MUNA perform on Austin City Limits, April 25, 2023. Photo by Scott Newton.
Fresh from their “Life’s So Fun” U.S. headlining tour, arena dates with Taylor Swift and Lorde, the radio hit “Silk Chiffon,” and one of the most exciting sets at this year’s Coachella, MUNA are ready to conquer the world of pop. Having first visited Austin in 2016 for SXSW, the journey by Katie Gavin (vocals), Josette Maskin (guitar), and Naomi McPherson (keyboards, guitar) toward stardom brings them to the Austin City Limits stage for their debut taping in support of their latest, self-titled album.
Following a bombastic flourish, the L.A. trio – backed by bassist Geo Bothelho and drummer Sarab Singh – launched right into the equally expansive rocker “What I Want,” the musicians only staying in one place during their three-part harmonies. They kicked up the tempo a notch with the bright pop rocker “Number One Fan” – a clear crowd favorite, given that they started singing the lyrics with the band. Maskin’s closing guitar grunge segued right into the next song, the eighties Britpop-influenced “Solid.” But this band aren’t retro-stylish – the soaring pop anthemry of “Stayaway” (“If you know the words,” said Gavin, “sing it with me”) belongs in the twenty-first century.
More contemplative without stinting on rock energy, “Loose Garment” traversed the sky on the wings of Maskin’s lush e-bow and Gavin’s earnest voice. The latter then donned an acoustic guitar for the melancholy “Winterbreak,” a swirl of 12-string and slide guitar that wore its heart glistening on its sleeve. The same configuration drove “Kind of Girl,” a self-actualization ballad that will, at some point, result in thousands of lighters being waved. “I’m the kind of girl who thinks I can,” Gavin sang – a message taken to heart by the band’s queer and trans fanbase. The country-kissed power ballad “Taken” followed suit, before some dreamy synthesizers led the band into the dramatic widescreen electro-pop of “Pink Light,” which earned a huge cheer.
The band revisited their debut LP About U for “Around U,” another supercharged melody with a galloping beat. MUNA shouted out their backing musicians and crew before going into “Home By Now,” an anthemic dance rocker that practically demanded audience participation. Singh then laid down a walloping 6/8 beat for the cheeky “Anything But Me” (“I hope you get anything you need – anything but me”), before some overtly eighties bass and keyboards heralded the group’s brand new single “One That Got Away,” released only a week prior. “I’m curious,” pondered Gavin, “if any of you already know some of the words. So this is your test.” Many members of the MUNAverse passed with flying colors.
MUNA jumped happily back into anthemland for the hands-in-the-air energy of “I Know a Place,” one of the first songs Gavin, Maskin, and McPherson ever wrote together, and another tune cherished by the audience. To close the show, McPherson strapped on an acoustic guitar as a synth pulse built and MUNA slipped into “Silk Chiffon,” an ear-hooking song about “being queer and being happy” that had the crowd singing along at the top of their lungs. “We love you, Austin!” shouted Gavin, as MUNA capped off their debut ACL by bringing the house down. We can’t wait for you to see it when it airs this fall as part of our Season 49 on your local PBS station.
MUNA on Austin City Limits, April 24, 2023. Photos by Scott Newton.
Austin City Limits is thrilled to announce that we will be live streaming our second taping of Season 49 with indie-pop act MUNA on April 24. ACL offers fans worldwide the unique opportunity to watch this highly-anticipated taping free in its entirety here on our ACLTV YouTube Channel. The fast-rising California trio take time from their US headlining tour, festival appearances at Coachella and stadium dates opening for Taylor Swift to make their Austin City Limits debut.
Working the source code of pop, MUNA is magic. Coming up on ten years of friendship, singer/songwriter Katie Gavin and guitarists Naomi McPherson and Josette Maskin began making music together in college, at USC, and released an early hit in the 2017 single “I Know a Place,” a pent-up invocation of LGBTQ sanctuary and transcendence. Now in their late twenties, the trio has become something more like family. Their now viral single “Silk Chiffon,” 2021’s life-affirming, queer anthem, which features MUNA’S new label head Phoebe Bridgers, hit the gray skies of the pandemic’s year-and-a-half mark like a double rainbow.
