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Featured News Taping Announcement

New tapings: Chris Stapleton, Carín León, Mickey Guyton, Norah Jones, the Avett Brothers, and Sturgill Simpson

Austin City Limits is proud to announce a stellar slate of acts for October tapings to complete our milestone Season 50, including a number of ACL Fest headliners featured on our namesake festival this fall. On October 3 we welcome back country giant Chris Stapleton for his second appearance on the ACL stage; on October 5 we present chart-topping Global Latin music superstar Carín León in his ACL debut; country music trailblazer Mickey Guyton comes to ACL for her first appearance on October 9; nine-time GRAMMY-winning Norah Jones returns to the ACL stage for her fifth appearance on October 10; October 13 brings The Avett Brothers to the ACL stage for their third headlining appearance; and Sturgill Simpson returns for the first time in nearly a decade with a new taping on October 28. We’re thrilled to welcome these exceptional artists to the ACL stage for our Anniversary season.

Kentucky-born Chris Stapleton is a 10x GRAMMY, 16x CMA and 19x ACM Award-winner and one of the country’s most respected and beloved musicians. In the midst of yet another triumphant year, Stapleton recently won four awards at the 59th ACM Awards as well as two more trophies at 2024’s 66th Annual GRAMMY Awards. These accomplishments celebrate Stapleton’s album, Higher, which includes break-out songs “White Horse” and “Think I’m In Love With You.” Produced by Dave Cobb, Morgane Stapleton and Chris Stapleton, the record landed on multiple “Best of” lists including Billboard, Esquire, Los Angeles Times, Vulture and Rolling Stone, who praises, “dazzling…the best evidence yet for the way one man’s voice has become synonymous with the very idea of a musical genre.” Additionally, The New Yorker declares, “Stapleton is the rare country star with both traditional bona fides and broad commercial appeal. He has an outlaw soul and a pop star’s capacity for inescapable hooks,” while GQ proclaims, “In an age rife with division, he’s maybe the only thing Americans all agree on.” Known for his electric live performances, Stapleton continues his extensive “All-American Road Show” through 2024. Additionally, Stapleton has new collaborations with Post Malone (“California Sober”), Slash (“Oh Well”), George Strait (“Honky Tonk Hall of Fame”) and Dua Lipa (“Think I’m In Love With You (Live from the 59th ACM Awards)”) in addition to recording a version of “I Should Have Known It” for the new Tom Petty tribute album.

Carín León continues his rapid ascent after a monumental 2023, including winning a Latin Grammy for Best Norteño Album for Colmillo de Leche and releasing two massive hit singles, with “Primera Cita” and “Según Quién” each charting Top 25 on Spotify and Top 30 on the Billboard Global 200. Earlier this year, the global Mexican star earned a standing ovation at the Grand Ole Opry with a set entirely in Spanish and made history as the first Latin artist to perform at both Coachella and Stagecoach. His single “ALCH SI” with Grupo Frontera reached the #1 spot on Billboard‘s Regional Mexican Airplay chart. León’s latest album Boca Chueca Vol. 1 is out now to great fanfare, and his Boca Chueca Tour 2024 sees stops across major cities in North America and Europe, including a performance at New York City’s Madison Square Garden. Originally from Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico, León embarked on his musical journey at the age of 15, taking his first steps by learning to play the guitar and developing skills in singing and songwriting. In 2018, León released his debut album Desvelada con Banda y Mariachi which propelled him to quickly dominate the Regional Mexican music scene as a performer, singer and songwriter. In 2021 his album INÉDITO debuted atop the Apple Music charts, reaching #1 on the Mexican Music chart and #3 on the Latin Music chart and was named one of Billboard’s 25 Best Latin Albums of the year. León has received countless nominations and multiple awards, including a 2024 People’s Choice Country Award nomination for “The One (Pero No Como Yo),” his bilingual collaboration with country star Kane Brown, an ASCAP Award for the song “Me La Aventé,” numerous Premios Lo Nuestro (“Regional Mexican Breakthrough Artist,” “Best Male Artist” and “Banda Song of the Year”) and a 2022 Latin Grammy win for “Best Regional Mexican Song” for “Como lo Hice Yo,” a collaboration with Mexican pop group Matisse.

