Category: Taping Recap

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Featured News Taping Recap

Taping recap: Arlo Parks

Arlo Parks tapes Austin City Limits, Season 48. Photo by Scott Newton.

One of the coolest experiences we can have at Austin City Limits is to open a brand new season with new talent. The 21-year-old from West London, singer/songwriter Arlo Parks, took her own country by storm with her album Collapsed in Sunbeams, which earned her two 2022 Grammy nominations in the States and won the Mercury Prize at home for Best British Album of 2021. With major dates opening for Harry Styles and Billie Eilish, and a stateside tour with Clairo under her belt, the singer of radio hits “Hurt” and “Softly” capped the first half of 2022 off with her debut taping for Austin City Limits. 

Parks’ eight-piece band came out first, singers and horn players on either side of the usual guitar/bass/drums/keys lineup, and started a warmly funky groove. Arriving in shorts, lime-green sneakers and a Dizzy Gillespie T-shirt, Park went immediately into the smooth R&B of “Green Eyes” to great applause. After introducing herself to the audience, Parks and the band kept the soulful vibe going with “Portra 400,” a gem from Collapsed in Sunbeams that began in her bedroom home studio. She followed with the moodier, more atmospheric “Caroline,” encouraging the crowd to sing along to the chorus, before going into “Cola,” her very first single from her attention-getting EP Super Sad Generation, made while she was in high school. She then announced “Eugene,” which she called “my favorite” – a sentiment to which her fans apparently agreed, as they cheered the soul-pop take on unrequited love before it even began. 

Parks then did something that’s never happened on the ACL stage before: she read an original poem. Besides giving her a chance to catch her breath, it also took the audience back to her beginnings, when she wrote poetry and fiction before incorporating music. She followed that ACL milestone with the lovely ballad “Angel’s Song,” which truly sounded like an extension of her roots in written verse. The song has barely finished before a cymbal wash and electric piano chords heralded “Romantic Garbage,” an emotional but witty ballad from Super Sad Generation that was the song which led her manager to her and started her career. “I love playing that song,” she noted. Parks shifted the mood for the next song, the darker “Black Dog,” though it was less dwelling on depression than insisting it can be overcome. Then the groove pumped back up, the horns started to soar, and Parks led the band in “Hurt,” another song determined to pull its main character from the brink. 

Parks took a break to introduce the band, before launching into the soul tune “Too Good,” dismissing an emotionally detached ex with hooks and a groove and proving to be an immediate crowd favorite. She followed with “Softy,” a catchy electropop tune released as a single only a couple of months ago and destined for greatness, if the audience hand-waving is any indication. “It’s been very magical,” proclaimed Parks as the last song of the set loomed. “Sophie” ended the main set on a slinky, luscious soul groove and an epic guitar solo. Of course, Parks and her band returned for one more song, accepting flowers from an audience member before sending the crowd home with the affirmational, gospel-tinged “Hope.” “You’re not alone!” Parks declared, and everyone was with her as she left the stage. It was a strong showing by a relative newcomer, and we can’t wait for you to see Parks and her band when her episode airs this fall on your local PBS station as part of our Season 48.

Arlo Parks on Austin City Limits, 2022. Photos by Scott Newton.

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Featured News Taping Recap

Taping recap: Terry Allen & the Panhandle Mystery Band

Terry Allen and the Panhandle Mystery Band on Austin City Limits, 2021. Photo by Scott Newton.

A charter member of the Lubbock Mafia (Joe Ely, Butch Hancock, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, etc.), Terry Allen helped give rise to a substantial chunk of Lone Star musical style. Of course, Allen was long gone, off to his still-thriving career as a visual artist, by the time Ely and company made their names. But Texans take Texas with them wherever they go, and Allen’s unique take on the songwriting tradition he co-founded has continued to turn heads and blaze trails, including on his 2020 landmark thirteenth album Just Like Moby Dick, an album the Washington Post raves finds “new ways to marry his personal memories to more universal concerns about looming catastrophe and societal decay.” Returning to headline his own show for the first time since 1998, Allen and his all-star Panhandle Mystery Band showcased the album, and conducted a survey of his career to date, in a magnificent concert that we live streamed around the world. 