For Naomi McPherson, MUNA’s guitarist and producer, it was a “song for kids to have their first gay kiss to.” “Silk Chiffon” leads off MUNA, their self-titled third release and a feat of an album — the forceful, deliberate, dimensional output of a band who has nothing to prove to anyone except themselves. The synth on “What I Want” scintillates like a Robyn dance-floor anthem; “Anything But Me,” galloping in 12/8, gives off Shania Twain in eighties neon; “Kind of Girl,” with its soaring, plaintive The Chicks chorus, begs to be sung at max volume with your best friends. MUNA earned widespread acclaim and the album landed on multiple best of 2022 year end lists including Billboard, Los Angeles Times, Rolling Stone, Stereogum and TIME Magazine. The band was also hailed as Consequence’s 2022 Band of the Year. MUNA sold out shows all over the world in 2022 and were handpicked by Taylor Swift for a coveted opening slot on her upcoming “Eras” 2023 stadium tour in between their own US headlining “Life’s So Fun” tour and festival slots at 2023’s Coachella and Bonnaroo.
“What ultimately keeps us together,” Maskin said, “is knowing that someone’s going to hear each one of these songs and use it to make a change they need in their life.” McPherson added, “I hope this album helps people connect to each other the way that we, in MUNA, have learned to connect to each other.” What MUNA does, in the end is carve out a space in the middle of whatever existential muck you’re doing the everyday dog-paddle through and transports you, suddenly — you who’ve come to music looking for an answer you can’t find anywhere else — into a room where everything is possible. We’re thrilled to welcome MUNA to the ACL stage.
Join us here on April 24 at 8 p.m. CT for MUNA; the broadcast episode will air on PBS as part of our upcoming Season 49. Tune in to your local PBS station on Saturday nights for fan-favorite encore episodes of Austin City Limits; watch live on PBS, or stream anytime at PBS.org.
Austin City Limits returns to Nashville for a special broadcast featuring performance highlights from the 21st Annual Americana Honors. For over two decades, the annual celebration of roots music has honored the leading lights of Americana music while showcasing unique performances and collaborations. The program is filled with musical highlights from many of the event’s award-winners and honorees, among them (in order of appearance): Phosphorescent, Brandi Carlile, Lucius, The Fairfield Four, James McMurtry, The War And Treaty, Lukas Nelson, JP Harris, Sierra Ferrell, Chris Isaak, Buddy Miller, Lyle Lovett, The Milk Carton Kids, Allison Russell, and The McCrary Sisters. The hourlong special premieres Saturday, April 1 at 7pm CT/8pm ET on PBS and varies by market (check local listings for times). Check PBS listings for local airtimes. The special will be available to music fans everywhere to stream online beginning Sunday, April 2 @10am ET at pbs.org/austincitylimits. Viewers can visit acltv.com for news regarding upcoming Season 49 tapings, episode schedules and select live stream updates. The program’s official hashtags are #acltv and #americanafest.
Recorded live at Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium in September 2022, The Americana Music Association’s 21st Annual Americana Honors & Awards ceremony is a celebration of the confluence of roots, blues, soul, folk and country music. For the eleventh year, the producers of Austin City Limits, in conjunction with producers Martin Fischer, Michelle Aquilato, and Jed Hilly for the Americana Music Association, proudly deliver a special ACL Presents.
One of the genre’s biggest stars, Song of the Year-winner Brandi Carlile, takes the stage joined by indie-folk duo Lucius for an exuberant performance of Carlile’s gem “You and Me On the Rock,” a triple 2022 Grammy nominee for Record of the Year, Best Americana Performance and Best American Roots Song, from her 2022 Grammy-winning Best Americana Album In These Silent Days. Husband and wife duo The War and Treaty, named Duo/Group of the Year, deliver an electrifying performance of their soulful duet “That’s How Love Is Made,” that brings the Ryman audience to its feet. Americana stalwart Sarah Jarosz introduces “one of her all-time favorites,” Texas songwriter James McMurtry, who sings a sterling rendition of his Song of the Year nominated “Canola Fields.” The Awards’ Emerging Act of the Year honoree Sierra Farrell makes a sparkling debut with her buoyant hot jazz number “At the End of the Rainbow.” Album of the Year winner, singer-songwriter Allison Russell, performs her empowering anthem “You’re Not Alone” from her celebrated debut solo record, Outside Child; she is joined by frequent collaborator Brandi Carlile backed by an all-female ensemble of musicians featuring cellist and Instrumentalist of the Year Larissa Maestro.
