Bit of Love Can Do,” written by beloved Austin musician Stephen Bruton.

So sit back and relax this Saturday with country music’s most famous and talented names. You won’t regret it watching this episode, but you may regret all Cinco de Mayo fiestas so do yourself a favor and join us this weekend.

Be sure to check your local listings for showtimes to see this episode and be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, or Tumblr to keep up with updates on tapings and airings. Next week: the Decemberists and Gillian Welch.

Season 37 Poster Auction!

Season 37 was such a memorable season for us – from moving into our new home at ACL Live at the Moody Theater to celebrating New Year’s Eve with Coldplay. Even though we’ve started tapings for Season 38, we’re not ready to let go of Season 37 quite yet – and you don’t have to either! As part of a fundraising effort for KLRU-TV, the producing station for Austin City Limits, we have organized an eBay auction of signed, limited edition band posters from last season!

Each band poster had a very limited print run and only a few were signed – each is extremely collectible for any fan of the band or the artist! The posters up for grabs include: Arcade Fire, Coldplay, Florence & The Machine, Gillian Welch & The Decemberists, Jeff Bridges, Miranda Lambert, Randy Newman, Raphael Saadiq, Steve Miller Band, and Wilco.

The auction will be up until March 10, so bid now and bid often to get your favorite performer’s poster into your personal collection.

All proceeds will go directly to KLRU-TV to inspire creativity, exploration and understanding in Austin – and beyond.

New Year – New Episodes!

We’re halfway through the broadcasts of Austin City Limits’ 37 season and you may be asking yourself: how do we follow up shows with Coldplay, Mumford & Sons, the Decemberists, the Steve Miller Band, Miranda Lambert, Raphael Saadiq and Randy Newman (to name only a few)? With a second half equally as strong, of course.

Arcade Fire “We Used to Wait” at ACL: Behind the Scenes from Jonathan Jackson on Vimeo.

Coming up on January 7 we have Seattle up-and-comers The Head and the Heart and British veterans Gomez. On January 14 it’s the return of Album of the Year Grammy winners Arcade Fire. January 21 is ACL acid folk day with Fleet Foxes and Joanna Newsom. January 28 features the debuts of rising stars Florence + the Machine and Lykke Li. We close the season on February 7 with our old pals Wilco.

We’re as jazzed about these new episodes. Don’t forget to watch on your favorite PBS station!

ACL Season 37, Episode 6: Kick Back with Miranda Lambert and Jeff Bridges

Thanksgiving approaches, Halloween recedes into the background and Season 37 of Austin City Limits keep on truckin’ right along. Tune in this weekend on Saturday, November 5 to kick back and enjoy a pair of modern-day country rockers with stories to tell: Miranda Lambert and Jeff Bridges.

Miranda Lambert has been kicking tuchis and taking names for the past few years now, scooping up awards and racking up hit singles like crazy. Before fame beckoned, though, she appeared on Austin City Limits back in Season 31, when her major label debut was new and she was still known for her stint on the reality competition Nashville Star. (She appeared on the first season and came in third.) She’s definitely blasted past the old days, though, as you’ll see when she rocks the stage with the fiery “Kerosene,” the funky “Baggage Claim” and the fierce “Gunpowder and Lead.”

As a special treat, Lambert’s also brought along her self-described “girl band” Pistol Annies. This trio, with her buds Ashley Monroe and Angaleena Presley, is “Hell On Heels,” to quote the song they perform on the show.

Lambert shares this episode with multi-talented actor/singer Jeff Bridges, who we all know from too many great movies to count – True Grit, Crazy Heart, The Big Lebowski, The Last Picture Show, Iron Man, Tron, etc, etc. You may not have known Bridges also leads a band in addition to acting. He’s pretty darn good at it too, starting at a young age and hooking up with super-producer T Bone Burnett and late Austin singer/songwriter Stephen Bruton in 1980 on the set of the notorious film Heaven’s Gate.

Bridges released the indie record Be Here Soon in 2000, but this year’s self-titled opus (produced by Burnett and featuring songs from Bruton) serves as his musical coming out party. Listen to him channel both Bad Blake and the Dude on “Fallin’ and Flyin’,” “The Quest” and “What a Little Bit of Love Can Do” and you’ll hear that this is no busman’s holiday – Jeff Bridges makes serious music.

As usual, you should head over to the episode page for more info, photos and clips. Be sure to chat it up with us on Facebook and Twitter during the episode, and check out our Tumblr and newsletter too, just because they’re awesome.

Check back with us next week for the skinny on the next all-new episode of ACL featuring the one and only Randy Newman.