Allen and the PMB (guitarists Charlie Sexton and Lloyd Maines, fiddler Richard Bowden, accordionist/keyboardist Bukka Allen, bassist Glen Fukunaga, drummer Davis McLarty, cellist Brian Standerfer, percussionist Bale Allen and singer Shannon McNally) took the stage to wild applause from the crowd. Allen dedicated the show to his longtime friend and supporter Dave Hickey, who passed away three weeks ago, and went into the two-stepping “Amarillo Highway,” his signature tune from his classic 1979 album Lubbock (on everything). The round robin solos from Sexton (on a day off from Bob Dylan’s band), Bukka Allen, Bowden and Maines made clear what an amazing group Allen assembled for the show. He followed with one of his other Lubbock classics – the sardonic seduction waltz “The Beautiful Waitress,” before shifting from tentative love to definite destruction on the rocking “The Lubbock Tornado,” documenting a real-life storm from Allen’s childhood. “Disaster is fun,” he noted wryly. 

Next up were songs from the acclaimed Moby Dick, starting off with “Houdini Didn’t Like the Spiritualists,” a true life narrative documenting exactly that sentiment, as well as featuring a soulful McNally solo vocal. That was followed by “Death of the Last Stripper,” a tune co-penned by Dave Alvin and Allen’s wife Jo Harvey that acknowledged its title with the wistfully sad line “We’re the only ones who even know that she died.” McNally took the lead vocal for the ballad “All These Blues Go Walkin’ By,” which she, Jo Harvey, Sexton and Bukka Allen all had a hand in co-writing with Terry. The family affair continued with “City of the Vampires,” a song co-written by Allen’s nine-year-old grandson Kru that, once again, concerned exactly what the title promised. 

Allen introduced the PMB, before performing a suite of songs going all the way back to his first album, 1975’s Juarez, starting with the folky waltz “The Juarez Device (AKA Texican Badman).” The audience barely had time to clap before the group eased into the moody minor key narrative “What of Alicia,” which itself nearly crashed into the fan favorite rocker “There Oughta Be a Law Against Sunny Southern California.” Allen reached even further back for the next song: “Red Bird,” the first song he ever wrote, first performed on the TV show Shindig! in 1965. Moving forward a few decades, Allen said “This is for Jo Harvey” by way of introduction to the frisky “Flatland Boogie.” 

Then it was time to rock & roll once again, with the rollicking, Indian-flavored Allen standard “New Delhi Freight Train,” a song covered by Little Feat two years before Allen recorded it himself on Lubbock (on everything). He returned to Moby Dick for “Sailin’ On Through,” a mordant farewell that ruminates on the inevitable passing of, well, everything. But he and the band weren’t quite done. “We’ll end with a religious number,” Allen said, which meant one thing: “Gimme a Ride to Heaven Boy,” one of his most popular and hilarious songs, and a perfect way to close out this special show. A grinning Allen and the Panhandle Mystery Band took a bow to enthusiastic, well-deserved applause.  It was an excellent show and a great way to wrap our 47th season, and we can’t wait for you all to see it when it broadcasts early next year on your local PBS station. 

Terry Allen & the Panhandle Mystery Band perform on Austin City Limits, Season 47, 2021. Photos by Scott Newton.
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Featured Hall of Fame News Taping Recap Uncategorized

Taping recap: ACL 7th Annual Hall of Fame Honors

Photo courtesy Austin City Limits.

Following last year’s pandemic-related pre-emption, we were beyond thrilled for the return of our biggest event/party of the season: the Austin City Limits Hall of Fame Inductions & Celebration Presented by PNC Bank. We were proud to induct three longtime ACL favorites, all trailblazing artists who have all appeared on the show multiple times: renowned alt-country band Wilco, Austin rock icon Alejandro Escovedo, and the truly legendary singer/songwriter Lucinda Williams. Joined by a diverse and impressive line-up of musicians paying tribute to these fantastic figures, we had a grand time celebrating some of our favorite performers on our favorite night of the year. We were also excited to announce the formal unveiling of PNC Plaza at ACL Live as part of the ceremony. Our new partner PNC Bank has made a five-year commitment as the Official Bank of Austin City Limits.

