A portion of the proceeds of the sales of Austin City Limits: Best of Season 38 DVD will benefit KLRU-TV, Austin PBS – the producing station for ACLTV. Enjoy some of the best performances from Season 38 in the comfort of your home and feel good about supporting Public Television at the same time! That’s a win-win!
Austin City Limits showcases British soul with a brand new episode featuring two uniquely original singer-songwriters—chart-topping Scottish songstress Emeli Sandé and UK sensation Michael Kiwanuka making their ACL debuts. Sandé performs hits from her breakthrough album Our Version of Events, while Kiwanuka plays tunes from his debut Home Again. The episode premieres November 9th. Check with your local station for showtimes.
Sandé has achieved breakout success in her native UK and stateside with the striking debut, Our Version of Events, which was the biggest-selling album in 2012 in the UK and toppled The Beatles’ long-standing album chart record for the most consecutive weeks spent in the top 10 (an astounding 66 weeks). Sandé emerged as the big winner at this year’s 2013 Brit Awards, winning a pair of awards, including the coveted Album of the Year prize. The Los Angeles Times raves, “Emeli’s folk-inflected soul/pop is Nina Simone and Bob Dylan all in one.” The New York Times calls her “a redemptive singer,” saying “Ms. Sandé has a perspective-altering voice, clear and brassy and weapons-grade.” Originally starting her music career as a songwriter, Sandé had many stellar credits for other artists (Alicia Keys, Rihanna) to her name when she traded it in for the spotlight. A dynamic performer, Sandé opens her soulful ACL debut with the upbeat anthem “Heaven,” a huge UK hit. She engages the Austin crowd as her backing choir on her current single “My Kind of Love”, and closes out a stunning set with the massive hit “Next to Me”.
“Emeli Sandé should be one of the brightest stars in the musical firmament, but despite her UK success, she’s one of the best-kept secrets here in the U.S.,” says executive producer Terry Lickona. “Hopefully her ACL performance will change all that. The best word to describe her many talents is ‘astounding!’”
photo by Scott Newton
London native Michael Kiwanuka has been making waves with his debut album, the lush, acoustic-driven Home Again, which reached No. 4 on the British charts, spawned four singles, and went Top 10 around the world, earning the 24-year-old singer, songwriter and musician opening spots for superstar artists including Adele and Mumford & Sons, and a slot at the 2012 ACL Festival. Kiwanuka was announced the winner of the prestigious BBC Sound of 2012 poll, which has also been won by Jessie J, Florence + the Machine, and Ellie Goulding. Kiwanuka connects with the Austin audience with his blues-folk sound and timeless, soulful voice, which has led to comparisons to such artists as Bill Withers, Terry Callier, and John Martyn.
“Sometimes Michael’s singing comes across as very old-school, retro soul,” said Terry Lickona. “But he has a very contemporary sensibility. With Michael, it’s all about the voice, and that’s timeless!”
Music legends Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell return to Austin City Limits and share the stage for the first time. The pair celebrate their shared history, their recent collaborative album Old Yellow Moon and the continuing power of the song in a new episode that premieres November 2nd. Check with your local station for showtimes.
Friends for forty years, Harris and Crowell have an entwined four-decade history of music-making. ACL veterans, both artists have each appeared on the program seven times, although this episode marks the first time the pair have performed together on the ACL stage. The Americana icons perform favorites and songs from their acclaimed duets album Old Yellow Moon. The collaboration was chosen as album of the year at this year’s Americana Music Awards and the pair was honored as duo of the year. American Songwriter says of the album, “On Old Yellow Moon, Harris and Crowell embrace the entire range of life and music they’ve experienced, from the reckless passions of youth to the reflectiveness of age, from loose-limbed hillbilly boogies to graceful balladry.”
“It’s great to be back at the world’s greatest and longest-running music show,” says Harris as she takes the ACL stage with Crowell. The breathtaking performance includes the two longtime kindred spirits joining their voices on Crowell originals as well as revivals of songs by Roger Miller, Matraca Berg and Kris Kristofferson. Harris opens with some of her earlier Gram Parsons-era hits, and the duo fast-forwards to a more recent era for Harris’ “Red Dirt Girl” and Crowell’s “Rock of My Soul,” their voices wrapping the songs in the kind of harmonies only old friends can generate. Special guest Shawn Colvin joins in the finale for a spirited take on Crowell’s “Stars On the Water.” The episode celebrates a longtime friendship and collaboration, and the pleasure the two music legends take from singing some of their favorite songs is palpable.
photo by Scott Newton
“Emmylou and Rodney are an important part of the history of ACL – going all the way back practically to the beginning,” says executive producer Terry Lickona. “But it goes deeper than that – they reflect the heart and soul of what ACL is all about. And the two of them together is a perfect example of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts!”
