We here at Austin City Limits were shocked to learn of the death of singer/songwriter Nanci Griffith on Friday, August 13. No cause of death was announced.
Born in Seguin and raised in Austin, Griffith became a favorite on the Texas singer/songwriter circuit, releasing her first album There’s a Light Beyond These Woods in 1978. She first appeared on Austin City Limits in 1985, wearing a bright yellow, flowered dress she made herself especially for the show. Joined by a mini-orchestra of Nashville and Austin luminaries (including a young singer/songwriter named Lyle Lovett), Griffith wowed the hometown crowd with songs from her then-new album Once in a Very Blue Moon.
Griffith went on to appear on ACL seven more times, including five headliner shows, two songwriters specials, and as a guest of Hootie & the Blowfish.
She last appeared on the show in 2001, supporting her record Clock Without Hands.
We’re deeply saddened to lose this remarkable singer, performer and tunesmith, whose influence has been felt on nearly every Texas singer/songwriter who came afterward. May the Last of the True Believers rest in peace.
Brandy Clark is, quite simply, one of the most exciting singer/songwriters to come out of Nashville. A multiple Grammy nominee, CMA award winner, and GLAAD Media award winner, Clark has written massive hits for Miranda Lambert, Kacey Musgraves, and more, as well as scoring her own hits thanks to her highly acclaimed latest album Your Life is a Record. It was inevitable that she would grace the ACL stage, and we were thrilled to live stream the performance around the world.
Clark and her five-piece band opened with “Who You Thought I Was,” a lovely mid-tempo yearner with Kaitlyn Raitz’s cello in place of steel guitar. After noting that she grew up watching ACL (“a real bucket list gig for me”) and PBS, Clark visited the “Pawn Shop” for the kind of classic story song that all great C&W writers master. She followed that with “Love is a Fire,” an absolutely gorgeous ballad that would melt the coldest of hearts. The mood didn’t stay somber for long, however, as Clark sang “Long Walk,” a repurposing of the phrase “Take a long walk over a short pier” (learned from her mother, who was in attendance) and intended as a riposte to trolls everywhere. With “Same Devil,” a duet with Brandi Carlile on Your Life is a Record, Clark broadened her reach, putting a spotlight on everyone struggling with inner – and outer – demons. She pulled back for a more personal angle for the ballad “You Can Come Over” (“but you can’t come in”), leveling straight into the thematically similar but emotionally pricklier “Love Can Go to Hell.” Then it was time for more sociopolitical commentary, via the famous phrase “Bigger Boat” from Jaws, a film Clark admitted to being obsessed with as a youth.
It’s almost impossible for artists not to acknowledge Covid in some way, and Clark was no exception with the luminous “Remember Me Beautiful,” a powerful elegy to those lost. She then put her own spin on the classic C&W prison song with the clever, funny “Stripes.” The melancholy breakup tune “Can We Be Strangers” broke everyone’s heart all over again, before “Pray to Jesus” refocused on sardonic social commentary. With “Get High,” Clark
told a story about an old high school friend that, as she’s discovered, is the same friend lots of us had – the type of person who grows up and deals with being overwhelmed by visiting Mary Jane at night. She got even funnier with the two-stepping “Daughter,” a sly poke at the sort of man who uses women and spits them out – “Karma’s a bitch, and I hope you have a daughter.” Her penultimate song “Like Mine” nodded to anthem territory, throwing its arms around everyone with a “heart like mine.” Clark ended the set with “Hold My Hand,” a stately, fan-favorite ballad from her first album 12 Stories that sent us out gently into the night. It was a perfect way to end her debut taping, and we can’t wait for you to see her in action as part of our forty-seventh season this fall on your local PBS station.
There’s no country music quite like Texas country, and there’s no Texas country musician quite like Charley Crockett. The multi-faceted Lone Star native spent years in different states and styles before bringing it all home and putting his self-described Gulf & Western imprint on our state’s honkytonk legacy, with his upcoming album Music City USA. Since Texas country is the music on which Austin City Limits cut its teeth, we were only too happy to host his debut ACL taping, which we live streamed around the world.