Alejandro Escovedo. Photo courtesy Austin City Limits.

Following welcomes from Austin PBS acting CEO Lori Bolding and ACL executive producer Terry Lickona, it was time to induct the first honoree: Austin’s own Alejandro Escovedo. Legendary rock writer, producer and longtime Patti Smith guitarist Lenny Kaye did the honors. Kaye spoke of his long friendship with Escovedo, and what makes his eclectic, expansive body of work important not only to the industry, but to the world. Escovedo accepted his award in a stunning, sparkling lime-green jacket, and spoke of the influence of his wife Nancy Rankin, his Mexican family, especially his older brother, jazz great Pete Escovedo, and of his journey through music, as well as his gratitude to ACL for giving a platform to showcase his musical theater piece By the Hand of the Father in 2002. Joined by his niece, the incomparable Sheila E., behind the drum kit of the Austin All-Stars Band and his veteran backing singers and string section, Escovedo opened the music salute with “Algo Azul,” a song from his most recent album The Crossing, bringing out Alex Ruiz, frontman for Austin Latin-rock band Del Castillo and filmmaker Robert Rodriguez’s band Chingon, for an all-Spanish version of the song La Cruzada. Escovedo then welcomed another old pal, John Doe, co-founder of legendary Los Angeles punk band X, to sing the rocking story song “Sally Was a Cop,” from the 2012 album Big Station, amplified by a burning solo from house band leader Lloyd Maines on pedal steel. Escovedo finished his victory lap with a titanic take on “Put You Down,” his 1996 rock anthem with which he opened his 2006 ACL appearance. Guitars raged, the string section seared, and the audience response was deafening. 

Lucinda Williams with Rosanne Cash. Photo courtesy Austin City Limits.

The only way to follow that was by inducting another icon, which meant it was time to honor the singer/songwriter all other singer/songwriters bow down to: Lucinda Williams. One of her best-known disciples, Jason Isbell, inducted her into the HOF, explaining how Williams made a map for other songwriters, including himself, to follow. “This will fit real nicely next to my Grammys,” she commented wryly as she accepted her award. She praised Austin for helping give her her start, as well as Terry Lickona and the ACL staff. Isbell then took the stage to sing Williams’ beautiful “I Envy the Wind,” from her Grammy-nominated 2002 LP Essence. Williams joined her friend Rosanne Cash onstage to perform a moving version of the beguiling New Orleans tribute “Crescent City” from the Louisiana native’s groundbreaking 1988 self-titled LP, capped by a standing ovation from the crowd. Country rock star Margo Price joined Williams, presenting her hero with flowers and a heartfelt thanks for the example she sets. Along with the All-Stars, Price and Williams tore into “Changed the Locks,” the withering blues rocker also from 1988’s Lucinda Williams. After the two singers-in-arms left the stage, steel guitarist and house bandleader Lloyd Maines – the first musician to be inducted into the ACL Hall of Fame – introduced the ace ACL All-Stars Band: guitarist David Grissom, bassist Bill Whitbeck, drummer Tom Van Schiak and keyboardist Chris Gage. 

Wilco. Photo courtesy Austin City Limits.

Following an intermission, it was time to induct Wilco. Rosanne Cash welcomed her friends into the Hall with a speech touching on their “musical alchemy that’s just the thing if you want to spark a revolution in your audience.” Her words earned her hugs from all six members (leader Jeff Tweedy, bassist John Stirratt, guitarist Nels Cline, keyboardists Pat Sansone and Mikael Jorgenson, drummer Glenn Kotche), while Tweedy gave a speech thanking not only ACL but all the bands that gave them inspiration along the way. Wilco then picked up their instruments to do what they do best, opening their segment with Summerteeth’s rocking “A Shot in the Arm.” The band exited the stage with the exception of guitarist Nels Cline remaining to accompany their friend Bill Callahan on lap steel. The low-fi great sang “Sky Blue Sky” in his deep baritone, with Cline coloring the proceedings with keening steel lines. Legendary Texas singer/songwriter Terry Allen took the stage solo, for a stately piano performance of “One Sunday Morning.” Wilco returned to the stage joined by Japanese Breakfast’s Michelle Zauner, along with Lloyd Maines (who played on Wilco’s 1995 debut A.M.) for “Jesus, Etc.,” the pop charmer from 2002’s landmark Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.