Mickey Guyton is a four-time GRAMMY-nominated artist and country music trailblazer. Over the course of her career, the Arlington, Texas native has been recognized for her musical achievements, including being named TIME Magazine’s Breakthrough Artist of the Year in 2022 and CMT’s Breakout Artist of the Year in 2021. With her 2021 debut studio album, Remember Her Name,  Mickey made history as  the first Black artist to earn a  GRAMMY nomination for Best Country Album.  Additionally, she became the first-ever Black female solo artist to earn a nod  in a country category with additional nominations for “Best Country Song” and “Best Country Solo Performance.” Beyond the GRAMMYs, Mickey has shined on the grandest of global stages, delivering powerful renditions of the national anthem at Super Bowl LVI and the 2023 World Series. She has also performed on a wide array of star-studded award shows and platforms, including the ACM Awards, CMA Awards, CMT Music Awards, ESPYs, CBS Mornings, Good Morning America, The Today Show, The Jennifer Hudson Show, The Kelly Clarkson Show, SHERRI, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Sesame Street, and many more. The multihyphenate has also evolved into a media personality, having co-hosted the Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks special on NBC, the 2023 National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony on CBS and co-hosted the 56th Academy of Country Music Awards on CBS along with Keith Urban. Mickey recently released a series of new songs, including “Scary Love,” “Make It Me,” and “My Side of the Country” leading to her highly-anticipated sophomore album House On Fire out Sept. 27, 2024 on Capitol Records Nashville.

Norah Jones’ ninth solo studio album Visions is a vibrant and joyous 12-song set of original songs that finds the singer-songwriter-pianist singing about feeling free, wanting to dance, making it right, and acceptance of what life brings. The album is a collaboration with producer and multi-instrumentalist Leon Michels (Sharon Jones, Dan Auerbach). “The reason I called the album Visions is because a lot of the ideas came in the middle of the night or in that moment right before sleep,” says Jones. “We did most of the songs in the same way where I was at the piano or on guitar and Leon was playing drums and we were just jamming on stuff. I like the rawness between me and Leon, the way it sounds kind of garage-y but also kind of soulful, because that’s where he’s coming from, but also not overly perfected.” Jones first emerged on the world stage with the 2002 release of Come Away With Me, her self-described “moody little record” that introduced a singular new voice and grew into a global phenomenon, sweeping the 2003 GRAMMY Awards including Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best New Artist. Since then, Jones has become a nine-time GRAMMY-winner, sold 53 million albums, and her songs have been streamed 11 billion times worldwide. She has released a series of critically acclaimed and commercially successful solo albums—Feels Like Home (2004), Not Too Late (2007), The Fall (2009), Little Broken Hearts (2012), Day Breaks (2016), Pick Me Up Off The Floor (2020), the live album ‘Til We Meet Again (2021), and her holiday album I Dream Of Christmas (2021). The 2010 compilation …Featuring Norah Jones showcased her incredible versatility by collecting her collaborations with artists as diverse as Willie Nelson, Foo Fighters, Outkast, and Herbie Hancock. In 2022, Jones launched her podcast Norah Jones Is Playing Along which features candid conversations and impromptu musical collaborations with some of her favorite musicians.

The Avett Brothers return with their first album in five years, produced by longtime collaborator Rick Rubin. The Avett Brothers, their eleventh studio album, is a record interested in the divine unknowable, as much untitled as it is self-titled. Songs like “Love Of A Girl,” “Country Kid” and “Forever Now” seek the sacred in the commonplace: a cheap cup of coffee, broken hearts and school bus lessons, a baby’s first steps, growing older and holding on to one’s roots, losing someone and accepting fate, rediscovering hope and finding sanctity in tragedy…ultimately reveling in the fun and surrender of what we cannot understand. Recorded in Malibu, Nashville, Mar Vista, and the band’s hometown of Concord, NC, the album is also one that revealed itself naturally over time. As their first LP on Ramseur Records/Thirty Tigers since 2007’s Emotionalism, The Avett Brothers is at once a cumulative opus and fresh start for the band’s future. Since the start of their expansive US tour of nearly 50 dates that extends throughout 2024,  The Avett Brothers have remained tireless and gleefully unpredictable in their music, live set and beyond.

