Michael Nesmith on Austin City Limits, 1993. Photo by Scott Newton.
Austin City Limits was sorry to learn of the passing of singer, songwriter, entrepreneur, music video pioneer and, of course, Monkee Michael Nesmith. He died of heart failure at the age of 78.
The Houston native was a creative lynchpin for the Monkees – the first member to pen original material for the group and the first to insist that the band play its own instruments and choose its own songs. After the Monkees ended in 1970, he formed the First National Band along with steel guitar pioneer Red Rhodes, and became one of the pioneers of country rock with the early seventies albums Magnetic South, Loose Salute, and Nevada Fighter and the singles “Joanne,” “Silver Moon” and “Rio.”
While he continued to record throughout his life, he eventually turned his attention to visual arts, pioneering long-form music video with the Grammy-winning Elephant Parts and forming the company Pacific Arts, which produced, among others, PBS’s acclaimed Ken Burns miniseries The Civil War. Nesmith also produced the cult comedies Tapeheads and Repo Man, produced records for singer/songwriters Iain Matthews, Bert Jansch and Texas’ own Carolyn Wonderland (whose wedding he officiated), wrote a pair of novels and served on the boards of the Gihon Foundation and the American Film Institute. He also participated in Monkees reunion tours, with the band playing its final show in November of this year.
In the midst of all those accomplishments, Nesmith also appeared on Austin City Limits in 1993, opening Season 18. Here’s his closing number, “Rio.”
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.
Olivia Rodrigo on Austin City Limits, 2021. Photo by Scott Newton.
Austin City Limits Season 47 continues with a bonus mid-season installment for fans. ACL spotlights a pair of next-generation singer-songwriters: multi-platinum Olivia Rodrigo and indie-rock original Phoebe Bridgers. Bothmake highly-anticipated ACL debuts in a new hour as part of the series Season 47. Rodrigo, a seven-time 2022 Grammy nominee, showcases songs from her chart-topping 2021 debut SOUR and Bridgers performs gems from her acclaimed Punisher. The broadcast premiere will launch Saturday, December 4 at 9pm ET/8pm CT on PBS and vary by market. Check local PBS listings for times. The episode will be available to music fans everywhere, streaming online the next day beginning Sunday, December 5 @10am ET at pbs.org/austincitylimits. Despite the challenges facing live music during the past year, ACL is proud to deliver a full season of performances for viewers, all recorded at ACL’s studio home in Austin, Texas in 2021, in front of limited live audiences. The complete broadcast line-up for the second half of ACL’s Season 47 featuring five all-new installments premiering January 8, 2022, will be announced shortly. The Peabody Award-winning 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 following the initial broadcast.
18-year-old singer-songwriter Olivia Rodrigo dominated the charts and smashed streaming records in a breakout year, earning multiple No. 1 hits with her self-penned, record-breaking, platinum debut album SOUR, nominated for seven 2022 Grammy Awards, including the coveted “Big Four” categories: Best New Artist, Album Of The Year, Record Of The Year and Song Of The Year. The L.A. based rising star has struck a chord with insightful songs about relationships and heartbreak that resonate with her legions of fans. Rodrigo makes her first full-set performance in front of a live audience in this appearance on the ACL stage. The celebrated album SOUR is the centerpiece of her irresistible, eight-song set as the stoked crowd sings-along to every word of her lyrics. Backed by an all-female band, Rodrigo bounds onto the stage barefoot to the spiky pop-punk of “brutal,” a song which rages against the pressures of public scrutiny and social media shame. Set highlights include the piano ballad “drivers license,” the breakup anthem and debut single that skyrocketed her to fame in early 2021, now nominated for three Grammy Awards, and the bitter stomp of another No. 1 megahit, “good 4 u.”
Phoebe Bridgers on Austin City Limits, 2021. Photo by Scott Newton.
Phoebe Bridgers’ celebrated album Punisher was one of 2020’s best-loved records, earning four 2021 Grammy nominations, including Best New Artist. The Pasadena, California-born and raised singer-songwriter doesn’t write love songs as much as songs about the impact love can have on our lives, personalities, and priorities. Bridgers has emerged as a defining musical force for a generation beset by doom and open about its mental health journeys. To say Bridgers writes about heartbreak is to undersell her blue wisdom; to say she writes about pain erases all the strange joy her music emanates. Joined by her skeleton-costumed six-piece band, Bridgers performs Punisher highlights, including the sparkling power pop gutpunch “Kyoto,” a 2021 double-Grammy nominated track. She stuns with the title track, a haunting rock heartbreaker detailing a relationship’s slow disintegration. She and her band close the set fittingly with the introspective “I Know The End,” amplified by trumpet fills and violin, ablaze in a hail of freeform noise and distortion, with Bridgers erupting in a primal scream. Bridgers makes an epic exit as she kisses her guitarist, kicks the mic stand over, and drops her guitar to the ground.
“In so many ways, Phoebe and Olivia are cut from the same musical cloth,” said ACL executive producer Terry Lickona. “Phoebe’s songs are edgy, mixing pain with joy in a weird but clever way. Olivia’s songs are much the same – bold, but sensitive at the same time. They are two of the most inspiring young singers to cross the ACL stage in years.”
Olivia Rodrigo setlist:
brutal
happier
jealousy, jealousy
drivers license
traitor
favorite crime
enough for you
good 4 u
Phoebe Bridgers setlist:
DVD Menu
Garden Song
Kyoto
Punisher
Savior Complex
I Know The End
The first half of ACL’s Season 47 featured standout performances with Miranda Lambert, Jon Batiste, Billy Strings, Khruangbin, Jackson Browne, Brittany Howard, Jade Bird, Charley Crockett, Brandy Clark, Sarah Jarosz and more. The complete line-up for the second half of ACL’s Season 47 featuring five all-new installments premiering January 8, 2022, will be announced shortly. Watch live, stream anytime, and let ACL be a trusted sidekick for entertainment during these challenging days. Viewers can visit acltv.com for news regarding live streams, future tapings and episode broadcast and streaming 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.
