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Featured News

R.I.P. Billy Joe Shaver

photo by Scott Newton

Austin City Limits is devastated to learn of the death of singer/songwriter Billy Joe Shaver, one of the pioneers of the outlaw country movement. He died Wednesday Oct. 28 in the hospital in Waco following a stroke. He was 81. 

Nobody wrote songs about hard living and redemption like Billy Joe Shaver. Whether he was talking about falling off the wagon or getting back on, the Corsicana, Texas native’s plainspoken eloquence found the beauty in the rough times, and expressed it with optimism for the future. On his classic, much-covered tunes like “Georgia On a Fast Train” and “I’m Just An Old Chunk of Coal (But I’m Gonna Be a Diamond Someday),” Shaver didn’t wallow in the seamier side of life – he understood that the bad times were as important a part of the journey as the good ones, and never gave up on hope, love, or joy. Though he mystifyingly never enjoyed the same level of fame as his contemporaries Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson or John Prine, he was admired, respected and loved by them all. Indeed, Jennings brought Shaver to prominence by filling his classic 1973 LP Honky Tonk Heroes with the troubadour’s songs. 

Billy Joe Shaver on Austin City Limits, 1985

“A writer once said that Waylon Jennings and Billy Joe Shaver were ‘the first of the last real cowboys,’” said ACL executive producer Terry Lickona. “Billy Joe added the heart and soul and grit and edge that made so-called outlaw country music real. He lived the life he wrote about, and we’re proud to have showcased his music four times over the years.”

As Shaver put it in one of his most famous songs, “I’m gonna live forever.” Perhaps not in body, but most definitely in body of work. Rest in peace, Billy Joe – you were definitely a diamond. 

Billy Joe and Eddy Shaver on Austin City Limits, 1997
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Featured Live Stream News Taping Announcement

ACL to live stream Ruthie Foster on 11/1/2020

photo by Ricardo Piccirillo

Austin City Limits is excited to announce we will live stream the upcoming taping of Austin’s own powerhouse singer and songwriter Ruthie Foster on Nov. 1 at 7 p.m. CT. ACL offers fans a unique opportunity to watch Foster’s ACL taping live in its entirety from the safety of their homes and screens at this location. ACL has taped before a live audience for its entire 45-year history, but recently resumed tapings with the first-ever no audience tapings in the history of the program; Foster’s performance will also be taped without an audience. 

In the tight-knit musical community of Austin, Texas, it’s tough to get away with posturing. You either bring it, or you don’t. If you do, word gets around. And one day, you find yourself duetting with Bonnie Raitt, or standing onstage with the Allman Brothers at New York’s Beacon Theater and trading verses with Susan Tedeschi. You might even wind up getting nominated for a Best Blues Album Grammy — three times in a row. And those nominations would be in addition to your seven Blues Music Awards, three Austin Music Awards, the Grand Prix du Disque award from the Académie Charles-Cros in France, a Living Blues Critics’ Award for Female Blues Artist of the Year, and the title of an “inspiring American Artist” as a 2018 United States Artists Fellow.

There’s only one Austinite with that résumé: Ruthie Foster. Drawing influence from legendary acts like Mavis Staples and Aretha Franklin, Foster developed a unique sound unable to be contained within a single genre. That uniqueness echoes a common theme in Ruthie’s life and career – marching to the beat of her own drum. Ruthie’s latest album Live at the Paramount, swings back to the days (and nights) when Lady Ella sang Ellington and Sinatra blasted off with Count Basie and Quincy Jones. Ruthie refers to her live shows as “hallelujah time,” and we are thrilled to welcome her back to the ACL stage for her first headlining appearance since her 2003 debut. 

Join us here on Nov. 1 at 7 p.m. CT for this performance by Ruthie Foster. The broadcast episode will air early next year as part of our upcoming Season 46, on PBS.

Categories
Featured News

R.I.P. Jerry Jeff Walker

from Episode #113, 1976

Austin City Limits is saddened to learn of the death of Austin musical mainstay Jerry Jeff Walker, following complications of throat cancer. He was 78. 

