Congratulations from Austin City Limits to all the Grammy nominees this year, especially to the 15 artists featured this season on our show – nice job racking up 24 total nods. We’ll find out who won on February 12 when the Grammy Awards hit the airwaves. Good luck, everybody!
Here’s our list, along with the next date of broadcast:
There’s no better way to wrap up taping a new season of Austin City Limits than to do it with old friends. In that spirit, Wilco took the stage for the first time at ACL Live at The Moody Theater and fourth time overall with a two-hour, 22-song set that ranged far and wide across their 17-year career. Dubbed by the Austin Chronicle’s Austin Powell “an amazing evening,” the edited show will broadcast on Feb. 4, 2012. You can see some great photos from Brooklyn Vegan here and a nice wrap-up from the Austinist here.
Naturally, the set list concentrated on the Chicago band’s latest LP The Whole Love – nine of that album’s twelve songs were included. Opening with the quiet, mellow “One Sunday Morning” (the new record’s closing track, oddly enough), the band also graced the Moody with sharp pop rockers “I Might,” “Born Alone” and “Dawned On Me,” as well as the country waltz “Open Mind,” the noisy anthem “Art of Almost” and the deceptively frothy pop tune “Capitol City,” which bandleader Jeff Tweedy introduced thusly: “This is for you, Austin. This is one of the most divisive songs in the Wilco repertoire. Enjoy.” Divisive? How? It’s a great tune.
But the band didn’t just highlight the latest record – they also peppered the set with gems plucked from nearly every LP in their back catalog. From the tension-filled rocker “Bull Black Nova,” the concise tribute “The Late Greats” and the psychedelic ballad “Radio Cure” to the lovely folk song “Far Far Away,” the no-frills rocker “Shouldn’t Be Ashamed” (from their debut album A.M.) and their quintessential song “I Am Trying to Break Your Heart,” Wilco touched on nearly every era of its existence, leaving out only cuts from Summerteeth and its Billy Bragg/Woody Guthrie collaborations.
“This is a song, if you’ve ever seen Wilco play, you’ve seen us play this song. And yet, it never made it on television,” remarked Tweedy before launching into the fan fave “Jesus, Etc.’ At the song’s conclusion, a fan called out “Well done!” much to Tweedy’s amusement. “Impossible Germany” featured a jaw-dropping solo from guitarist Nels Cline, performed on the late Duane Allman’s Les Paul Goldtop. “He’s only the 82nd greatest guitar player of all time,” Tweedy proudly informed the adoring crowd, referring to his abashed bandmate’s showing in Rolling Stone’s recent list of 100 Greatest Guitarists. “Nels Cline just gave maybe the greatest guitar solo in ACL history,” claimed @timbasham on Twitter.
The band ended its long set with the much-beloved “Heavy Metal Drummer,” one of its warmest, funniest, catchiest and most touching tunes. But the evening wasn’t quite over yet. Wilco closed out the night by inviting tour opener Nick Lowe – “our hero” – to front a smashing cover of Lowe’s hit “Cruel to Be Kind,” conjuring the spirit of the original recording for an absolute treat. “Dear @Wilco: You blew my mind tonight. Sincerely, me,” commented @nakia on Twitter.” For real… a two hour #acltv taping with Nick Lowe!?!?” Andrew Pacetti wrote on Facebook, “Awesome show…first rock show for my 3yo son…can’t think of any better way to introduce him to live music in Austin.” Jenny Hurta Douglas put it more succinctly: “That. Was. Awesome.”
It remains to be seen what will make it into the televised episode – we don’t envy the band, the editors or Terry Lickona having to whittle these excellent performances down to an hour’s worth. But it’ll be an amazing hour, as you’ll discover when the show broadcasts on February 4th next year – check with your local PBS station for the exact showtime. “Wilco..and Austin City Limits..does it get any better than that?” commented Toby Holcomb on Facebook. No, it doesn’t.
Join Austin City Limits when we ring in the new year with a special performance by Coldplay.
The first-ever ACL New Year’s Eve special – a rare 90-minute episode – will be aired on PBS on Saturday, December 31, 2011 at 11 p.m. (check local listings). You can also view Coldplay New Year’s Eve: An Austin City Limits Special on pbs.org starting at 11 p.m. ET on December 31st.
“We decided to go big with Coldplay – really big. So we came up with the idea of celebrating New Year’s Eve with a 90-minute special. All the hits plus their brand new songs,” said ACL Executive Producer Terry Lickona. “It’ll be a great way to kick off 2012!”
MTV described the taping: “It was one of those special nights when a band with a major arsenal finds a way to take its giant energy and squeeze it down into a much smaller space, without losing any of their arena-packing magic.”