Respected, beloved and fiercely independent, Sturgill Simpson makes his highly anticipated return to music with the release of his acclaimed new album, Passage Du Desir, under a new name, Johnny Blue Skies. Of the new chapter, Johnny Blue Skies shares, “You can turn the page or you can light the book on fire and dance around the flames. You can try to live above hell or you can just go raise some. Here’s to clean livin’ and dirty thinking.” The eight-song Passage Du Desir was produced by Johnny Blue Skies and David Ferguson and recorded at Clement House Recording Studio in Nashville, TN and Abbey Road Studios in London, England. Simpson and his band—Kevin Black (bass), Robbie Crowell (keys), Laur Joamets (guitar) and Miles Miller (drums)—will also make their long-awaited return to the road this fall with the “Why Not? Tour.” Simpson’s first full tour in over four years, the extensive headline run includes stops at L.A.’s The Greek Theatre, Washington State’s The Gorge Amphitheater, Lexington’s Rupp Arena, Chicago’s Salt Shed (two nights), Queens’ Forest Hills Stadium and Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena among many more. Simpson also headlined Outside Lands and will close out both weekends of this year’s Austin City Limits Music Festival. Since his debut, Simpson has released five full-length studio albums—2013’s High Top Mountain, 2014’s Metamodern Sounds in Country Music, 2016’s A Sailor’s Guide to Earth, 2019’s Sound & Fury and 2021’s The Ballad of Dood and Juanita—along with the 2020 projects, Cuttin’ Grass Vol. 1 and Vol. 2. Throughout his singular career, Simpson has relentlessly pushed against expectations, earning widespread acclaim and countless accolades including a Grammy Award in 2017 for Best Country Album and six GRAMMY nominations across four genres: country, rock, bluegrass and americana.

We’re thrilled to welcome these remarkable artists to the ACL stage for our milestone season. Want to be part of our audience? We will post information on how to get free passes a week in advance of each taping. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for notice of postings. The broadcast episodes will air on PBS as part of our upcoming anniversary Season 50.

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Featured News Taping Announcement

New taping: Wynonna

Austin City Limits is thrilled to announce a new taping with one of country music’s most legendary voices and iconic performers: Wynonna. A musical force like none other, we welcome her to the ACL stage on September 3 for our milestone Anniversary Season 50.

One of the most widely recognized and awarded female country musicians in history, Wynonna is celebrating a remarkable 40-year career. Her 1992 self-titled solo debut sold over five million units, becoming the highest-selling debut album by a female artist at the time. Wynonna earned three consecutive #1 hits and the singer followed the wildly successful debut with the multi-platinum album Tell Me Why. Building on the groundbreaking music she and her mother created as The Judds, Wynonna grew into her once-in-a-generation vocal prowess with an ease that resonated with legions of fans. Chart-topping hits “No One Else On Earth,” “Tell Me Why,” “She Is His Only Need,” “Girls With Guitars,” and “I Saw The Light” set the next chapter in motion for the girl from Ashland, Kentucky who became a global superstar. Having practically grown up as America’s favorite musical daughter, Wynonna matured into a woman who embraced life’s peaks and valleys, great thrills, and heavy disappointment. Beyond the Grammy Awards, multi-platinum albums and sold-out tours, the country/soul vocalist expanded on the Appalachian traditionalism that defined The Judds to create a world where Top 5 dance/club hits were as possible as being inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. Wynonna has sold-out concerts scheduled throughout the summer before she hits the road for her “Back to Wy” tour in September. She’ll be playing her debut and sophomore albums back-to-back for 17 special shows across the country. Wynonna first appeared on Austin City Limits with The Judds during ACL’s 10th Anniversary Season in 1985 and opened our Season 22 in 1997 with a full-hour season premiere. We’re proud to welcome her back during our 50th Anniversary Season for the first time in nearly three decades. 

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 as part of our milestone Season 50, which premieres on September 28, 2024.

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Featured Hall of Fame News

Austin City Limits kicks off 50th anniversary celebration with Garth Brooks

Iconic music series Austin City Limits (ACL) kicks off the 50th Anniversary celebrations by welcoming a new Austin City Limits Hall of Fame honoree into its ranks for this milestone: Garth Brooks. For the first time in the decade-long history of the ACL Hall of Fame, only one inductee will be honored at this epic 10th Anniversary Hall of Fame celebration taking place on September 5, 2024, at ACL’s studio home, ACL Live at The Moody Theater in downtown Austin. Brooks and his band will perform for the occasion. Brooks anchored ACL’s 25th Anniversary broadcast season with a pair of appearances and returns now for the Hall of Fame salute to launch the trailblazing television series’ record-making 50th season. Musical highlights and Brooks’ induction from the Hall of Fame ceremony will air as a special hourlong broadcast of Austin City Limits as a highlight of the program’s golden anniversary Season 50 which premieres on September 28, 2024, on PBS. 

