Austin City Limits has all the feels in a heartfelt new installment showcasing two gifted singer-songwriters: Maggie Rogers and Gracie Abrams. Both artists create honest, personal music and prioritize connection with the audience, encouraging listeners to feel all the feelings. In her second appearance on ACL, Grammy-nominated Rogers shines with gems from Don’t Forget Me; she’s followed by 2024 Grammy Best New Artist nominee Abrams making her program debut with standouts from her chart-topping The Secret of Us. The hourlong episode premieres Saturday, October 12 @8pm ET/7pm CT. 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. 2024 marks the 50th Anniversary of the revered music de institution, which continues its extraordinary run as the longest-running music series in television history, providing viewers a front-row seat to the best in live performance for an incredible half-century.
Producer/songwriter/performer Maggie Rogers made her Austin City Limits debut in Season 45 with songs from 2019’s Heard It In a Past Life and returns as a must-see live act amid her first arena tour. Rogers takes viewers on a journey of her cinematic songs, featuring highlights from her third LP Don’t Forget Me, a road trip album written from the perspective of someone leaving home for the first time. Accompanied by a six-piece band, Rogers has her foot on the gas for the raw emotion of the opener “So Sick Of Dreaming,” a lovestruck kiss-off with a spoken-word interlude to an ex-partner. “This song is a love song,” smiles Rogers in the intro to her 2019 hit “Love You For A Long Time.” She dances ecstatically across the stage and inspires a genuine connection with her audience, as the adoring Austin crowd sings along passionately. She reaches back to her 2020 sophomore release Surrender for “Anywhere With You,” and closes out the exuberant set awash in good vibes for this year’s big-hearted title track “Don’t Forget Me.”
Los Angeles native Gracie Abrams was handpicked by Taylor Swift to open on select dates of her blockbuster Eras Tour, and rejoins Swift on the final leg of that tour this fall, in addition to playing her own sold-out headlining tour. The 25-year-old Abrams has amassed a devoted fanbase of ecstatic fans who chant her name and sing-along to every word of her emotionally intimate lyrics. In her ACL debut, Abrams performs with her latest album The Secret Of Us as the centerpiece. She opens a captivating set with a trio of songs from the album, including fan-favorite single “Risk,” and “I Love You, I’m Sorry,” as the stoked crowd screams out every lyric. Abrams revisits the 2020 EP that started her meteoric rise for the tender ballad “Friend.” She wears her heart on her sleeve and engages with fans by waving and mouthing messages mid-song. Abrams has struck a chord with vulnerable tunes that speak of modern love, songs with millions of streams that resonate with a new generation.
“Maggie Rogers and Gracie Abrams are part of a new generation of women songwriters who share their stories in powerful, intimate ways, and these stories come to life in this special hour,” says ACL executive producer Terry Lickona. “They are both also powerful performers who take command of the stage and their audience. It’s an emotional experience for everyone.”
Maggie Rogers episode setlist:
So Sick Of Dreaming
The Kill
Love You For A Long Time
Anywhere With You
Don’t Forget Me
Gracie Abrams episode setlist:
Risk
Blowing Smoke
I Love You, I’m Sorry
Friend
Let It Happen
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