Playing in front of the neon-colored set they brought with them to enhance our iconic skyline, Coldplay electrified the crowd with old favorites and new songs including the first-time ever public performance of new song “Up in Flames.”
Tune-in on New Year’s Eve and count down with us …
Heads up, hardcore C&W fans. The next installment of our Reel Rarities series at the Alamo Drafthouse is coming your way, featuring the great Loretta Lynn. Head to the Alamo Ritz on Monday, Nov. 28 at 7:30 for this classic episode from Season 8. The Coal Miner’s Daughter – “Don’t Come Home a-Drinkin’,” “One’s On the Way,” “Thank God I’m a Country Girl” and “You Ain’t Woman Enough (to Take My Man).” If you like your country music unfiltered, this episode will be a slice of Kentucky heaven. Click here for more details.
Reel Rarities: Handpicked Gems from the ACL Vault is an ongoing series at the Alamo Drafthouse. Tickets are $5 and the sales benefit our buddies at the Health Alliance for Austin Musicians.
Here at ACL HQ, we don’t just stay within the borders of our (admittedly impressive) territory – we like to keep up with the interesting stuff our peers do as well. Case in point: the venerable Americana Music Association throws a four-day party in Nashville every year called the Americana Music Festival, sort of a more roots music-oriented version of Austin’s own SXSW. The highlight of a week of beer and bands is the annual Americana Music Association Honors and Awards ceremony – at which our own Terry Lickona received a lifetime achievement award in 2008. (You can see a list of every year’s winners here.)
We think this festival is a cool thing, so we’re proud to partner with the AMA and Nashville’s longstanding public television station WNPT for ACL Presents: Americana Music Festival, airing Saturday Nov. 19 on your local PBS station. ACLP:AMF (say that three times fast – or, um, at all) taped on October 13, the night of the Awards and Honors show, and features a plethora of performances from that magical evening.
And who might be providing those performances, you might ask? You get everyone from ACL vets Robert Plant (recipient of Album of the Year for Band of Joy), Lucinda Williams (Lifetime Achievement Award for Songwriting) and the Avett Brothers (Duo/Group of the Year) to Justin Townes Earle (Song of the Year for “Harlem River Blues”), Candi Staton and the Civil Wars. Gregg Allman (who appeared on ACL with the Allman Brothers Band back in Season 21) celebrates his Lifetime Achievement Award for Performance by crooning the classic “Melissa,” and Emmylou Harris and Alison Krauss lead a tribute to the film soundtrack of O Brother Where Art Thou. All this and Amos Lee, Elizabeth Cook, Jessica Lea Mayfield, bandleader Buddy Miller and host Jim Lauderdale as well.
For more info on the embarrassment of riches that is this show, head over to the episode page for pics, clips, the set list and more. And, of course, for more scuttlebutt on all things ACL, you should visit the Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr pages and sign up for our newsletter.
After ACLP: AMF, we’ll take a break from Season 37 for the holidays. But we have lots of excellent encore episodes coming your way, including a much-beloved classic from way back in Season 4. Stay tuned.
It’s no secret that Austin City Limits makes a habit of showcasing musical legends. Merle Haggard, Tom Waits, Neil Young, Loretta Lynn, Jimmy Cliff – the archives are packed with the best of the best. This Saturday, November 12, we add another musician’s musician and songwriter’s songwriter to the ACL canon: the great Randy Newman.
Both a tender balladeer and a master satirist, Newman’s songs span the breadth of popular music for the past five decades. Three Dog Night took “Mama Told Me (Not to Come)” into the top 10 in 1970, Newman scored his own #2 hit with the infamous “Short People” and hooked another, younger generation as the composer of Pixar film music, like Toy Story’s beloved “You’ve Got a Friend in Me.” (Don’t even pretend you won’t be singing along with your kids to that song.) In between chart milestones he’s scattered brilliant tunes like “Sail Away,” “Feels Like Home,” “Harps and Angels,” “Political Science,” “You Can Leave Your Hat On” and “Lousiana 1927” across the pop culture landscape like a farmer planting seeds in the field. And you get all of these and more in this show.
ACL producer Terry Lickona chased the Oscar-winning Newman for nearly three decades, and this episode proves it was worth the wait. Is it too early to call it a classic? Nope – we’re callin’ it now. Click here for pics, bio info and the full set list, and don’t forget to tune in Saturday night to find out for yourself. Don’t worry – you can leave your hat on.
As always, check out our Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr pages for more ACL magic, and sign up for our newsletter for monthly missives from ACL HQ. Next week: an ACL Presents special featuring performances from this year’s Americana Music Festival!