“To be part of anything Austin City Limits is and always has been an honor,” Brooks said. “I am humbled and grateful to not only be a part of the 50th Anniversary, but to be inducted into the ACL Hall of Fame is over the top.”

The event is open to the public and a limited number of tickets will be on sale August 2 at acltv.com/hall-of-fame via AXS ticketing. Sponsor packages are available now. This event will be a phone-free experience. Upon arrival at the venue, tickets will be scanned and all phones will be secured in Yondr cases that will be unlocked at the end of the event. Austin City Limits 10th Annual Hall of Fame Honors is produced by Austin PBS and proceeds benefit the public television station. 

2024 marks the 50th Anniversary of the live music beacon Austin City Limits, which taped its debut pilot episode on October 17, 1974; the pioneering series then premiered on PBS in 1975. ACL celebrates its remarkable legacy with a yearlong celebration through 2025. Since its inception in 2014, the ACL Hall of Fame has honored legendary artists who have played a pivotal role in the trailblazing music series’ outstanding half-century as a music institution. The inaugural awards in 2014 honored Willie Nelson and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Garth Brooks has longtime ties to ACL, with three legendary Austin City Limits performances. He first appeared on the program in 1990, during Season 15, at the beginning of his career. The celebrated artist returned a decade later to both open and close ACL’s milestone Season 25 with two hourlong episodes.

Brooks returned to ACL in 2021 for a memorable pair of intimate, non-broadcast events to close Studio 6A on the University of Texas campus, the fabled soundstage where the program first started recording in 1974. Brooks carved his name into ACL’s history with the final performances in the historic studio that was the show’s home from 1974 to 2010, before a move to downtown Austin. The singular artist performed the special benefit shows solo acoustic to a sold-out audience of 200 fans per night, as a fundraiser for Austin PBS, sharing stories, taking song requests, and answering questions from the audience.  

“Garth is a special friend—there’s no one else quite like him,” said longtime ACL executive producer Terry Lickona. “He never forgets his roots, or the people who were there for him in those early days. He hit the ACL stage just as his career was taking off, kicked off our 25th anniversary season, and now almost 25 years later, it’s our turn to honor him.”

Austin City Limits Hall of Fame celebrates the legacy of legendary artists and key individuals who have played a vital part in the pioneering music series’ remarkable half-century as a music institution. The Hall of Fame has inducted over twenty artists at nine previous ceremonies including Willie Nelson, Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble, Lloyd Maines, Asleep at the Wheel, Loretta Lynn, Guy Clark, Flaco Jiménez, Townes Van Zandt, Kris Kristofferson, Bonnie Raitt, B.B. King, Roy Orbison, Rosanne Cash, The Neville Brothers, Ray Charles, Marcia Ball, Los Lobos, Lyle Lovett, Buddy Guy, Shawn Colvin, Lucinda Williams, Wilco, Alejandro Escovedo, Sheryl Crow and Joe Ely. The ninth annual Hall of Fame in 2023 welcomed John Prine and Trisha Yearwood to its ranks.

About Garth Brooks:

Garth Brooks just opened his brand new bar on Lower Broadway in Nashville, Friends in Low Places Bar & Honky-Tonk. The opening was celebrated with a Dive Bar concert on Black Friday that streamed exclusively on Amazon. He also just released a new boxed set, “The Limited Series,” which is the third and final in the series and contains Garth’s 14th studio album, Time Traveler. The boxed set is on sale exclusively at Bass Pro Shops. Garth has returned to radio with the SEVENS Radio Network on TuneIn. So far, the announced stations include The BIG 615 with Storme Warren, Tailgate Radio with Maria Taylor and The Garth Channel. He currently has a residency, Garth Brooks/Plus ONE at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace. 2023 completely sold out, dates for 2024 are currently on sale. In 2022, Garth completed the three and a half year long Stadium Tour. It drew an average of more than 95 thousand people in each city it played and was seen by a cumulative audience of nearly three-million people. The tour ended that September when Garth played the fifth sold-out concert at Dublin, Ireland’s Croke Park. The five concerts were seen by over 400-thousand people. Garth has received every accolade you can bestow on an artist. Garth has received The Kennedy Center Honor, the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, seven CMA Entertainer of the Year honors and nine Diamond Awards. He remains the #1-selling solo artist in U.S. history, certified by the RIAA with 162 million album sales.​

Austin City Limits and the Austin City Limits Hall of Fame are produced by Austin PBS. Austin PBS is a non-profit organization providing public television and educational resources to Central Texas as well as producing quality national programming. 