Crockett and his band the Blue Drifters opened the show with a mariachi trumpet, signaling the Latin-flavored chickaboom of “Run Horse Run,” which segued directly into the rhythmically similar “5 More Miles.” “It’s the pleasure of my life to be here at Austin City Limits tonight,” the San Benito native proclaimed. He kicked into the honkytonk shuffler “Goin’ Back to Texas,” moving his feet as much as the dancers out front. “Borrowed Time” followed in a similar vein, with keyboardist/trumpeter Kullen Fox adding a rippling accordion solo. Fox kept the squeezebox strapped on for “Lead Me On,” a soulful ballad written by Austin blues legend Miss Lavelle White. Crockett stuck with covers, introducing a trio of superb C&W songs by late Texas country singer James Hand: “Midnight Run,” “Lesson in Depression” and “In the Corner,” all recorded on Crockett’s Hand tribute LP 10 For Slim: Charley Crockett Sings James Hand. Like his hero, Crockett sings like he’s lived every word.
Having paid his respects to a seminal influence, the singer dipped back into his own material for the two-steppin’ “Welcome to Hard Times.” “We’d like to try a brand new one out on ya,” Crockett noted before the lovelorn waltz “I Need Your Love,” from his upcoming album Music City USA. Having left the audience’s hearts sufficiently bent, the singer sang a (slightly) more reassuring song with “Don’t Cry” – “Because I love you, I’ll always be comin’ back home.” He then went in an even more traditionalist direction, summing up the theme of country music in general with the Texan two-stepper “Lies and Regret.” Crockett nodded to his roots with “The Valley,” a song paying tribute to the Rio Grande Valley in which he was born; “I’m very proud of that fact, but it’s the kind of place that if you want to make something of yourself, you have to wander pretty far afield.” The Drifters added a Latin sway to the rhythm of “Trinity River,” accented once again by Fox’s trumpet work. The band then switched genres with “This Foolish Game,” a slow burning Texas blues number that gave lead guitarist Alexis Sanchez a chance to shine.
Appropriately enough, Crockett followed the blues with R&B, specifically the soul ballad “Ain’t Gotta Worry” and the organ-frosted hipsway “In the Night.” “Oooh, doggie,” Crockett declared in response to the dancers’ efforts. “Wildcat – rowrr!” He returned to country for “Music City USA,” nodding to the clash of cultures that gave rise to American music, as well as the honkytonker “Jamestown Ferry,” originally a hit for Tanya Tucker. Crockett and the Drifters closed the set with the freight-train rhythm and tuneful refrain of “Paint It Blue.” The musicians quit the stage, but the audience chanted “Charley! Charley!” until the man of the hour returned alone with his guitar. “I never thought I’d get here,” admitted Crockett, before talking about his early days as a street singer and potential record deals with labels who didn’t understand him (or did and just didn’t want him to be himself). He then closed the show with “Are We Lonesome Yet,” the kind of tune that would have earned him a fat songwriting contract in the days of Harlan Howard and Hank Cochran. That was the perfect way to end Crockett’s sterling debut, and we can’t wait for you to see it when it airs this fall on your local PBS station.
Austin City Limits’ stellar summer of Season 47 tapings continues with the highly anticipated debut taping of acclaimed singer/songwriter Brandy Clark on August 3 at 8pm CT. The taping will also be live streamed, as ACL offers fans worldwide a unique opportunity to watch the ACL taping live in its entirety at this location.
An eight-time Grammy nominee and CMA Award-winner, Clark is one of her generation’s most respected and celebrated songwriters and musicians. Her most recent Grammy-nominated album, last year’s Your Life is a Record, was produced by Jay Joyce and features Clark’s most personal songwriting to date. The widely-praised record landed on several best of the year lists including NPR Music, Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly, Variety and Slate, who declares Clark, “one of the greatest living short-story-songwriters in country (which really means in any genre)…I don’t think there’s a 2020 country or country-adjacent album that outdoes Clark’s,” while The New Yorker declares, “No one is writing better country songs than Brandy Clark is…Your Life is a Record is the best-sounding album that she’s released,” and Variety proclaims, “one of the very best singer-songwriters contemporary country has.” The hitmaker, whose songs include Kacey Musgraves’ “Follow Your Arrow,” Miranda Lambert’s “Mama’s Broken Heart,” The Band Perry’s “Better Dig Two” and Hailey Whitter’s “Ten Year Town,” also recently released a special deluxe edition of Your Life is a Record in honor of the album’s one-year anniversary, which features six new songs including “Remember Me Beautiful” and collaborations with Brandi Carlile and Lindsey Buckingham. In addition to being nominated for Best Country Album and Best Country Solo Performance at the 63rd Grammy Awards, Clark was recently awarded Outstanding Music Artist at the 2021 GLAAD Media Awards. Clark adds another accolade to her shelf with her ACL debut.