“We’d like to invite everybody back on the stage,” said Tweedy, bringing the all-star cast out for a stellar reading of “California Stars.” Escovedo, Cash, Isbell, Allen, Sheila E., Price, Callahan, Kaye, Zauner, Doe, Maines, and the string players joined in on Wilco’s early career highlight for a powerhouse closer. It was a great way to end the show, and stay tuned for highlights on Austin City Limits 7th Annual Hall of Fame Honors when it airs January 8 on PBS.

ACL 7th Annual Hall of Fame Honors. Photos courtesy Austin City Limits.
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Featured New Broadcast News Taping Recap

Episode recap: Brandy Clark and Charley Crockett

photo by Scott Newton

Austin City Limits spotlights a pair of country’s finest: Brandy Clark and Charley Crockett in a new installment premiering October 30 at 9pm ET/8pm CT as part of the series Season 47. Acclaimed singer-songwriter Brandy Clark performs songs from her Grammy-nominated album Your Life is a Record and breakout troubadour Charley Crockett delivers an entertaining set with country & western songs from his latest Music City USA. Despite the challenges facing live music during the past year, ACL is proud to deliver a new season of performances for viewers, all recorded at ACL’s studio home in Austin, Texas in 2021, in front of limited live audiences. The program continues its extraordinary run as the longest-running music television show in history, providing viewers a front-row seat to the best in live performance for a remarkable 47 years. ACL airs weekly on PBS stations nationwide (check local listings) and full episodes are made available to stream online at pbs.org/austincitylimits immediately following the initial broadcast. 

An eight-time Grammy nominee, CMA and GLAAD Media Award-winner, Brandy Clark is one of her generation’s most respected and celebrated songwriters and musicians. The Nashville-based tunesmith has written smashes for Miranda Lambert, Kacey Musgraves, and others, as well as scoring her own string of hits. She’s been called “one of the greatest short-story-songwriters in country” and showcases her gift for capturing characters’ interior lives in her ACL debut. Performing gems from Your Life is a Record, Clark opens with the Grammy-nominated stunner “Who You Thought I Was.” A set highlight is “Remember Me Beautiful,” a powerful elegy to those lost, and a song that has especially resonated with audiences worldwide during the pandemic. Clark closes out her magnetic set with a pair of fan favorites from her 2014 debut album 12 Stories, the buoyant “Get High” and the stately “Hold My Hand,” demonstrating her remarkable range.

“I’m Charley Crockett…Charley with an ‘ey’ like Charley Pride and Crockett with two t’s like Davey,” announces the charismatic singer-songwriter in a luminous ACL debut. Hailing from the Texas bordertown of San Benito, the rising star is earning raves for his live shows and singular style that combines Western swing, swirling Tex-Mex, roadhouse boogies, Cajun and country blues. The prolific Crockett, a recent nominee for Emerging Act of the Year at the 2021 Americana Music Awards, performs his brand of “Gulf & Western” music in an irresistible set filled with highlights from his repertoire and his recent album Music City USA. Crockett opens with the throwback shuffler “Goin’ Back to Texas” accompanied by his band the Blue Drifters on shimmering keyboards, trumpet, pedal steel, standup bass and scorching guitar. The Lone Star native performs “In the Corner” from his recent tribute album to the late Texas honky-tonker James Hand alongside his own two-steppin’ classic “Welcome to Hard Times.“ Willie Nelson said it best,” says Crockett, “this one’s about the wrong side of the Mississippi” before launching into the title track Music City USA. “It’s been an honor to serve you tonight,” says Crockett as he and his band of Drifters ride out with the freight-train rhythm of “Paint It Blue.” 

“Austin City Limits has always been a home to the Country music outlaws, rule-breakers, and gender and genre-benders,’ said ACL executive producer Terry Lickona. “Brandy and Charley live up to that tradition. They’re both storytellers with an edge.”

