Austin City Limits extends a hearty congratulations to Spanish singer/songwriter Rosalía on her towering win of five Latin Grammy awards at last night’s star-studded ceremony in Las Vegas. Her acclaimed album El Mal Querer was awarded Album of the Year, making her the first female artist this decade to win the coveted title (since Shakira in 2006). Rosalía also took top honors for Best Contemporary Pop Album, Best Engineered Album, and Best Recording Package, while her smash single “Con Altura,” cut with reggaetón superstar J Balvin, won for Best Urban Song. “When I made that album I made it from the heart. I didn’t think about what would happen later,” Rosalía told the Los Angeles Times backstage at the event. “I can’t control anything that happens after the creative process because after that it’s not yours anymore, it’s everyone else’s.”
Rosalía delivered one of the most distinctive and remarkable shows in ACL history at her recent October taping. Viewers can watch the thrilling performance when it airs February 8, 2019 as a full-hour episode as part of the second half of ACL’s Season 45 on your local PBS station.
Austin City Limits spotlights next-generation country representing the genre’s expansive range in a new installment featuring chart-topping sensation Kane Brown sharing the hour with breakout Country-and-Western artist Colter Wall.
One of country music’s brightest new stars, boundary-pushing artist Kane Brown is having a banner year, dominating the charts with his low, soulful voice and earning multiple nominations for Country Artist of the Year. The 26-year-old hitmaker makes his ACL debut performing highlights from Experiment, his chart-topping sophomore album which debuted at No. 1 on the all-genre Billboard 200. Born and raised near the rural North Georgia-Tennessee border, the singer makes country music for a modern audience, blending elements of pop, rock, rap and R&B into a traditional country formula. Brown showcases his bona fides as the future of the genre, opening his seven-song set with his breakthrough “What Ifs,” the 4X Platinum love song from his self-titled 2016 debut. He details his personal challenges growing up biracial on “Learning” and tackles the topic of school shootings in the dark, powerful standout “American Bad Dream.” Brown closes out the crowd-pleasing set with a victory lap, performing the No. 1, platinum-selling come-hither smash “Lose It.”
Western Canadian folksinger Colter Wall draws on the stories of his native Saskatchewan for his ACL debut. The talented, 24-year-old artist possesses a rich, resonant baritone that belies his age. Accompanied by his four-piece band, Wall performs the modern-day Western numbers from his acclaimed sophomore release Songs of the Plains, produced by Nashville ace Dave Cobb. A set highlight is a pair of new, unrecorded numbers, “Happy Reunion” and the solo acoustic “Hoolihans at the Holiday Inn,” a 21st-century cowboy’s lament about roping practice in hotel parking lots. Wall delivers traditional classics that fit right into his wheelhouse: an inspired rendition of Marty Robbins’ gunfighter-ballad “Big Iron” and the ‘50’s yodel-spiked “Cowpoke,” before reaching back to his 2017 self-titled debut for the fan-favorite set-closer “Motorcycle.”
photo by Scott Newton
“Kane Brown is on the front line bringing country music into the 21st century,” said ACL executive producer Terry Lickona. “His personal story and the subjects he sings about set him apart from the mainstream, yet he’s very much a part of the tradition of country mavericks who aren’t afraid to break the mold.
“Colter Wall is the first artist in a generation to put the ‘western’ back in country-and-western music. His songs about wide-open spaces and the loneliness and isolation resonate with fans feeling the pressure of the modern world.”
Austin City Limits spotlights Vampire Weekend in a must-see hour featuring the indie-rock band’s epic return showcasing their long-awaited new album Father of the Bride alongside classic gems from their catalog.
Vampire Weekend performs a suite of songs off the celebrated, chart-topping Father of the Bride, their fourth album and first in six years. The seven-piece, led by frontman Ezra Koenig, unpack new gems: “Sympathy,” “Bambina,”“2021,” “My Mistake,” and “This Life,” showcasing their irresistible knack for melody and lyrics that capture the complexities of 21st-century life. The group perform select favorites from their catalog, including the breakthrough “A-Punk” from their 2008 debut and the rhythmic, Afrobeat “White Sky” from 2010’s landmark Contra. Koenig’s 2014 collaboration with EDM producer SBTRKT, “New Dorp. New York,” is here transformed into a Vampire Weekend funk-rock epic. A set highlight is an extended version of new classic “Harmony Hall,” a masterful, melodic wonder that opens with an iconic guitar riff and accelerates into a joyful piano sprint. The perfectly-paced set comes to a powerful close with Koenig’s stunning vocal on the hymnal, cathartic anthem “Jerusalem, New York, Berlin.”