Join us here on August 3 at 8pm CT for this performance by Brandy Clark. The broadcast episode will air this fall on PBS as part of our upcoming Season 47.
Due to implemented safety measures and the ongoing uncertainty from COVID-19, there is currently no public giveaway for access to attend upcoming ACL tapings. With the safety of the artists, crew and guests top of mind, the limited studio audience will be prioritized to our donors who make Austin City Limits possible and who have continued to support the show during this challenging time and beyond. We will expand the audience as safety measures allow and will post giveaway opportunities on ACLTV.com as available. Thank you for your patience as we work to reopen safely. We can’t wait to get back to the music with our supporters and fans. We have more exciting tapings coming up as part of our Season 47, and more information on those shows will be forthcoming.
About 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 KLRU 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, KLRU-TV 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.
Austin City Limits is thrilled to announce we will live stream the highly-anticipated debut taping of a rising star, Texas country singer Charley Crockett on July 28 at 8 p.m. CT. ACL offers fans worldwide a unique opportunity to watch the ACL taping live in its entirety at this location.
Newly nominated for Emerging Act of the Year at the 2021 Americana Music Awards, Charley Crockett has become one of the leading lights in independent country music following a decade of busking on the streets of New York City and New Orleans, and only two years removed from life-saving open-heart surgery. The South Texas native crafts his self-proclaimed “Gulf & Western” sound by synthesizing country, blues, soul, cajun, Western Swing, R&B and other pieces of American roots music into an unmatched, truly singular sound. When Crockett’s voice comes out of your speakers, there is no confusing him for any other artist. Rolling Stone raves Crockett is “Gearing up for a breakout year” and NPR Music calls him “such a fascinating mix, very 21st century and very vintage.” The Wall Street Journal agrees, “Mr. Crockett’s unique vocal style is one third Ernest Tubb honky tonk with clipped-word diction, one third Bill Withers low-key, soulful crooning, and one third jazzy French Quarter second-line swagger.”
Hailing from the Texas bordertown of San Benito, Crockett was raised in an isolated, rural part of the Rio Grande Valley by a single mother in a trailer surrounded by sugar cane and grapefruit fields. As a teenager he was into free-styling and rapping. He spent formative years living with his uncle in New Orleans where he first became a street performer who discovered a love for folk music. In New York City he played hip hop and blues on street corners and in subway cars. What’s important to his identity as an artist, says Crockett, is that he has lived the songs he writes and sings. The prolific artist surprise released 10 For Slim: Charley Crockett Sings James Hand, a tribute to his friend and Texas honky tonk hero James Hand in February, and just announced Music City USA, another full-length album of new songs, out in September. We’re excited to welcome Charley Crockett and his band the Blue Drifters to the ACL stage.
Join us here on July 28 at 8 p.m. CT for this performance by Charley Crockett. The broadcast episode will air this fall on PBS as part of our upcoming Season 47.
Jon Batiste may be best known to millions as the bandleader for Stephen Colbert’s late night talk show, but the full spectrum of his talents has to be seen in his own shows to be believed. The New Orleans native has a long career as a jazz and soul musician, having released his debut album in 2003 at 17. The Juilliard-educated singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist has performed all over the world in dozens of contexts, streamlining down to this year’s stunning eighth studio album We Are. Thus we were understandably excited to finally have this remarkable musical polymath make his ACL debut, and Batiste rewarded everybody’s anticipation with a performance for the ages.