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 launching its 50th 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. ACL celebrates 50 years as an American music institution in 2024-2025.

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News

Kinky Friedman 1944-2024

Kinky Friedman records Austin City Limits, 1975. Photo courtesy Austin City Limits/Austin PBS.

Novelist, columnist, gubernatorial candidate, raconteur, cigar aficionado, and, of course, singer/songwriter Kinky Friedman left this earth on June 27, 2024 at the age of 79. According to the Texas Tribune, the cause was Parkinson’s disease.

Kinky Friedman sings “Amelia Earhart’s Last Flight,” from an unbroadcast episode produced in 1975.

After stints with the Peace Corps and in Nashville, Kinky (who, like his pal Willie Nelson, is on a first-name basis with the universe) became the quick-witted provocateur of seventies outlaw country, writing or covering songs (“Get Your Biscuits in the Oven and Your Buns in the Bed,” “Sold American,” “They Ain’t Making Jews Like Jesus Anymore,” the notorious “Okie From Muskogee” lampoon “Asshole From El Paso”) that raised the hackles of the satire-impaired and restricting his audience to connoisseurs with a certain sense of humor. He reached a bigger crowd in the eighties when he began writing bestselling novels, many of them starring himself as a hard-boiled private detective, as well as contributing a long-standing column to Texas Monthly. Kinky became a national icon when he ran for governor of Texas in 2006, earning 12% of the vote – not nearly enough to win, of course, but not too shabby, either. Following a second, equally unsuccessful campaign, he returned to writing books and songs, as well as founding the Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch in 1998. 

Kinky Friedman sings “Wild Man From Borneo,” 1975, for an episode of Austin City Limits that was never broadcast.

Kinky also recorded an episode of Austin City Limits in 1975 for Season 1, but it famously never aired. There’ve been many reflections on why – in the press at the time, in one of Kinky’s memoirs, and in Clifford Endres’ 1987 history of ACL. Suffice to say that PBS executives of the time previewed the episode and decided it would be best for it to stay in the can, even when Austin PBS (then KLRN) offered to let it be a “soft feed,” i.e. a free program to be used at individual stations’ discretion. Fortunately, while it was never broadcast, the show was released in 2007 by New West Records. 

Kinky Friedman records ACL, 1975. Photo courtesy of Austin City Limits/Austin PBS.

Of course, any story like this only serves to make the life in question even larger, as Kinky himself acknowledged. “In any case, when the producers of ACL, in their infinite wisdom, decided not to air the show, the legend only grew,” he wrote in his TMT column. “Had they gone ahead and run it, I’d undoubtedly be playing a beer joint tonight on the backside of Buttocks, Texas. I’d never have had the chance to become a best-selling novelist, a friend of presidents, and a candidate for governor. The truth is I wouldn’t even be writing this column, which would be a real shame, since it’s the only job I’ve ever had in my life. So God bless Austin City Limits.”

We’ll miss you, Kinky. You kept Austin – and Texas – weird before the phrase was ever coined.  Rest in peace.

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Featured News

ACL EP Terry Lickona honored with PBS Beacon Award

Terry Lickona receives the PBS Beacon Award, 2024.

Today, PBS announced it has honored AUSTIN CITY LIMITS executive producer Terry Lickona with the 2024 Beacon Award for his work leading the iconic live music institution. The highest honor in public television, the Beacon award pays tribute to individuals whose work inspires Americans and enriches our nation, in keeping with the mission of PBS. 

PBS President and CEO Paula Kerger presented the award to Lickona at PBS’s Annual Meeting of Member Stations along with Catherine Robb, General Vice Chair of the PBS Board; Luis Patiño, President & Executive Officer of Austin PBS; and musician Dave Grohl.   

“Terry is a legend,” said Kerger. “He has grown Austin City Limits from a small regional showcase into the longest-running music series in television history. I am proud to present PBS’s highest award to him for the extraordinary contributions he, and ACL, has made to our country by bringing so many legendary performances to a national audience.” 