“There’s never been a better time to appreciate Vampire Weekend, given the world we live in today,” said ACL executive producer Terry Lickona. “I’ve always been a fan of Ezra Koenig’s voice and his new songs are more personal and inward-looking than ever. Vampire Weekend has remained tried-and-true – popular without ever becoming pop!”
photo by Scott Newton
Tune in this weekend for this episode, and, as always, check your local PBS listings for the broadcast time in your area. Go to the episode page for more info, and don’t forget to click over to our Facebook, Twitter and newsletter pages for more ACL info. Join us next week for another brand new episode, featuring two sides of modern country music with Kane Brown and Colter Wall.
Austin City Limits showcases American roots music with Texas singer-songwriter Patty Griffin and New Orleans rockers The Revivalists in a new installment as part of ACL’s milestone Season 45. Griffin performs an intimate, stripped-down set highlighting songs from her recent self-titled release and The Revivalists play crowd-pleasing anthems from their latest Take Good Care.
Patty Griffin delivers a powerful performance with songs from her new self-titled release, her tenth studio album — the first after a four-year hiatus. The Austin favorite first appeared on ACL in a songwriters’ special in 2000, and she returns for her sixth appearance on our stage, adding another extraordinary chapter to her storied two-decade career. Accompanied by guitarist David Pulkingham and percussionist/multi-instrumentalist Conrad Choucroun, Griffin performs highlights from her latest, including the new single “The Wheel”, along with “Luminous Places” and “Hourglass”. The Austin-based musician introduces “Boys From Tralee,” a Celtic-folk stunner that tells the story of her Irish ancestors’ emigration to the United States. Griffin dips back to 2004’s Impossible Dream for the bluesy gut-punch “Standing”, showcasing her rich vocals and love of gospel.
“We take great pride in claiming Patty as one of our own here in Austin,” said ACL executive producer Terry Lickona, “ but the truth is that her songs have captured the hearts and souls of millions of fans the world over.”
Chart-topping New Orleans brass-rockers The Revivalists perform an irresistible set filled with get-up-and-dance gems from their acclaimed 2018 album Take Good Care. The road-tested band, who’ve perfected their energetic live show with over a decade of non-stop touring, take the crowd on an emotional rollercoaster with infectious slow-build numbers that escalate to anthems. The eight-piece outfit open with their platinum-selling 2015 breakthrough, “Wish I Knew You,” the nostalgic funk jam that became a Number One Billboard smash. Lead singer David Shaw strikes a chord with his signature soulful howl and the group showcase their love for old-school soul on set-closer “Got Love.”
photo by Scott Newton
“The Revivalists won me over the day I saw them play at New Orleans’ Jazzfest,” said ACL executive producer Terry Lickona. “They may not have that typical New Orleans sound that comes to mind, but they have the grit, the funk, and the spice to create their own special kind of musical gumbo.”
Tune in this weekend for this episode, and, as always, check your local PBS listings for the broadcast time in your area. Go to the episode page for more info, and don’t forget to click over to our Facebook, Twitter and newsletter pages for more ACL info. Join us next week for another brand new episode, a special hour featuring the return of indie rock favorites Vampire Weekend.
We here at Austin City Limits pay our respects to country singer Joe Sun, who passed away of natural causes Oct. 25 at his home in Florida. He was 76.
After a stint in the Air Force and as a radio DJ, the Minnesota native went to Nashville in the seventies in hopes of becoming a country singer, scoring a hit in 1978 with “Old Flames Can’t Hold a Candle to You.” Over the next few years Sun earned seven more top 40 country hits, before turning his attention to Europe. He also recorded ads for Budweiser and Timberline Boots, and appeared in the 1985 film Marie with Sissy Spacek, Jeff Daniels and Morgan Freeman. His rich, bluesy voice and rootsy honkytonk sound will be missed.
Sun appeared on ACL in Season 5, 1980, paired with Carl Perkins. Here he is with his biggest hit, “Old Flames Can’t Hold a Candle to You.”
We here at Austin City Limits are saddened by the passing of Little Feat singer, songwriter and guitarist Paul Barrere on Oct. 26. He was 71. No cause of death has been announced, but Barrere was undergoing treatment for liver cancer.
The Burbank native joined Little Feat in 1972, just in time to record the band’s classic LP Dixie Chicken. Besides serving as an alternate singer and skilled guitar foil to bandleader Lowell George, Barrere wrote or co-wrote several Feat classics in its repertoire, including “Time Loves a Hero,” “Feats Don’t Fail Me Now,” “Old Folks Boogie,” “Down on the Farm,” “Skin It Back” and “All That You Dream.” When the band reconvened in 1988 following George’s death, Barrere assumed the frontman position, leading the Feat through a further nine albums, including the gold-selling Let It Roll and its most recent LP Rooster Rag. Barrere also played live and in the studio with Taj Mahal, Jack Bruce, Carly Simon, Chico Hamilton and Nicolette Larson, among others. In between the two eras of Little Feat, he recorded two solo albums and led the band the Bluesbusters. He will be missed by bandmates and fans alike.
Little Feat performed on Austin City Limits in 1991. Here they are with the Barrere-led “Old Folks Boogie.”