Hey, Sarah Jarosz fans – can’t be at her Austin City Limits taping on Nov. 10? Watch the livestream on the ACL YouTube channelat approximately 9:15 pm CT to hear Sarah sing songs from her latest release Build Me Up From Bones.
Austin City Limits is pleased to announce a new taping on November 4 with Nine Inch Nails.
Nine Inch Nails deliver one of the best live shows on the planet, are considered a pioneer in the industrial music movement and have been highly influential in the evolution of electronic music. The band just released their first album in five years, the critically-acclaimed Hesitation Marks, which Spin called “the most important artistic statement from Reznor since the late 90s” and Rolling Stone hailed “one of his best” in a four-star lead review. We’re thrilled to welcome Nine Inch Nails to the ACL stage.
The band debuted in 1989 with its first single “Down In It,” racking up an impressive series of hits over the course of 20 years, from “Head Like a Hole,” “Closer” and “Hurt” (later recorded to much acclaim by Johnny Cash) to “The Hand That Feeds,” “Only,” and “Survivalism.” Along the way the band were awarded Grammys for “Wish” and “Happiness in Slavery” and sold over 30 million albums worldwide. Building on their long history of soundtrack work, Nine Inch Nail’s Trent Reznor, with partner Atticus Ross, became an Oscar-winning composer, with credits including The Social Network and The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.
Want to be part of the audience for this taping? You can enter here for a chance to win a pair of passes to attend the show. (UPDATE: giveaway is now over) On 11/1 we will conduct a random drawing to determine the winners. You will be notified via email if you have won tickets; the email will contain further instructions. Each winner receives two passes per person. No need to enter multiple times – you may only win once. Tickets are non-transferable – meaning you cannot sell them or give them to a friend. For more information on attending tapings of Austin City Limits, click here.
And remember we only honor tickets that we distribute. If you purchase tickets on eBay, Craiglist etc. that claim to be for this or any other ACL taping they are counterfeit and will NOT be honored.
Austin City Limits is proud to announce a new taping on November 10, featuring singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Sarah Jarosz and folk duo The Milk Carton Kids.
Sarah Jarosz first appeared on ACL in 2010, supporting her debut album Song Up in Her Head. Though only 18 at the time, the Wimberly resident already had nearly a decade of performing experience under her belt, starting as a bluegrass prodigy but quickly expanding her horizons to include folk, jazz and pop. “I never became a bluegrass snob,” she told Texas Music. “ I was always open to everything.” Following her rising star turn on ACL, she left Austin to attend the New England Conservatory, releasing her second LP Follow Me Down along the way. Now graduated with honors from the Conservatory, Jarosz moved to New York City and dedicated herself to pushing the limits of her art, as her new record Build Me Up From Bones asserts. “Jarosz makes music that’s all over the spectrum,” noted PopMatters, “but puts her own imprint on it through her distinctive style.” All Music Guide declares that the album “reflects not only her growth as a songwriter but her willingness to push the boundaries of country, folk, and Americana to discover connections not necessarily considered before.” Join us to witness this exciting young artist’s evolution.
photo by Andrew Paynter
Flat-picking harmony duo The Milk Carton Kids have emerged in the last three years as a powerful voice defining the continuing folk tradition. A refreshing alternative to the foot-stomping grandeur of the so-called “folk revival,” an understated virtuosity defines The Milk Carton Kids to the delight of traditionalists and newcomers to the folk movement alike. Indeed, Garrison Keillor has called them “absolute geniuses in close-harmony,” while cultural purveyors like T Bone Burnett and Billy Bragg continue to refer the importance of The Milk Carton Kids among a group of new folk bands expanding and contradicting the rich tradition that comes before them. The Los Angeles Times lauds their latest Anti- Records release The Ash & Clay as displaying “absolute mastery of their craft” while Paste emphasizes the “intellectual sophistication of their songs, making The Milk Carton Kids an option for purists unsatisfied with some of the pop tendencies seeping in to the genre.” This young new duo caught ACL’s eye performing as nominee for Emerging Artist of the Year at the 2013 Americana Music Awards. We hope you join us to see why The Milk Carton Kids are getting our attention, too.
Information on passes to this show will appear here. We hope to see you there!