Lifetime achievement honorees showcase their incredible legacies: Fairfield Four, a harmony singing group that originated in the 1920s at Nashville’s Fairfield Baptist Church, are honored with the Legacy of Americana Award for preserving traditional Black a cappella gospel music; they perform a stirring a capella “Rock My Soul.” Americana great Lyle Lovett introduces Chris Isaak, lifetime achievement honoree for performance, calling him “a remarkable artist and remarkable human being” and Isaak delivers a spirited rendition of his classic “Somebody’s Crying.” Rock legend and Americana champion Robert Plant makes a surprise appearance to honor genre icon and long-standing Americana house band leader Buddy Miller with a Lifetime Achievement Award; Miller takes the stage to perform an emotional rendition of Americana forebear Levon Helm’s “Wide River to Cross,” a song Miller co-wrote. Lukas Nelson pays homage to an influential late country great, Don Williams, the gentle giant of country music, with a moving version of the Texas-born singer and songwriter’s “Lord, I Hope This Day is Good.”
The hour celebrates a trio of seminal American roots music albums marking their 50th anniversary: Phosphorescent, the stage name of singer-songwriter Matthew Houck, opens the hour in salute to Neil Young’s landmark Harvest with a rendition of Young’s classic “Are You Ready for the Country?” Lyle Lovett takes the stage to perform an acoustic version of the Little Feat ballad “Willin’” in tribute to the band’s Sailin’ Shoes, joined by Little Feat’s Bill Payne on piano; Americana’s dynamic acoustic duo The Milk Carton Kids salute Jackson Browne’s 1972 self-titled debut with a gorgeous rendition of the singer-songwriter legend’s “Something Fine.”
The special also pays tribute to Americana greats lost in 2022: Iconic gospel group The McCrary Sisters, longtime performers at the Americana Awards, honor their late sister and bandmate Deborah McCrary with the powerful elegy “Amazing Grace.” Luke Bell, a gone-too-soon cult favorite among indie country fans, is saluted by roadhouse country singer JP Harris. Harris performs Bell’s “The Bullfighter,” saying “Luke never got a chance to sing this song himself from this stage like he should’ve, so I’m going to do my damnedest in your stead, little brother.”
Broadcast setlist:
Phosphorescent “Are You Ready for the Country”
Brandi Carlile ft. Lucius “You and Me on the Rock”
The Fairfield Four “Rock My Soul”
James McMurtry “Canola Fields”
The War And Treaty “That’s How Love is Made”
Lukas Nelson “Lord I Hope This Day is Good”
JP Harris “Bullfighter”
Sierra Ferrell “At the End Of the Rainbow”
Chris Isaak “Somebody’s Crying”
Buddy Miller “Wide River To Cross”
Lyle Lovett “Willin’”
The Milk Carton Kids “Something Fine”
Allison Russell ft. Brandi Carlile “You’re Not Alone”
About the Americana Music Association:
The Americana Music Association is a professional not-for-profit trade organization whose mission is to advocate for the authentic voice of American roots music around the world. The Association produces events throughout the year; including AMERICANAFEST and the critically acclaimed Americana Honors & Awards program. The Americana Music Association receives enormous support from the Tennessee Department of Tourism, Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp, ASCAP, BMI, SESAC.