Since 1978, Lickona has been the producer/executive producer of AUSTIN CITY LIMITS. He is also co-producer of the Grammy Awards telecast on CBS, and the Latin Grammy Awards broadcast on Univision. Celebrating its 50th year on PBS, ACL gives viewers a front-row seat to the best in live performance. In 2003, AUSTIN CITY LIMITS was awarded the National Medal of Arts, and in 2012 received a rare institutional Peabody Award for excellence and outstanding achievement. The program and its original Studio 6A were designated an official Rock and Roll Landmark by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2009. The series presents a wide variety of musical styles and genres. Lickona has worked with artists ranging from Ray Charles and Johnny Cash to Kendrick Lamar, B.B. King, Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Brandi Carlile, Foo Fighters, Rosalía, Jon Batiste, Ed Sheeran, Bonnie Raitt, Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo, and countless more. 

A monument to music, ACL has showcased iconic performances from legends and innovators in every genre of popular song for a half-century. Produced by Austin PBS, the show remains a required stopping point for the finest acts to deliver stellar performances from the venerable ACL stage in Austin, Texas. On October 17, 1974, the notoriously TV-shy Willie Nelson taped the pilot episode; the trailblazing series then premiered on PBS in 1975. This renowned program has earned its place in history and will salute its golden anniversary and incredible legacy with a yearlong celebration featuring archival gems, all-star tapings, a primetime PBS special, live concerts, and much more.

PBS is proud to honor Lickona with the Beacon Award for his many cultural contributions, impact, and leadership across public media. 

The PBS Beacon Award, formerly known as the Be More Award, was established in 2004. Last year’s recipient was FRONTLINE. Other former awardees include Fred Rogers (2004), Jim Lehrer (2005), Bill Moyers (2006), Neil DeGrasse Tyson (2008), Ken Burns (2009), Joan Ganz Cooney (2010), Rebecca Eaton (2011), Gwen Ifill (2012), Alberto Ibarguen (2013), Miles O’Brien (2014), David Fanning (2015), Newton Minow (2016), Bill Isler (2017), Stanley Nelson (2018) Judy Woodruff (2019), Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (2021), Sonia Manzano (2022).

ABOUT PBS

PBS, with more than 330 member stations, offers all Americans the opportunity to explore new ideas and new worlds through television and digital content. Each month, PBS reaches over 36 million adults on linear primetime television, more than 15 million users on PBS-owned streaming platforms, and 56 million people view PBS content on social media, inviting them to experience the worlds of science, history, nature, and public affairs; to hear diverse viewpoints; and to take front-row seats to world-class drama and performances. PBS’s broad array of programs has been consistently honored by the industry’s most coveted award competitions. Teachers of children from pre-K through 12th grade turn to PBS LearningMedia for digital content and services that help bring classroom lessons to life. As the number one educational media brand, PBS KIDS helps children 2-8 build critical skills, enabling them to find success in school and life. Delivered through member stations, PBS KIDS offers high-quality content on TV — including a PBS KIDS channel — and streaming free onpbskids.org and the PBS KIDS Video app, games on the PBS KIDS Games app, and in communities across America. More information about PBS is available at PBS.org, one of the leading dot-org websites on the internet, Facebook, Instagram, or through our apps for mobile and connected devices. Specific program information and updates for press are available at pbs.org/pressroom or by following PBS Communications on X (formerly Twitter).

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Featured News Taping Announcement

New tapings: Maggie Rogers, Kacey Musgraves, The War And Treaty, Gracie Abrams

Austin City Limits is proud to announce new summer tapings from a stellar slate of American originals for our golden anniversary Season 50: critically acclaimed producer/songwriter/performer Maggie Rogers returns on May 30 with songs from her new album Don’t Forget Me; celebrated singer-songwriter Kacey Musgraves returns for her third headlining appearance on June 3 to showcase her acclaimed new release Deeper Well; powerhouse act The War And Treaty return to the ACL stage on June 28 for their second feature slot; and 2024 Grammy Best New Artist nominee Gracie Abrams makes her ACL debut on July 30 with new music from her upcoming sophomore album The Secret of Us.

Maggie Rogers. Photo by Maddy Rotman.

