Austin City Limits is proud to welcome back The Black Keys for our 40th anniversary season. The powerhouse rock duo of Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney make their second appearance on the ACL stage on the heels of their recent release Turn Blue, which debuted at #1 on Billboard‘s album chart. The acclaimed rockers made an epic ACL debut in Season 36 around the release of their 2010 breakout album Brothers. The six-time Grammy winners have since gone on to achieve worldwide critical and commercial success with the landmark 2011 release El Camino and have been unstoppable ever since.
Currently in the midst of a North American tour, including an ATX date on December 19 at Frank Erwin Center, we’re thrilled to have The Black Keys join us on November 17 for the final taping of our milestone season.
Want to be part of our audience? We will post information on how to get free passes about a week before the taping. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for notice of postings.
Ryan Adams is no stranger to ACL, having appeared on the show in various phases of his career as far back as the late ‘90s and as recently as 2006. The multiple-Grammy-nominated singer / songwriter from Jacksonville, NC has released such critically acclaimed and commercially successful LPs as Heartbreaker (2000), Gold (2001), Love Is Hell (2004), Cold Roses (2005), Easy Tiger (2007), Ashes & Fire (2011) and his self-produced, self-titled 14th album, recently released on his own Pax Am label in cooperation with Blue Note. Adams returns to ACL in support of that eponymous disc, which has been generating arguably the best critical notices of his prolific career. Featuring the singles “Gimme Something Good” and “My Wrecking Ball,” Ryan Adams has moved Entertainment Weekly to hail its namesake as “one of the truly great roots-rock troubadours left.” On Oct. 22, the ACL TV audience will see why.
Austin City Limits is excited to announce new tapings for our landmark Season 40: Jenny Lewis on October 1, Sam Smith on October 2, The Avett Brothers on October 6 and Spoon on October 9th.
Jenny Lewis last appeared on our stage in 2005 as part of the now-defunct Rilo Kiley. Prior to her success with that band, she had been an actress from a young age, appearing in films and TV shows until 1998. That year she and Blake Sennett started indie rockers Rilo Kiley, who went on to success with four LPs, the last of which was 2007’s acclaimed Under the Blacklight. Lewis had already begun her solo career by that time, starting with 2006’s Rabbit Fur Coat, which found her working in a rootsier vein. The classy pop of Acid Tongue arrived in 2008, followed by 2010’s I’m Having Fun Now, a duet album with singer/songwriter Johnathan Rice under the name Jenny & Jonny. This year she released The Voyager, a Ryan Adams-produced LP about which Drowned in Sound remarked, “[The] balance of frothiness and fearless introspection make it something pretty special.” Join us Oct.1 as Lewis preps for her ACL Festival appearance with her solo ACL debut.
This year Sam Smith came seeming out of nowhere with his massive hit single “Stay With Me.” The London native is an alumnus of the program Youth Music Theatre UK, having studied under British jazz musician Joanna Eden. He made his musical and chart debut singing lead on electronic group Disclosure’s U.K. hit single “Latch,” following up with a featured appearance on English DJ/producer Naughty Boy’s “La La La,” which hit #1 on the British charts. In between those hits Smith launched his solo career with “Lay Me Down,” but it was his post-”La La La” followup “Money On My Mind” that pushed him to the #1 slot on his own. In the Lonely Hour, his debut LP of danceable pop/soul, arrived in the spring, along with his third single. “Stay With Me” broke Smith wide open on an international scale, earning him a third charttopper in the U.K. and a No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 200. Now, in anticipation of his debut at ACL Fest, Smith makes his debut Oct. 2 on our show as well.
The Avett Brothers last joined us in 2010, appearing in support of their breakthrough album I and Love and You. The North Carolina roots rockers haven’t been idle in the five years between slots, however. In 2012 the quartet released its Rick Rubin-produced The Carpenter, which peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. The LP found the Avetts expanding their sound beyond their folk and bluegrass roots, with Rolling Stone calling it the “sound of a band pushing past an old identity and toward something bigger.” The band quickly followed The Carpenter with 2013’s Magpie and the Dandelion, a record made mostly of songs recorded during the previous LP’s sessions that hit No. 5 on the Billboard charts. Under the Radar wrote that the band “have filled Magpie and the Dandelion with taut, unaffected verses that dredge the past, weigh damage against possibility, and seek emergence through selflessness and emotional responsibility,” while American Songwriter remarked, “The Avett Brothers are (very wisely) growing their sound, while remaining true to their core principles and what listeners like about them to begin with.” Join us on Oct. 6 as we welcome back The Avett Brothers.
