Author: Lily Angelle

Taping Recap: Gracie Abrams

Post author By Lily Angelle
Post date August 1, 2024

Gracie Abrams on Austin City Limits, 2024. Photo by Scott Newton.

A long line of fans gathered outside Austin City Limits studio home, ACL Live at The Moody Theater, as early as 4 A.M. on the morning of Gracie Abrams’ highly anticipated Austin City Limits taping debut, many sporting hair bows of the popular coquette aesthetic currently making rounds on social media and arguably inspired by Gracie herself during her 2022 This Is What It Feels Like headline tour. Now sporting a chic bob, oversized denim and dress shirt, the metamorphosed Abrams made an understated, mature entrance to the ACL stage Tuesday night to a house packed with ecstatic fans chanting her name in unison.

More than accustomed to performing to massive arenas, having supported both Olivia Rodrigo and Taylor Swift’s world tours as an opener, the stripped down intimacy of the ACL studio audience brought out a special magic from the singer-songwriter and her four-piece band. “I’m so grateful to be here. Thank you to ACL for having us,” said Abrams midway through her hourlong set, taking time to scan the audience and wave to excited fans.

With her recent sophomore album The Secret of Us as the centerpiece of her set, Abrams shared with the crowd that this was the first time she and her band had the opportunity to run through the new songs onstage. “It’s really lucky to get to [perform new songs] in a setting like this,” she continued.

Abrams and company kicked off the top of the hour with a trio of highlights from The Secret of Us, “Risk,” “Blowing Smoke,” and “I Love You, I’m Sorry.” Right off the bat, the adoring studio audience sang along to every word, which doesn’t come as a surprise since Abram’s latest release has been making headlines and topping Billboard charts in both the US ad UK since its release in June. Throwing it back with “21,” “Friend,” and “I miss you, I’m sorry,” off her breakout 2020 EP minor, Abrams expertly balanced new material with fan favorites.

Within minutes of Abram’s radiant set coming to a close with “Free Now,” online Gracie Abrams fan accounts posted designed setlists and reviews of the performance. Word travels fast – especially with Abrams’ fan base demographic. Fan accounts, studio audience, and crew alike can all agree Abrams made a remarkable debut on Austin City Limits we won’t soon forget. Make sure you follow us to find out more about how to watch the episode when it airs and streams this fall on PBS as part of Austin City Limits upcoming Anniversary Season 50.

Gracie Abrams performs on Austin City Limits, July 30, 2024. Photos by Scott Newton.

Listen to the full set list from the Austin City Limits taping below:

BAND CREDITS:

Gracie Abrams – Artist, Guitar, Keys

Cooper Cowgill – Bassist & Musical Director

Casey Kalmenson – Keys, Guitar, Vocals

Elle Puckett – Guitar, Vocals

Gabe Smith – Drums & Vocals

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News Taping Recap

Taping Recap: Hurray For The Riff Raff

Post author By Lily Angelle
Post date July 8, 2024

“This is a dream come true to finally have the honor of taping an [episode of] Austin City Limits,” said singer/songwriter Alynda Segarra of Hurray for the Riff Raff Tuesday night. In their debut appearance on the show, Segarra took the stage humbly, waving at the studio audience, dressed in chaps and a leather vest with a scorpion and the bold lettering of ”Colossus” on the back. Backed by a four-piece band, Segarra made the hour a dusky, nostalgic venture through Hurray’s acclaimed latest release and ninth studio album, The Past Is Still Alive, drifting through personal stories of their past and heavily influenced by the proverbial and literal “ride” life can take you on.

Hurray kicked off the set following the album sequencing with “Alibi,” “Buffalo” and “Hawkmoon,” which Segarra declared a trans song and dedicated to “Miss Jonathan, wherever you are,” a muse of theirs whom they met in their early travels as a young runaway. Next up was a trip back in time to 2022 album LIFE ON EARTH with “RHODODENDRON,” Segarra taking pause to regard the studio audience and speak about their latest album. Next up was “Dynamo,” “Snake Plant,” and “Colossus of the Roads,” which Segarra wrote for queer people and fringe communities shortly after the Club Q shooting in Colorado.

“The next song is over ten years old,” said Segarra as an introduction to “The Body Electric” off 2014 album Small Town Heroes. By the time the band arrived at “Vetiver,” “Hourglass,” and “The World is Dangerous” off the latest album, it truly felt like a journey had been taken across America, exposing its dark underbelly but at times managing to bring out flashes of silver linings laced with perspective only time can achieve. It comes as no surprise elements of the album were lifted from Segarra’s phase of cross-country train travel inspired by Woody Guthrie songs and a poet’s sensibility.