The nominations for the 64th annual Grammy Awards are out! We congratulate all the nominees this year, and we’d like to throw a spotlight on all the Austin City Limits alumni who received nods. The Grammy Awards telecast will broadcast on January 31, 2022 at 8 pm ET.
We’re thrilled to note that not only did Season 47 firebrand Jon Batiste lead the pack with a whopping 11 nominations, but they’re spread out across more categories than possibly anyone in Grammy history: Record of the Year, Album of the Year, two R&B nominations, two Jazz nominations, two American Roots nominations, and one each for soundtrack, classical composition and Best Music Video. The Marfa Tapes, the album showcased beautifully on our stage by Miranda Lambert and songwriting partners Jack Ingram & Jon Randall in our S47 premiere, received a nod for Best Country Album. S47 alumnus Olivia Rodrigo, whose ACL debut premieres December 4, scored seven nods, including top honors of Record, Song and Album of the Year, Best New Artist, two in the Pop category and Best Music Video. Season 47 artists with a pair of Grammy noms apiece include Leon Bridges, Billy Strings and Japanese Breakfast (who guested in our upcoming Hall of Fame episode) earning top honors in the R&B, Bluegrass and Alternative categories along with Jackson Browne, St. Vincent, Sarah Jarosz and Brandy Clark with prestigious nominations covering the Americana, Alternative, Folk and Roots spectrum.
St. Vincent, Austin City Liimits, 2021. Photo by Scott Newton.
A stellar slate of previous ACL performers wracked up the nominations as well, with Season 45 breakout H.E.R. earning eight nods, including Album and Song of the Year, Season 45 star Billie Eilish gaining seven, including Record, Album and Song of the Year, and Seasons 36 and 44 killer Brandi Carlile getting four, including Record and Song of the Year. Singer extraordinaire Angelique Kidjo and gospel queen CeCe Winans each earned three nominations, while Foo Fighters, Black Pumas, Kacey Musgraves, Chris Stapleton, Rhiannon Giddens, Sturgill Simpson, Yola, Femi Kuti, Bela Fleck and Robert Glasper of August Greene got two apiece.
The list of ACL veterans who received a nomination is too long to list here, but trust us: it’s impressive, and worth clicking through to the Grammys page to peruse. Congratulations and good luck to all the nominees!
UPDATE giveaway is now over.Watch the live stream here.
Austin City Limits will be taping a performance by Terry Allen & The Panhandle Mystery Band on Wednesday, December 1st at 8 pm at ACL Live at The Moody Theater (310 W. 2nd Street, Willie Nelson Blvd). We will be giving away a limited number of space available passes to this taping. Enter your name and email address on the below form by 12 p.m. on 11/26.
Winners will be chosen at random and a photo ID will be required to pick up tickets. Winners will be notified by email. Passes are not transferable and cannot be sold. Standing may be required. No photography, recording or cell phone use in the studio. No cameras computers or recording devices allowed in venue.
Brittany Howard on ACL, 2021. Photo by Scott Newton.
Austin City Limits spotlights celebrated singer and multiple Grammy recipient Brittany Howard in her return to the ACL stage for a highly-anticipated solo debut showcasing songs from her 2021 Grammy-winning gem Jaime. The new hour premieres Saturday, November 20 @8pm CT/9pm ET as part of the series Season 47. 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.
Brittany Howard delivers a revelatory hour of soul, funk, rock and jazz showcasing songs from her solo debut Jaime. The acclaimed autobiographical collection is a personal reckoning on love, religion, family and race in America. The Alabama native and Alabama Shakes frontwoman bounds onstage in a sparkling sequin robe with an irresistible cover of Funkadelic’s “Hit It or Quit It,” joyfully instructing her backing singers to “Show ‘em how we do it girls.” The gifted singer and performer takes the audience on a journey of Jaime highlights, including a radiant “Stay High” the Grammy-winning radio hit. Introducing the soul burner “Baby,” Howard winks “I wrote this song here when I was on the low side of an 80/20 relationship.” Joyously dancing with her backing singers, Howard segues into “Goat Head,” a powerful tale of identity, addressing her own experience growing up mixed race in the South. She dazzles with choice classics including the Jackie Wilson rave-up “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher,” and treats the audience to another round of Funkadelic with the provocative “You and Your Folks,” amplified with funky bass lines and guitar shreds from her eight-piece band. A set highlight is the spoken word poetry of “13th Century Metal,” a recitation on which Howard preaches in defense of love and brother/sisterhood: “It’s been said before but it bears repeating: “We are brothers and sisters, each and every one.” She unleashes her powerhouse vocals on the funky shuffle “History Repeats,” complete with synchronized dancing from Howard and her backing singers, and closes out the spectacular hour with a psychedelic soul take on the Beatles’ “Revolution.”
Brittany Howard and band on Austin City Limits, 2021. Photo by Scott Newton.
“Brittany Howard has always had a voice like none other,” says ACL executive producer Terry Lickona, “and she’s a transformative artist who’s pushing that voice to new heights that take her songs to a new realm. It’s a joyous ride for all of us!”
Brittany Howard setlist:
Hit It or Quit It
Georgia
Stay High
Presence
Higher and Higher
Baby
Goat Head
Tomorrow
You and Your Folks
13th Century Metal
Short and Sweet
History Repeats
Revolution
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 will be announced shortly. 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.