photo by Tom Hines
The Austin band Spoon is certainly no unknown quantity for Austin City Limits – the modern rock act has been on the show three times, in 2003, 2005 and 2010. The last time they were here was in support of their hit album Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga and its hit single “The Underdog.” The band followed up with the equally popular Transference, after which Spoon took an extended break, allowing leader Britt Daniel to work with the group Divine Fits and drummer Jim Eno to produce albums for the Heartless Bastards, Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears and Phosphorescent. But now Spoon is back with They Want My Soul, a record that proves the extended time off did nothing to diminish their power. Rolling Stone described it as “an immediate grabber on par with the group’s best work to date,” while Exclaim called it “a bold and swaggering declaration that Spoon have undoubtedly still got it – in spades.” We’re thrilled to welcome Spoon back to the ACL stage Oct. 9.
Want to be part of our audience? We will post information on how to get free passes about a week before the taping. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for notice of postings.
Austin City Limits is happy to announce a new taping with Grammy Award-winning and multi-platinum Nickel Creek on August 25. The recently reunited Americana trio return with their first new music in nine years and for their third appearance on the show. Mandolinist Chris Thile (who also visited us with his band Punch Brothers), guitarist Sean Watkins and violinist Sara Watkins (who recently appeared with the Decemberists) came together as Nickel Creek in the late 80s when they were pre-teens, becoming a bluegrass sensation with a pair of albums released just a few years later. But the band truly came into its own with its Alison Krauss–produced third and fourth records, Nickel Creek and This Side, which helped forge its distinctive bluegrass/roots/pop identity.
Following 2005’s Why Should the Fire Die? and 2007’s Farewell (For Now) tour, the trio took a few years off to work on individual solo careers and side projects. 2014 brought the surprise announcement of a reunion and a new album, with A Dotted Line and its subsequent tour coinciding with the band’s 25th anniversary. And since we’re celebrating our 40th anniversary, who better than Nickel Creek to return for their third ACL appearance as part of our milestone season?
Want to be part of our audience? We will post information on how to get free passes about a week before the 8/25 taping. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for notice of postings.
ACL’s 40th anniversary season continues to heat up with a pair of new tapings in September: J. Roddy Walston and the Business on 9/2 and Future Islands on 9/25.
J. Roddy Walston and the Business exploded out of their hometown of Cleveland, Tennessee on the strength of a demo that won a showcase for a national festival. Self-releasing their debut EP, the singer/songwriter and his trio relocated to Baltimore, releasing two more EPs and the full-length Hail Mega Boys. A couple of years’ hard touring led to the band signing with taste-making indie label Vagrant Records for 2010’s self-titled album, which City Paper called “what would happen if Queen and Black Oak Arkansas birthed four boys in the backwoods and let them listen to nothing but Cheap Trick and showtunes.” National tours with the Drive-By Truckers, Shovels & Rope and others followed, as well as appearances at the SXSW, Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits music festivals. In 2013 the group signed to ATO Records and released Essential Tremors, described by All Music Guide as “a fine outing from a versatile band that knows what they do best, and man, they can rock.” Experience them for yourself on Sept. 2 when J. Roddy Walston and the Business make their ACL debut.
Also coming to our stage from, coincidentally, Baltimore are Future Islands. The members of the synth-pop oriented trio convened in 2006 in Greenville, North Carolina. Having worked with Thrill Jockey and Upset The Rhythm previously, their new album Singles marks the start of their new relationship with legendary label 4AD. The band won the Grulke Prize for best developing US act at this year’s SXSW; of their performance, Pitchfork raved “this is the kind of band that makes you wish other bands tried harder.” NPR hails Singles “extremely catchy, well-constructed classic pop,” while Stereogum “an absolute and unqualified triumph.” Future Islands made its network television debut performing its single “Seasons (Waiting On You)” on The Late Show With David Letterman to much acclaim, and now comes to our stage. Please join us on Sept. 25 for the ACL debut of Future Islands.
photo by Tim Saccenti
Want to be part of our audience? We will post information about how to get free passes about a week before each taping right here on our site.
Austin City Limits is thrilled to announce the return of one of our favorite sons, Jeff Tweedy, on June 20 as part of the upcoming milestone 40th season. After two decades leading his main outfit Wilco, the Grammy-winning singer/songwriter’s ACL appearance sets the stage for the release of a highly-anticipated solo album later this year. Backed by a newly-formed band including his 18-year old son Spencer Tweedy on drums, expect new material in addition to a solo acoustic set of Wilco and pioneering alt.country band Uncle Tupelo favorites. ACL veteran Tweedy has made four memorable appearances with Wilco, so welcoming him once again to our stage is like welcoming an old friend.
Want to be part of our audience? We will post information on how to get free passes about a week before the taping. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for notice of postings.