About AMERICANAFEST:
The 23rd annual AMERICANAFEST will take place September 19-23, 2023 in Nashville, Tenn., once again bringing together music industry professionals and fans alike for five days of discovery, insight and connections. Declared a “veritable juggernaut” by American Songwriter, AMERICANAFEST showcases hundreds of artists and bands throughout many notable venues in Nashville, TN. The destination event also features a first-rate industry conference, bringing together the top tier of the music business to discuss current industry topics and issues. Musical festivities are kicked off by the critically acclaimed Americana Honors & Awards, which celebrates luminaries and welcomes the next generation of trailblazers while offering one-of-a-kind performance pairings at Nashville’s famed Ryman Auditorium. For more information, please visit www.americanamusic.org.
About ACL Presents:
ACL Presents is music programming created by, or in association with, Austin PBS, the producers of Austin City Limits (ACL). ACL Presents programming includes television specials, live events, web series and recorded music presentations and is made in the spirit and standards of the legendary PBS series Austin City Limits, the longest-running live music series in television history. ACL Presents collaborations have included: Hardly Strictly Bluegrass with KQED and AMERICANAFEST with Nashville Public Television (NPT).
Margo Price returns tapes Austin City Limits, March 19, 2023. Photo by Scott Newton.
When we first hosted singer/songwriter Margo Price in Season 42, we knew, as did everyone, she was something special. Watching her blossom from a soulful C&W traditionalist into a brilliant, multi-faceted artist (not to mention bestselling author, via her 2022 memoir Maybe We’ll Make It) has been a pleasure, and we were thrilled to have her back, as both victory lap and in celebration of her acclaimed fourth LP Strays.
Following a Season 49 welcome from Austin mayor Kirk Watson, Price and her six-piece band took the stage to the strains of a Willie ‘n’ Waylon classic before going straight into “Been To the Mountain,” the hard rocking opener of Strays. Closing with a flourish of cowbell, Price, in a blue flowered Loretta Lynn-style vintage dress, donned an acoustic guitar for “Letting Me Down,” a driving country rocker from her 2020 album That’s How Rumors Get Started. She and the band then revisited her 2016 breakthrough debut Midwest Farmer’s Daughter, giving fan favorite “Four Years of Chances” a Southern psych rock makeover. Back to Strays with “Hell in the Heartland,” a minor key country rock epic that broke its tension by moving from trot to gallop. The band followed with “Change of Heart,” its theme of self-assertiveness and defiance emphasized by a loping guitar solo from Alex Munoz and Price herself bashing away at a second drum kit. She closed off this stunning mini-set of Strays with the melancholy “County Road,” driven by Micah Hulscher’s piano and a powerhouse James Davis lead, and the stirring rock anthem “Light Me Up,” which Price described as the product of her and husband/co-writer/rhythm guitarist Jeremy Ivey’s ingestion of psilocybin mushrooms on vacation.
Price went back to her debut for the Southern rock anthem “Tennessee Song,” bringing it in line to her current, more expansive sound. She and Ivey then faced each other with acoustic guitars for Strays’ shimmering, lovely ballad “Landfill.” The band eased into the psychedelic folk rock of “That’s How Rumors Get Started,” its extended coda allowing Price time to leave the stage for a wardrobe change into a sparkly Tina Turner-style showgirl number and man the second drum kit once again. Without a second’s breath, she led her group into the hard-rocking “Twinkle Twinkle,” which earned loud approval from the audience. C&W made a re-appearance with the cheerfully defiant “Don’t Say It,” dragging the arena back to the honkytonk for a tune. While the band was busy rocking out, a pink telephone quietly appeared onstage, heralding “Radio” and its handset vocals. Price closed the main set like a pageant queen with the brisk Rumors rocker “Heartless Mind,” while handing out red roses to the audience as Davis and Munoz squared off over Dillon Napier’s syncopated drumming.
The adoring crowd cheered Price and the band’s return for an encore. “You can’t come down to Texas and not play a drinkin’ song,” she joked as she launched into “Hurtin’ On the Bottle,” her breakout hit and one of the best honkytonkers written in the last decade. She smoothly segued into her thematic inspirations via Merle Haggard’s “I Think I’ll Just Stay Here and Drink” and Willie Nelson’s classic “Whiskey River,” the first song ever broadcast on Austin City Limits. It was a hell of a way to close out her smoking return to ACL, and we can’t wait for you to see the broadcast episode during our upcoming Season 49 on your local PBS station.