Brandy Clark

WHO YOU THOUGHT I WAS

PAWN SHOP

LOVE IS A FIRE

REMEMBER ME BEAUTIFUL

GET HIGH

HOLD MY HAND

Charley Crockett

GOIN’ BACK TO TEXAS

IN THE CORNER

WELCOME TO HARD TIMES

LEAD ME ON

MUSIC CITY USA

IN THE NIGHT

THE VALLEY

PAINT IT BLUE

Season 47 Broadcast Line-up (second half of season to be announced separately):

October 2 Miranda Lambert with Jack Ingram & Jon Randall

October 9 Jade Bird / Dayglow

October 16 Jon Batiste

October 23 Sarah Jarosz / Billy Strings

October 30 Brandy Clark / Charley Crockett

November 6 Leon Bridges / Khruangbin

November 13 Jackson Browne

November 20 Brittany Howard

Watch live, stream anytime, and let ACL be a trusted sidekick for entertainment during these challenging days. The complete line-up for the full 13-week season, including five new episodes to air beginning January 2022, will be announced at a later date.  Viewers can visit acltv.com for news regarding live streams, future tapings and episode schedules or by following ACL on Facebook, Twitter and IG. Fans can also browse the ACL YouTube channel for exclusive songs, behind-the-scenes videos and full-length artist interviews.

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 in its 47th 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.  

Austin City Limits is produced by Austin PBS and funding is provided in part by Dell Technologies, Workrise, the Austin Convention Center Department and Cirrus Logic. Additional funding is provided by the Friends of Austin City Limits. Learn more about Austin City Limits, programming and history at acltv.com.

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Featured News Taping Recap

Taping recap: Phoebe Bridgers

Phoebe Bridgers, Austin City Limits, 2021. Photo by Scott Newton.

Few songwriters hit the level of acclaim earned by Phoebe Bridgers right out of the box. But the California native captured the hearts and minds of critics and music fans alike with her 2017 debut album Stranger in the Alps, not to mention her work with side bands boygenius (with Julien Baker and ACL alum Lucy Dacus) and Better Oblivion Community Center (with another ACL vet, Conor Oberst). But it was 2020’s Punisher that catapulted her into the ring of stardom, thanks to singles “Kyoto,” “Garden Song” and “Savior Complex” and a raft of Grammy nominations. So we were jazzed to host Bridgers for her debut Austin City Limits taping as she played Punisher from start to finish. 

“All right, let’s do it,” Bridgers said as she and her skeleton-costumed band took the stage, opening with “Motion Sickness,” a highlight from her debut. She moved over to Punisher, starting with the instrumental interlude “DVD Menu,” which led directly into the ethereal “Garden Song.” “This is our first indoor show in two years,” she noted, donning a B.C. Rich Warlock guitar for the sparkling power pop tune “Kyoto,” frosted with JJ Kirkpatrick’s trumpet fills. Putting aside her axe, she plucked the mic from its stand and joined pianist Nicholas White on his stand for the shimmering ballad that acts as the title track for Punisher. She kept the mood downcast and beautiful for “Halloween,”  a song keyed in on Bridgers’ three-part harmony with drummer Marshall Vore and violinist/guitarist Emily Kohavi. Guitarist Harrison Whitford contributed vocal counterpoint to the coda as well. 

Bridgers strapped on her acoustic guitar for another Alps number, the melancholy “Funeral.” Electric guitar came back for the epic “Chinese Satellite,” a masterfully crafted blend of the personal and political. That was followed by the carefully detailed “Moon Song,” a heartbreaking portrait of a relationship’s slow disintegration. She followed with the equally emotionally fragile “Savior Complex,” before getting more assertive with “ICU,” a song inspired by a political argument in a Whole Foods parking lot. Her band recalibrated itself so that Vore could come forward to play banjo alongside Kohvai’s violin for the semi-acoustic beauty “Graceland Too.” “Thanks for coming,” Bridgers said as she prepped for the final song. “This is wild. It’s been a dream.” She and the band ended the set appropriately with “I Know the End,” the epic that concludes Punisher, going out in a hail of freeform noise and distortion. Bridgers kicked her mic stand over, waved to the crowd, and was gone as the amps fed back. The show was an auspicious debut for a remarkable singer/songwriter, and we can’t wait for you to see it when it airs later this December on your local PBS station. 