The cowboy-hatted ten-piece band hit the stage with a Caribbean groove before Batiste himself arrived in his own Stetson, leading the ensemble into the title track of We Are, the leader’s funky, celebratory anthem of the African diaspora, with Batiste even flexing a verse from Notorious B.I.G.’s “Juicy”. The high energy onstage and off signaled that this would be a show that started cranked up to eleven, and would just get higher from there. Batiste sat at the piano (briefly) to kick off the amped-up single “I Need You,” bringing gospel fervor, New Orleans funk and the leader’s cameo on saxophone together. The crowd barely had a chance to catch its breath before the unmistakable sound of a New Orleans second line floated in the air, heralding the arrival of that city’s Hot 8 Brass Band from the back of the hall. The melodica-wielding Batiste left the stage to join the band in the middle of the crowd for the Love Riot chant – “I feel good/I feel free/I feel fine just being me!” – and had the crowd in his pocket as he cued them to wave the white handkerchiefs distributed before the show began.
Batiste came back onstage for “Boy Hood,” a tribute to his youth in the Big Easy that mixed rap, soul balladry, a trombone solo from the Hot 8, and portions of Bob Marley’s “One Love,” Bobby McFerrin’s “Don’t Worry, Be Happy,” and Bill Withers’ “Lean On Me,” which Batiste made into both a reminder that all people are in it together and into choir practice for the crowd. Batiste paced the stage, waiting for the next tune, which was “Whatchutalkinbout,” a seamless blend of rap and rock that let guitarists Brandon Niederaruer and Ari O’Neal cut loose with duelling solos. As the Hot 8 rejoined the proceedings, Batiste picked up his Bo Diddley-style axe for “Tell the Truth,” a soulful raveup that spotlighted firebrand percussionist Négah Santos. Batiste took the opportunity to preach positivity to the people, before tossing his guitar aside, adding a piano solo, and commanding the mic once again. “This is not a concert for me,” Batiste asserted after the song concluded. “This is not a concert. This is a spiritual practice. I play music to be with y’all.”
The Hot 8 once again started a second line groove, letting the leader get in some dancing time, before he turned over the vocals to singers Tamara Jade, Desiree “DesZ” Washington and Susan Carol (playfully dubbed the Jonettes). Batiste then had the crowd go as low down as they could – “quad workout, baby!” – before, naturally, a massive audience jumpfest for the coda of “Tell the Truth.” Batiste and the horns snuck off the stage during the celebration, leaving the band to jam on some serious funk that showcased every member, including bassist Thad Tribbett, keyboardist David Grant, drummers Joe Saylor and Lunar RAE, Santos, and the two six-stringers.
Having exchanged his red suit for a blue striped ensemble, Batiste returned, dazzling at the piano on a variety of jazz, classical and ragtime pieces, including Chopin’s “Minute Waltz,” “Chopsticks,” Scott Joplin’s “The Entertainer,” Bach’s “Partita No. 1 in B-Flat Major,” and New Orleans standard “St. James Infirmary Blues,” among many others, some lasting no more than a phrase. That last piece concluded with Batiste and the Jonettes back on vocals, leading a Cab Calloway-style call-and-response with the crowd. He finished his medley with some boogie woogie that transitioned into Jerry Lee Lewis pound. Batiste then revisited his recent Oscar-winning soundtrack for the animated film Soul with “It’s All Right,” turning it into a medley by recasting the Isley Brothers’ “Shout” in Soul’s image, before returning to “It’s All Right,” driving the audience wild.
Then it was time for a surprise guest, as Austin favorite son Gary Clark Jr. casually walked up onstage, picked up his guitar, and traded solos with Batiste on the slinky soul tune “Cry.” “Y’all ready to get free?” Batiste asked the crowd, to off-the-charts applause. Naturally, that exchange was a harbinger for “Freedom,” a classic feel-good anthem that got band and crowd dancing with abandon. Then it was back to the second line, as the white handkerchiefs came back out, the Hot 8 Brass Band returned, and Batiste joined the fans on the floor, leading the entire room in the joyful catharsis of a reprise of “I Need You.” The Hot 8 took us out, as the crowd went wild once again.
Amazingly, Batiste returned to stage after the finale, sitting at the piano for a captivating take on his ballad “Don’t Stop,” from 2018’s Hollywood Africans – a mic drop if we’ve ever heard one. It was an incredible show destined to be a Season 47 highlight and we can’t wait for you to see it when it hits your local PBS airwaves this fall.
