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News Taping Recap

Dr. Dog: a fierce distillation of American rock ‘n’ roll music

With over a decade of acclaimed albums and a rapidly growing following for their live show, Dr. Dog has been bubbling under the radar long enough that they are ready to blow up. Given the Philadelphia band’s continued upward momentum, it was inevitable the band would grace the ACL stage. When it finally happened last night, it wasn’t just for the hundreds of lucky fans who joined us in the studio. For only the second time in the show’s history, we streamed an ACL taping, bringing an unvarnished view of Dr. Dog’s unique psychedelic indie rock to the masses.

Dr. Dog launched into the catchy pop song “Shadow People” from the ACL stage that had been enhanced with lamps, desks and antique ephemera (“Dr. Dog ‘s stage decor gives me the urge to go antique shopping down on SoCo,” quipped star512 ).

Wielding a setlist made of an even mix of their last three LPs (Be the Void, Shame, Shame and Fate), the sextet worked its magic on an eager crowd of diehard fans who appreciated the depth of the catalog. Balancing instrumental skill with a relaxed looseness, the band combined influences from across the spectrum of rock history with stunning clarity –  “Kudos to whomever is mixing,” commented @johnlmyers. “Sounds fantastic.” “Lonesome” boasted a band vibe, while “Do the Trick” subtly incorporated a Philly soul groove. “Vampire” mixed late-period Beatles with noisy rock, while “That Old Black Hole” added a Johnny Cash backbeat to the psychedelic stew. The spaghetti western dub psych of “Fate” sounded as at home in the band’s hands as the gypsy melody and reggae rhythms peeking out of “The Ark.”

A Dr. Dog show isn’t all musical eclecticism, however – “I Only Wear Blue,” “Heavy Light” and “Where’d All the Time Go?” offered plenty of singalong moments and catchy melodies. “Dr. Dog have become a fierce distillation of American rock ‘n’ roll music,” notes AustinBloggyLimits.  “These guys are so versatile,” enthused Aunt Betty Reden on Facebook. “Awesome! Refreshing!”

The main set ended with the propulsive epic “The Rabbit, the Bat, and the Reindeer,” but Dr. Dog wasn’t through with us yet. The band pulled the tongue-in-cheek gospel suicide note “Die, Die, Die” from the LP We All Belong (surprising director and crew, as it wasn’t on the setlist) before ending with a rare treat: its cover of Architecture in Helsinki’s “Heart It Races,” a tune the Dog doesn’t perform live often. It was a rapturous end to a show Frank Cunningham from the band’s Philly stomping ground declared on Facebook, “Freakin’ magnificent!”

Derek Neasham of Georgia asserts, “Feed’s been great! I hope they start making this a common practice. “ So do we, Derek. Thanks to everyone who joined in studio and online, and we hope to hear from you and all the folks at home come October when the ACL episode featuring Dr. Dog hits your television screens.

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Encore Broadcast News

Encore: Lyle Lovett and Bob Schneider

This weekend it’s a Texas singer/songwriter bonanza, as we encore the 2010 season-ending episode featuring Lyle Lovett and Bob Schneider.

Lyle Lovett is no stranger to ACL audiences – this episode is his eleventh appearance (counting his stint as Nanci Griffith’s backing singer in 1984, prior to his proper debut in 1987). An iconic Texas artist with strong country-western roots, the scope of Lyle’s musical appetites – harvesting elements from gospel, jazz, pop, and folk – has lent itself to a body of work that truly reflects the spirit of ACL. This performance, which hightlights the album Natural Forces, was the final taping in the show’s original home of Studio 6A on the UT campus – the next season saw ACL in the fabulous ACL Live at the Moody Theater. Come relive (or re-relive, if you’ve seen this show before) the memories with us.

Bob Schneider has also been on ACL before, back in 2000, and has been a mainstay of the Austin music scene since his late 80s days with the band Joe Rockhead. His muse has tripped down the aisles of nearly every genre you’d care to name, from funk metal to bluegrass, and he and a small army of musicians touch on everything in this performance. “My favorite songwriters never wrote songs that sounded the same or had the same general feel,” Schneider says, explaining the show’s eclectic nature. “How could I expect to keep myself, let alone anyone else, interested if each song didn’t do its own thing or follow its own path?” Tune in to see what he means.

photo by Scott Newton

You can find more information on this episode here. Check with your local PBS station for showtimes and tune in this weekend. Join us on Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr for general ACL news. Next week we re-present the visit of another great singer/songwrter: Randy Newman.

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Featured News

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum to help preserve ACL archives

Today, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum and KLRU–TV announced a collaboration to preserve 37 years of content from the award-winning television show Austin City Limits. The materials will be housed at the state-of-the-art Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Library and Archives and will include more than 800 performances recorded by KLRU in front of a live audience – from 1975 to the present day. The collection will continue to grow as new shows are produced and made accessible to fans and scholars alike.

Terry Stewart, president and CEO of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, and ACL executive producer Terry Lickona made the announcement today from KLRU’s Studio 6A, original home of Austin City Limits and a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Landmark.

“Austin City Limits uniquely represents more than three decades of some of modern music’s most significant artists and their performances—from iconic musicians to cutting-edge talent,” said Stewart. “It’s one of the most significant archives that documents the American culture and Austin City Limits shares our mission of celebrating and interpreting popular music’s impact on our world.”