Margo Price, Season 49. Photo by Scott Newton.Margo Price, Season 49. Photo by Scott Newton.Margo Price, Season 49. Photo by Scott Newton.Margo Price, Season 49. Photo by Scott Newton.Margo Price, Season 49. Photo by Scott Newton.Margo Price, Season 49. Photo by Scott Newton.Margo Price, Season 49. Photo by Scott Newton.Margo Price, Season 49. Photo by Scott Newton.Margo Price, Season 49. Photo by Scott Newton.Margo Price, Season 49. Photo by Scott Newton.
Austin City Limits is excited to announce that we will be live streaming our debut taping of Season 49 with iconoclastic singer/songwriter/author Margo Price on March 19. ACL offers fans worldwide the unique opportunity to watch this highly-anticipated taping here in its entirety on our ACLTV YouTube Channel.
Margo Price returns to the ACL stage with Strays, her “strongest, most cohesive record yet” (Rolling Stone). Featuring “volcanic vocal performances and sharp character studies” (Vulture), as well as Sharon Van Etten, Lucius, and The Heartbreakers’ Mike Campbell, the record “struts through big-hearted indie country, honky-tonk stomp and ’70s guitar-explosion psychedelia” (The New York Times). The new album serves as a resilient proclamation of freedom for Price, who surmounts a lifetime of loss, lies, trauma and substance abuse (as chronicled in her best-selling memoir Maybe We’ll Make It, hailed as one of the best books of 2022) with ten new songs that prove her place as an independent artist, singular storyteller and endlessly experimental explorer, with so much to say but nothing to prove.
While much of Strays was written in a South Carolina cottage – during six days that the Nashville-based Price spent eating psychedelic mushrooms with her husband and musical partner Jeremy Ivey – the album was primarily recorded in California’s Topanga Canyon. There at producer Jonathan Wilson’s studio in the summer of 2021, Price and her longtime band of Pricetags channeled their telepathic abilities into their best recording sessions and most ambitious array of sounds, styles and arrangements to date. Having been together since the days before Midwest Farmer’s Daughter, her breakthrough 2016 debut that Rolling Stone named one of the Greatest Country Albums of All Time, Price and her band tracked live in the same room, simultaneously expanding upon and completely exploding the notions of every other album they have made together. Price sings unabashedly about self-worth, bodily autonomy and a woman’s right to choose. Across the rest of the LP, she writes about losing herself in sex, overcoming marital conflict, tuning out haters, the aftermath of quitting drinking and more, as “Strays bursts with easy confidence and kind, stoic pearls of wisdom” (Pitchfork).
“I feel this urgency to keep moving, keep creating,” says Price. “Maybe it’s getting older, or the years the pandemic stole from us all. I feel more mature in the way that I write now, I’m on more than just a search for large crowds and accolades. I’m trying to find what my soul needs.”
Join us hereMarch 19 at 8 p.m. CT for Margo Price; the broadcast episode will air on PBS as part of our Season 49. Tune in to your local PBS station on Saturday nights for encore episodes of Austin City Limits; watch live on PBS, or stream anytime at PBS.org.
Join Austin City Limits and Austin PBS on Thursday, March 16th from 10am – 2pm at GSD&M’s backyard for our 9th annual Bloody Mary Morning party during SXSW with music from The Zombies, Danielle Ponder, Hermanos Gutierrez, Katie Schecter, Como Las Movies, and Husbands.
Enjoy breakfast tacos thanks to our friends at Tacodeli along with Bloody Marys and refreshments thanks to our friends Tito’s Vodka, Bloody Revolution, Brown Distributing, Austin Eastciders, Twisted X, and Rambler while supplies last. Food vendors will also be onsite with food available for purchase.
Admission is free as always, but you must RSVP for entry. A ticket does not guarantee entry. Access is based on capacity. Special thanks to our event sponsors AXS Ticketing, Central Texas Honda Dealers, and PNC Bank for making this event free to attend.