Ending the evening with an encore performance of “Ogallala,” named after a city in Nebraska, Segarra soaked in the audience’s applause, bowing deeply and once again waving with gratitude to the live audience. We sure hope Hurray for the Riff Raff’s travels bring them back through Austin again one day soon. You can catch Hurray For The Riff Raff’s Austin City Limits episode when it airs on PBS later this year as part of our anniversary Season 50.

Hurray For The Riff Raff performs on Austin City Limits, July 2, 2024. Photos by Scott Newton.

Listen to the full set list from the Austin City Limits taping below:

BAND CREDITS:

Alynda Segarra – Singer/Songwriter

Nnamdi Ogbonnaya – Bass, Backup Vocals

Parker Grogan – Guitar, Backup Vocals

Marcus Drake – Drums

Lynn Ligammari – Saxophone

Tags Tapings

Taping Recap

Taping Recap: The War And Treaty

Post author By Lily Angelle
Post date July 3, 2024

Backed by an incredible seven-piece band, Nashville-based husband and wife duo Michael and Tanya Trotter, AKA The War And Treaty, dazzled Austin City Limits last week for a second time. Their first performance on ACL was during the pandemic, so the Grammy-nominated duo unfortunately taped their debut episode to a limited audience. This time around, the dynamic pair took the stage to a high-energy, captivated live audience who hung on their every lyric, offering multiple standing ovations throughout the night.

“Can we take you to church tonight?” asked Michael Trotter Jr. of the audience early in their set, kicking off the hour with “Till the Walls Fall,” and new track “Tunnel Vision,” to be released on their forthcoming album (set for a 2025 release). After a soulful, “Are you Ready to Love Me,” the duo took a breath, a crew member running out to blot the sweat from powerhouse singer Michael Trotter Jr. He then introduced “Blank Page” as the song that garnered he and Tanya “a couple of firsts in our lives. “It got us our first Academy of Country Music Award nomination, our first Country Music Association award nomination, and first Grammy nomination…” continued Trotter Jr. As The War And Treaty continued into highlights “That’s How Love is Made,” “Yesterday’s Burn,” and “Reminisce,” it was more than apparent, from their otherworldly vocal harmonies to their onstage chemistry, that the duo is sonically synced in a way that’s deeply rooted with love for each other and for what they do. They held hands during a few of their songs. Taking a moment before “Stealin’ A Kiss” to describe their first date and how they came to fall in love, the stories the duo told behind some of their songs were equally as entertaining as the songs themselves.

The set took a turn to introspection, as U.S. War Veteran Michael Trotter Jr. prefaced “Skyscraper” with some background on his two tours in Iraq, and the decisions in his life that led him there. Shouting out his “battle buddies,” Trotter Jr. said, “I want to dedicate this song to everyone here.” From there, the talented pair closed out their set with the upbeat “Called You by Your Name,” featuring spirited violin from Chelsey Green, followed by “Leads Me Home.”

“Happy 50th Anniversary, Austin City Limits,” shouted Trotter Jr. as he recognized each band member, cuing the audience for applause for each talented person. As The War And Treaty left the stage to an audience on their feet, applauding, one thing was certain: bringing them back to the Austin City Limits stage for a proper live taping was the best decision we could have made. The War And Treaty’s taping will air this fall as part of Austin City Limits’ golden 50th anniversary season.

The War And Treaty performs on Austin City Limits, June 28, 2024. Photos by Scott Newton.

Listen to the full set list from the Austin City Limits taping below: (Note that “Till the Walls Fall,” “Tunnel Vision,” “Reminisce,” and “Skyscraper” were performed but are not currently available on Spotify.)

BAND CREDITS:

Michael Trotter, Jr. – Piano, Vocals

Tanya Blount Trotter – Vocals

Max Brown – Lead Guitar

Jonathan “Bam” Holmes – Drums

Tom Davis – Bass

Terrance “Slim” Holmes – Hammond Organ

Ben Murray – Pedal Steel Joe

Jordan – Trumpet

Chelsey Green – Violin

Tags Michael Trotter, Tanya Trotter, Tapings

New Taping: Hurray for the Riff Raff

Post author By Lily Angelle
Post date June 6, 2024

Austin City Limits is excited to announce a new summer taping, Hurray for the Riff Raff, to be included in the stellar lineup of Season 50 performances. Hurray for the Riff Raff will make their debut on ACL Tuesday, July 2 in support of their latest release, The Past Is Still Alive.

Hurray for the Riff Raff. Photo by Tommy Kha.