GRAMMY® Award-nominated producer/songwriter/performer Maggie Rogers recently shared her third studio album, Don’t Forget Me, out now via Capitol Records.  Rogers co-produced her new album with Ian Fitchuk (Kacey Musgraves, Maren Morris) at Electric Lady Studios in New York City, writing eight of its 10 songs with him and penning two alone. Shawn Everett (Brittany Howard, The War on Drugs) mixed and the album was mastered by Emily Lazar (Beck, Coldplay), who has mastered all of Rogers’ albums to date. Praising the album’s “transcendent songwriting,” SPIN said, “with Don’t Forget Me, Rogers sounds fully confident.” Rolling Stone said, “For such a heavy emotional lift, the album is an easygoing listen, perfect for a Sunday-afternoon drive.” In this feature, The New Yorker praised the album as “the loosest and most elemental music she’s made…burly, coltish, tender, fun,” while Pitchfork declared, “the singer-songwriter’s third album is her strongest yet, the sounds of a wise, clear-eyed melodious prodigy coming into her own voice.  Originally from Maryland, Rogers released her breakthrough EP Now That The Light Is Fading in 2017. Widely hailed as an artist to watch, Rogers released her critically acclaimed Capitol Records debut album Heard It In A Past Life in January 2019 and immediately found tremendous success: entering Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart at No. 1 and debuting at No. 2 on the Billboard 200. The album earned praise from the likes of NPR, The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, TIME Magazine, Vogue, and many more. Heard It In A Past Life also landed Rogers a nomination for Best New Artist at the 62nd GRAMMY® Awards and led to performances on major TV shows including Saturday Night Live, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Austin City Limits, Today, and more. The album, which contains the platinum hits “Light On” and “Alaska,” has amassed over one billion combined global streams and is certified Gold in the U.S. In 2022, Rogers released her follow up album, Surrender, to widespread acclaim and embarked on two sold-out headline tours across Europe and North America including her Summer of ’23 Tour, which included stops at legendary venues like Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado, Forest Hills Stadium in NYC and the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles.  Rogers kicks off her “Don’t Forget Me Tour, Part 1” May 23 at Gallagher Square at Petco Park in San Diego, CA, and will perform two nights at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado (May 27 + May 28). The “Don’t Forget Me Tour, Part II” — Rogers’ first-ever arena outing — will launch on October 9th at Moody Center in Austin, TX and include shows at New York City’s Madison Square Garden (October 19) and the Kia Forum in Inglewood, CA (November 2).

Kacey Musgraves. Photo by Kelly Christine Sutton.

Kacey Musgraves has always been a little bit magic. From the tumbling sparkle of Laurel Canyon acoustics that cascade into “Cardinal,” the swirling opener on the seven-time Grammy winner’s fifth album, Deeper Well, the metaphysical and incandescent are even more present and powerful from a woman whose songs have cast a glow on how evolved people live since her first single “Merry Go ‘Round” charmed the world over a decade ago with its hypocrisy-skewering appeal. If there’s one thing Musgraves has done across one of modern music’s most expansive and adventurous creative journeys, it’s trust her gut. Glistening folk-pop and country explorations with just enough bluegrass to spin the modern arrangements organically, she wears these songs like a second skin. For Deeper Well, the introspective writer found herself drawn to NYC’s legendary Electric Lady studio. Working with longtime co-producers Ian Fitchuk and Daniel Tashian, the music on Deeper Well is almost chimeric: rolling acoustic guitars, puffy clouds of strings and synth, warm bass punctuations, layered harmonies, moments of Celtic melody and plenty of room on the tracks for Musgraves’ silvery vocals. On the bright, almost folky title track, the 30-something songstress surveys her life and priorities, recognizing what feeds her, drains her and even examines the Texas childhood she’s left behind on her way to now. “Sonically, I’ve been craving classic American songwriting,” she says. “Real songs. No gimmicks. The color palette of where those songs came from was everything I felt pulled to. New York is one of the places that kind of record came from. Simon & Garfunkel, the Greenwich Village clubs, fingerpicking and James Taylor. Social commentary. Storytelling. I always look for honesty in terms of the songs, and this record is no different. Unconsciously, I think that’s part of what drew us to taking our stories to New York City.” Deeply personal, universally true, Deeper Well is a coming of enlightenment song collection that embraces fear, vulnerability and the joy found beyond the doubt most sentient people wrestle. “Love is the prism,” says the sloe-eyed songwriter, “and my role in it. I make sense of the world around me by looking for balance and I’d like to think this album is for anyone who’s living life and paying attention.”