“We are honored to have our collection preserved in perpetuity at the Museum as it will allow us to focus our resources on continuing to produce great television,” said Terry Lickona, executive producer of Austin City Limits. “We are the longest running music television show in history and intend to keep doing it well into the future.”

KLRU’s Austin City Limits Collection is a valuable educational and research resource that will be available to academics from around the world, including those conducting research in musicology, ethnomusicology, cultural studies, the music industry, television, and American history, among many other subjects. Moreover, the Museum’s strong commitment to educating the public about the history of rock and roll, and its ability to publicize the Austin City Limits Collection and make it accessible to researchers, will benefit the study of popular music in the United States and beyond.

Collection highlights:

• 37 years of content comprised of audio and video recordings, photographs and documents

• Features over 800 artists and more than 60 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductees

• Over 5,500 audio and video recordings of all broadcast programs comprising the Austin City Limits television show

• Additional performance footage and audio not included in broadcast

• 40 linear feet of archival documents (contracts, printed programs, tickets, other records and ephemera)

• Over 270,000 slides, transparencies, negatives, prints, and digital images relating to the performances

The Library and Archives is the world’s most comprehensive repository of materials relating to the history of rock and roll, housing vast collections of books, periodicals, and commercial audio and video recordings, as well as hundreds of archival collections containing personal papers, business records, photographs, posters, audio, and video. Visiting researchers have access to never-before-seen materials, including the archival collections of some of popular music’s most significant figures, such as Clive Davis, Ahmet Ertegun, Alan Freed, Milt Gabler, Mo Ostin, Joe Smith, Seymour Stein, and Jerry Wexler. Extensive video footage of the Rock Hall’s past events are also being made available, including Hall of Fame Induction Ceremonies, the American Music Masters series, the Hall of Fame series, the Legends series, and the Songwriters to Soundmen series.

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News

Join us for a big announcement!

Today (Thursday, June 21st) at 2:30pm, we’ll be announcing a very special collaboration with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. You’re invited to join us in KLRU’s studio 6A to hear the exciting news. An interview of ACL Executive Producer Terry Lickona by Dr. Lauren Onkey, the Rock Hall’s VP of Education & Public Programs will follow. We’ll even have some coffee for those of you that can make it. If you can’t join us, check back with us and we’ll let you know what’s up.

Map and directions to KLRU-TV, 2504-B Whitis Ave., Austin, TX 78701

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News

Ticket Giveaway: Bonnie Raitt & Mavis Staples 6/27

Austin City Limits will be taping a performance by Bonnie Raitt and Mavis Staples on Wednesday, June 27, 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 Monday, June 25. Passes are not transferable and cannot be sold. Standing may be required.

Categories
Featured News Taping Announcement

Summer taping announcements: Tim McGraw and Kat Edmonson

Summer keeps heating up for Austin City Limits, as we’ve got two more tapings to announce, both from singers burning up their individual genres: Kat Edmonson on July 10 and Tim McGraw on August 6.

With a vision that’s “equal parts Billie Holiday and Bjork” (All About Jazz), Kat Edmonson seemingly came out of nowhere in 2009 to take the jazz world by storm. The Texas native grew up in Houston with a mother who introduced her to the Great American Songbook. Determined to be a singer, she auditioned for American Idol during its second season, but left Hollywood for Austin. She became a regular at the Elephant Room, Austin’s premier jazz club, building a following and making musical connections that energized her career. Her 2009 debut album Take To the Sky hit the top 20 on Billboard’s jazz charts, adding enough juice that she found herself playing gigs with Boz Scaggs, Smokey Robinson and Willie Nelson. A high-profile duet with fan Lyle Lovett on the Christmas classic “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” put her on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and set the stage for Way Down Low, her second record and first to include her own original songs. Armed with a LP that’s been called “intuitive about melody and handy with a phrase” (The New York Times) and “one of the greatest vocal albums I’ve ever heard” (The Boston Globe), Kat Edmonson now comes to our stage on July 10, ready for what’s sure to be a memorable ACL debut.

photo by Alyson Fox

Also making his debut this season is country superstar Tim McGraw.  Obviously no rookie, the Louisiana native has sold over 40 million units, won three Grammy Awards, 14 Academy of Country Music Awards, 11 Country Music Association Awards, 10 American Music Awards, three People’s Choice Awards and numerous other honors.  With 7.8 million spins at radio, he was deemed “Artist of the Decade” (2000-2010) by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems.  McGraw’s 11th studio album Emotional Traffic debuted at No. one on the Billboard Country Chart, making it his 13th career #1 debut. With 32 #1 singles to his credit and his current single “Better Than I used To be” tracking on the same course, McGraw’s hits include “Felt Good On My Lips,” “Southern Voice,” “Live Like You Were Dying, “Real Good Man” and many, many more. NPR notes, “With a voice that can go from earthy to angelic in a single phrase and a back catalog that shows serious growth over two decades, McGraw is a star with substance.” Come find out for yourself on August 6.

Go here for more information on ACL tapings, and check in on our Facebook and Twitter pages for the ticket announcements for these shows.