Hurray for the Riff Raff’s latest release, The Past Is Still Alive, finds bandleader Alynda Segarra (they/them) being called “one of America’s best songwriters” (Vulture). Recently released on Nonesuch Records, The Past Is Still Alive is the record of Segarra’s life so far. Finding fans in everyone from Elton John to poet Eileen Myles, it has been hailed as “the next great American road album” (The Atlantic), through which Hurray for the Riff Raff is “etching their own story into the American songbook, and asserting that they belong there” (The New York Times). Pitchfork named it Best New Music, NPR Music‘s Ann Powers drew comparisons to Joni Mitchell’s Hejira and Lucinda Williams’ Car Wheels On a Gravel Road, and in a sweeping cover story, Paste declared it “the most important album of the 2020s so far.” Produced by Brad Cook (Bon Iver, Indigo Girls, Waxahatchee), The Past Is Still Alive is both a memoir and a roadmap to America’s fringes, as Segarra uses portraits of their radical, itinerant experiences to deliver profound reflections on time, memory and loss. Segarra is 36, or a little less than halfway through the average American lifespan. In that comparatively brief time, though, the Hurray for the Riff Raff founder has been something of a modern Huck Finn, an itinerant traveler whose adventures prompt art that reminds us there are always other ways to live. Segarra’s poetic power proves why they have become a pan-everything fixture of the modern folk movement, illustrating inequality and independence, and navigating chaos and trauma with a sense of wonder and want. With The Past Is Still Alive, their ninth studio album, Segarra finally tells the story themselves, speckling stirring reflections on love, loss, and the end or evolution of the United States with foundational scenes from their own life. “It felt like a trust fall, or a letting go of this idea of proving something to the music industry—how I can be more digestible, modifiable, sellable,” Segarra says. “I feel like I’m closer to what I actually have to share.”

We’re thrilled to welcome Hurray for the Riff Raff to the ACL stage for our milestone 50th season. Want to be part of our audience? We will post information on how to get free passes a week in advance of the taping. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for notice of postings. The broadcast episode will air on PBS this fall as part of our anniversary Season 50

Tags Tapings

Taping Recap Uncategorized

Taping Recap: Kacey Musgraves

Post author By Lily Angelle
Post date June 4, 2024

Kacey Musgraves returned to the Austin City Limits stage for her third appearance in ten years Monday, June 3, 2024 in support of her latest release, Deeper Well. We at Austin City Limits were thrilled to have her back to the show.

“It’s good to be back here in Texas,” said Musgraves, after taking the stage with her talented band, all sporting Canadian tuxedos. She continued, “It is such an honor to be kicking off the 50th season of ACL.”

Kacey Musgraves’ performance will air as the season premiere of the 50th anniversary of Austin City Limits, the longest running music series in television history. Season 50 is slated to premiere on PBS in September 2024.

Kacey Musgraves performs on Austin City Limits, June 3, 2024. Photos by Scott Newton.

Listen to the full set list from the Austin City Limits taping below:

BAND CREDITS:

Kacey Musgraves – Vox, Guitar

John Whitt Jr. – Keys

Drew Taubenfeld – Guitar/Pedal Steel

Clif Johnson – Keys

Jon Sosin – Guitar / Background Vocals

Ben Jaffe – Guitar / Background Vocals

Tarron Crayton – Bass

Rob Humphreys – Drums

Tags Tapings

Taping Recap

Taping Recap: Maggie Rogers

Post author By Lily Angelle
Post date May 31, 2024

Maggie Rogers returned to the Austin City Limits stage for her second taping Thursday night, sporting her [now] signature sheer skirt and black leotard, the perfect ensemble for a night of impassioned dancing. And that’s exactly what she came onstage doing – dancing. Opening the hour with “It Was Coming All Along,” from her third and latest album Don’t Forget Me, the singer-songwriter’s contagious energy had the audience on their feet, dancing along throughout most of the highly anticipated performance.

Rogers performed three more songs from Don’t Forget Me, following the album’s track list. Touted as a road trip album written from the perspective of someone leaving home for the first time, hearing the tracks in the album order was transcendent. Rogers broke up the journey through Don’t Forget Me with favorites “Want Want” and “Be Cool” from Surrender, as well as “Dog Years,” and hit single “Love You For a Long Time.” As Rogers switched from dancing with abandon to wielding an acoustic guitar for some songs, fans took the opportunity between songs to yell, “I love you Maggie,” to which she replied warmly to the intimate studio audience, “I love you too.”

After “If Now Was Then,” the band left the stage as Maggie took to the piano for a stripped down and vulnerable performance of “I Still Do.” Overwhelmed by the emotion of the obviously very personal song, Rogers took a beat at the back of the stage to breathe deeply as her band returned to the stage, before asking the audience for three minutes to regroup backstage. Returning to an adoring crowd lifting her up with applause, Rogers was brought back to high spirits as she continued with selections from Surrender: “Anywhere With You,” and “That’s Where I Am.”

Closing out the night with “All the Same” and “Don’t Forget Me,” Rogers and her talented band took the studio audience through what felt like the nostalgic hills and valleys of a long lost relationship, but through the matured perspective of someone with clear eyes and a full tank of gas. Catch Maggie Roger’s Season 50 episode later this year on PBS, in celebration of 50 years of Austin City Limits.