Austin City Limits showcases a pair of dynamic live acts in a revelatory new hour: country iconoclast Margo Price returns for her second headlining appearance with her latest album Strays as the centerpiece; and next-generation bluegrass musician Molly Tuttle and her band Golden Highway dazzle in their ACL debut with gems from their 2023 Grammy-winning Best Bluegrass Album Crooked Tree and latest City of Gold. The new installment premieres October 28 at 7pm CT/8pm ET as part of the series Season 49. ACL airs weekly on PBS stations nationwide (check local listings) and full episodes are made available to stream online at pbs.org/austincitylimits immediately following the initial broadcast. The show’s official hashtag is #acltv.
The program, produced by Austin PBS and recorded live at ACL’s studio home ACL Live in Austin, Texas, continues its extraordinary run as the longest-running music television show in history, providing viewers a front-row seat to the best in live performance for 49 years as the music institution nears a remarkable half-century milestone. Austin City Limits celebrates 50 years as a live music beacon in 2024: on October 17, 1974, Willie Nelson taped the pilot episode and the trailblazing series premiered in 1975. Stay tuned for news on special concerts, fan events and activations as Austin City Limits salutes an incredible legacy of 50 golden years of American musical history and iconic performances.
Margo Price takes the ACL stage to the strains of a Willie ‘n’ Waylon classic before launching into “Been To the Mountain,” the hard-rocking opener of her celebrated fourth album Strays. Setting the pace with the opening line “I got nothing to prove,” the powerful number details her struggles and resilience. Strays is a proclamation of freedom for Price, who surmounts a lifetime of loss (as chronicled in her best-selling 2022 memoir Maybe We’ll Make It) with songs that prove her place as a singular storyteller and restless creative. The Nashville-based artist wears a blue flowered Loretta Lynn-style dress as she puts her own stamp on country music, delivered entirely on her own terms. She leads her six-piece band the Pricetags into “Change of Heart,” its themes of self-assertiveness and defiance emphasized as Price moves deftly from guitar to drums. She performs a pair of highlights from her 2020 release That’s How Rumours Get Started, including the psychedelic folk rock of the title track and the sparkling country-rocker “Twinkle Twinkle,” commanding the stage as she continues to blaze her own remarkable trail.
A rising star in bluegrass and beyond, Molly Tuttle and her band Golden Highway, make their ACL debut on the heels of a pair of celebrated releases. Tuttle’s acclaimed 2022 album, Crooked Tree won Best Bluegrass Album at the 2023 Grammy Awards and also led to a Best New Artist nomination, and was recently named Album of the Year at the 2023 International Bluegrass Music Awards. NPR Music calls the Northern California native “a female flat picker extraordinaire with agility, speed and elegance who distinctively brings American roots music into the spotlight,” and the virtuoso has racked up countless accolades from the Bluegrass, Americana and Folk awards circuit. Tuttle and her four-piece band captivate with their 21st-century bluegrass, opening with a pair of gems from City of Gold. A set highlight is “Crooked Tree,” an anthem that celebrates uniqueness, as the singer, who suffers from lifelong alopecia universalis, removes her wig for the luminous performance. “I’m proud to be a crooked tree,” she sings, and the Austin audience responds in adulation.
“Margo Price and Molly Tuttle represent the cutting edge of both Country and Bluegrass,” said ACL executive producer, Terry Lickona “…and that includes both attitude and of course their music. They both love to break new ground, and bring along a new generation of fans while they’re at it.”
Margo Price setlist:
Been to the Mountain
Change of Heart
That’s How Rumors Get Started
Twinkle Twinkle
Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway setlist:
El Dorado
Yosemite
Dooley’s Farm
Where Did All the Wild Things Go?
Crooked Tree
San Joaquin
Season 49 Broadcast Line-up (second half of season to be announced separately)
Oct. 7 Rodrigo y Gabriela featuring the Austin Symphony Orchestra
Oct. 14 Jenny Lewis / MUNA
Oct. 21 Lil Yachty / Sudan Archives
Oct. 28 Margo Price / Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway
Nov. 4 Jorge Drexler
Nov. 11 Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
Nov. 18 Foo Fighters
Watch new episodes live, stream online, or download the PBS App. The complete line-up for the full 14-week season, including seven new episodes to air beginning January 2023, will be announced at a later date. Viewers can visit acltv.com for news regarding live streams, future tapings and episode schedules or by following 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.
Austin City Limits
Austin City Limits (ACL) offers viewers unparalleled access to featured acts in an intimate setting that provides a platform for artists to deliver inspired, memorable, full-length performances. Now in its 49th Season, the program is taped live before a concert audience from The Moody Theater in downtown Austin. Austin City Limits is the longest-running music series in television history and remains the only TV series to ever be awarded the National Medal of Arts. Since its inception, the groundbreaking music series has become an institution that’s helped secure Austin’s reputation as the Live Music Capital of the World. The historic Austin PBS Studio 6A, home to 36 years of ACL concerts, has been designated an official Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Landmark. In 2011, ACL moved to the new venue ACL Live at The Moody Theater in downtown Austin. ACL received a rare institutional Peabody Award for excellence and outstanding achievement in 2012.
Austin City Limits is produced by Austin PBS and funding is provided in part by Dell Technologies, the Austin Convention Center Department, Cirrus Logic and AXS Ticketing. Additional funding is provided by the Friends of Austin City Limits. Learn more about Austin City Limits, programming and history at acltv.com.