Phoebe Bridgers tapes Austin City Limits, October 2021. Photos by Scott Newton.
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Featured News Taping Recap

Taping recap: Brittany Howard

Brittany Howard, Austin City Limits, 2021. Photo by Scott Newton.

Brittany Howard is no stranger to the Austin City Limits stage – she’s been on the show twice with her beloved band Alabama Shakes, plus appeared on our fortieth anniversary special. In 2019 she struck out on her own with her acclaimed debut solo record Jaime, named after her late sister, and garnered a fistful of Grammy nominations along the way. Originally scheduled to appear last year, before the pandemic put paid to that idea, Howard brought her long-awaited solo show to us at last, with a crack band, a setlist full of Jaime tunes and well-chosen covers, and an eclectic new sound. 

The eight-piece group of backing players arrived first, before the singer herself arrived in a glittering, sparkle-covered robe and bleached-silver hair. She picked up her guitar and went into a gutbucket take on Funkadelic’s “Hit It and Quit It,” featuring Howard and fellow axepeople Brad Allen Williams and Alex Chakour trading solos. She then dipped into Jaime for “He Loves Me,” her story of reconciling her sexuality with her spiritual upbringing. Howard discovered her inner Hi Studios groove for “Georgia,” singing about her desire for the titular entity over a mellow Memphis groove and organist Lloyd Buchanan’s foamy solo. She stuck with Southern soul for “Stay High,” her Grammy-winning radio hit. “Presence” upped the funk while keeping to the sensuous groove, and included more three-guitar action. Things got even greasier for “What I’m All About,” as Howard introduced the band, having them build up the song instrument by instrument, starting with jazz-soaked drummer Nate Smith. She and the band then kicked it old school, taking the Moody Theater to church with a rave-up cover of Jackie Wilson’s “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher & Higher.”  

“I wrote this song when I was on the low side of an 80/20 relationship,” Howard noted as she began “Baby,” a slow jam that explored the sorry side of love. Singers Karita Law and Shanay Johnson came over from stage left to join Howard up front for “Goat Head,” another Grammy-nominated track, and a forthright but danceable exploration of bi-racial identity. That midtempo groove continued with “Tomorrow,” a modern R&B showcase for how flexible and advanced Howard’s voice has become over the years. The funk came rumbling back for another Funkadelic cover, this time of the provocative “You and Your Folks, Me and My Folks” from Maggot Brain. The band followed with “13th Century Metal,” one of the most unique tracks on Jaime, a recitation on which she preached in defense of love and brother/sisterhood. She left the stage as she finished her proselytizing, as did most of the band, leaving the focus on Smith, a musician who knows how to make a drum solo compelling. Howard and her musicians came back to finish the song with exhortations to “Give it to love!” amongst Chakour and Howard’s guitar swirls. She left the stage again as the musicians brought the tune down in a psychedelic haze. 

That ended the first set, but not the show. Howard returned with a nylon-string acoustic guitar for another Grammy-nominated number, “Short & Sweet,” a jazzy ballad performed solo that was clearly an audience fave. The band returned to pluck another classic soul tune from the American repertoire, this time a faithful rendition of Stevie Wonder’s “For Once in My Life.” Howard went back to Jaime for the extra-funky, Grammy-nominated single “History Repeats,” featuring more synchronized dancing from Howard and the singers and plenty of audience participation. The momentum rolled on for “Revolution,” Howard’s unique psychedelic soul take on the late sixties Beatles hit, given an extra physical performance. The song sped up to “Shout” levels before crashing to a close to a hail of cheers and applause. “Y’all were a great crowd tonight,” she told the crowd. “I got charged all the way up!” With that, Howard quit the stage, ending a spectacular show that we can’t wait for you to see when it premieres November 20, 2021 as part of our new Season 47 on your local PBS station. 

Brittany Howard tapes Austin City Limits, October 2021. Photos by Scott Newton.