The War And Treaty. Photo by Austin Hargrave.

Founded in 2014 by the husband-and-wife duo Michael Trotter Jr. and Tanya Trotter, The War And Treaty has emerged as one of the most electrifying new acts in American music. The Nashville-based pair recently garnered their first-ever GRAMMY nominations for Best American Roots Song and the all-genre Best New Artist, along with a 2024 Duo of the Year nomination from the Academy of Country Music. This follows an exciting year of honors for the pair including their first-ever Duo of the Year nomination from the Country Music Association and nominations for this year’s CMT Music Awards for Duo/Group Video of the Year and for CMT Performance of the Year. Further recent recognition has come from the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the Grand Ole Opry, and the Americana Music Association. With a lionhearted sonic blend, both roaring with passion and tender to the touch, The Tennessean notes, “they are unlike any other act in music.” The War And Treaty’s 2023 major label debut album Lover’s Game (Mercury Nashville) was met with critical praise, with the Associated Press claiming, “The colossally talented pair continue their commando, no-limits journey to the top of the music world.” Drawing respect across the board, they have gone on to appear as top-flight collaborators, including the latest “Hey Driver” with Zach Bryan. The group also just released their first new single of 2024, “Stealing A Kiss” – a seductive envelope of country soul that they are becoming well known for. The War And Treaty has captivated audiences across the globe from North America to Europe, Australia and beyond, while headlining their own shows and opening for a diverse group of living legends: Al Green, Brandi Carlile, Chris Stapleton, Jason Isbell, John Legend, Lauren Daigle, and Van Morrison among them. The War And Treaty made their ACL debut in Season 46 in 2020 during ACL’s limited audience pandemic tapings, and we are thrilled to welcome them back to light up the ACL stage, this time with a full live audience.

Gracie Abrams. Photo by Abby Waisler.

Gracie Abrams returns with the highly-anticipated new album, The Secret of Us, out June 21st on Interscope Records. The album’s newly-released lead single “Risk” was met with an outgoing of support and excitement from fans online as well as raves from Rolling Stone, Billboard, Nylon and more. The 24-year-old songwriter co-wrote the bubbly yet incisive new track with longtime friend Audrey Hobert and took a hands-on role producing the new single alongside her friend and frequent collaborator, the National’s Aaron Dessner.  The Secret of Us will come nearly a year since her debut album, Good Riddance, which Gracie released in February 2023 and Rolling Stone hailed “one of 2023’s Best Debuts.” Good Riddance earned Gracie her first ever Grammy nod at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards with a nomination for the highly coveted Best New Artist. Since making her debut in 2019, Gracie Abrams has emerged as one of the most compelling singer-songwriters of her generation, earning the admiration of such like minded artists as Taylor Swift, Lorde, Billie Eilish, and Olivia Rodrigo. A consummate songwriter who names Joni Mitchell as her most formative influence, she penned her first song at age eight, then went on to amass a devoted following on the strength of her emotionally intimate lyrics and DIY sensibilities. With the arrival of her breakout debut project minor in summer 2020, she received glowing reviews from the likes of NME, who praised her “painfully honest tales of heartbreak draped in delicate melodies that carry much more intrigue than the usual run-of-the-mill singer-songwriter.” The seven-song effort features her beloved singles “21,” “I miss you, I’m sorry,” and “Long Sleeves.” In late 2021, Abrams returned with This Is What It Feels Like, a 12-track project exploring such complex emotional experiences as self-betrayal, insecurity, and failed attempts at connection. Soon after completing her sold-out North American headline tour for This Is What It Feels Like, she set to work on her debut album. Abrams kicked off 2022 with a headline tour of North America followed by a support slot on Olivia Rodrigo’s tour and reconnected with Dessner to release two songs “Block me out” and “Difficult.” In early 2023, Abrams released her debut album, Good Riddance, followed by a North American headline tour that sold out in under one hour. Gracie toured with Taylor Swift as the opening on select dates of her blockbuster Eras Tour and will continue as direct support when the Eras Tour returns to North America later this year. 

We’re excited to welcome these stellar acts 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 each taping. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for notice of postings. The broadcast episodes will air on PBS this fall as part of our anniversary Season 50.