To call Jerry Jeff Walker important to the Austin music scene is to nearly damn him with faint praise. Flush with royalties from the success of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s 1971 cover of his song “Mr. Bojangles,” the New Yorker moved to Austin in 1971, beating both Willie Nelson and Asleep at the Wheel to the punch. The former Ronald Crosby proceeded to catalyze the progressive country movement, a homegrown scene in clubs like Soap Creek Saloon and Armadillo World Headquarters that helped launch what we now call Austin music. Along with Michael Martin Murphey, B.W. Stevenson, Rusty Wier, Steven Fromholz, and other so-called cosmic cowboys, Walker pioneered a style of singing and songwriting that flavored its country with folk introspection and rock & roll energy, influencing everything from outlaw country to the Red Dirt music scene along the way. On albums like 1973’s Jerry Jeff Walker and ¡Viva Terlingua! and hits like “Up Against the Wall, Redneck Mother” (written by Ray Wylie Hubbard but made famous by Jerry Jeff), Walker and his pals used their rowdy yet laid back sound to bring together both sides of the Texas cultural divide, with hippies and rednecks, liberals and conservatives, finding common ground by virtue of their love for good tunes, good beer, and a good party. 

Naturally, Walker is one of the artists featured in The Improbable Rise of Redneck Rock, the late Jan Reid’s 1974 overview of Austin’s rising music scene. (Note: longtime ACL photographer Scott Newton provided the photos for the 2004 edition of the book after original photographer Melinda Wickman’s archives were lost.) That tome was a key inspiration in the early years of Austin City Limits, so naturally Walker was invited to appear on the program. He first appeared with his running buddies the Lost Gonzo Band during the 1976 debut season, in an episode that debuted the future ACL theme song “London Homesick Blues,” which first appeared on ¡Viva Terlingua! Walker came back to the stage in 1980, 1986, as part of the Austin City Limits reunion special featuring the cosmic cowboys from the early seasons, and 1988, a memorable show featuring a string section. Every show proved to a national audience what we here in Austin already knew: that Jerry Jeff Walker was, in his own words, “Contrary to Ordinary.” Our collective hat is off to you, Jerry Jeff – Austin music would not have been the same without you. 

Jerry Jeff Walker and the Lost Gonzo Band backstage at Austin City Limits, 1976
Categories
Episode Recap Featured New Broadcast News Uncategorized

New broadcast: Rufus Wainwright

photo by Scott Newton

In early September, in the midst of the global pandemic, Austin City Limits made history with its first-ever show in 46 years without a live audience. The unprecedented performance, featuring acclaimed singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright in his ACL debut, premieres October 24 at 8pm CT/9pm ET on PBS as part of the iconic series’ Season 46. Rufus performs highlights from Unfollow the Rules, his first new pop album since 2012. The songwriter delivers a breathtaking performance for troubled times, filled with signature razor-sharp lyrics and soaring vocals. With live music still on pause, ACL continues to provide viewers a front-row seat to the best in live performance. The series airs weekly on PBS stations nationwide (check local listings) and full episodes are made available online for a limited time at pbs.org/austincitylimits immediately following the initial broadcast.  

Rufus Wainwright established himself as a daring, fearless new voice two decades ago with his much-lauded 1998 eponymous debut. Now one of the most distinctive voices in popular music, Rufus showcases songs from his widely acclaimed ninth studio album Unfollow the Rules. Inspired by middle age, married life, fatherhood, friends, loss, London and Laurel Canyon, the release captures the restless creative at the peak of his powers. Opening the intimate hour with the lush, witty pop tune “Trouble In Paradise,” he leans into the record’s Laurel Canyon influence with “Damsel In Distress,” a wonderfully melodic song inspired by his friend and neighbor Joni Mitchell. Backed for this appearance by members of North Texas bands Midlake and the Texas Gentlemen, Rufus’s resplendent vocals are at their soaring best and most exposed. He celebrates the content family man he has become with the domestic bliss gem “Peaceful Afternoon” written for his husband and the sparkling “My Little You” for his young daughter. His maturation into a seasoned artist is evident on the magnificently dramatic “Early Morning Madness” and the barbed “Devils And Angels (Hatred).” Rufus closes the stunning set with a personal-political song from his 2007 album Release the Stars, remarking with trademark caustic wit: “Here’s another uptempo number about everything’s so terrible,” before launching into “Going To A Town,” featuring the  daringly outspoken chorus: I’m going to a town that has already been burnt down…I’m so tired of America.”  

“I like to say we make history every time an artist makes their debut on Austin City Limits,” said ACL executive producer Terry Lickona, “but this was historic on a grand scale. Taping without an audience in the midst of the pandemic, uncertain whether it was even possible, was an emotional experience. Rufus delivered an epic performance like no other.”

Rufus Wainwright setlist:

Trouble In Paradise

Damsel In Distress

Unfollow The Rules

You Ain’t Big

Peaceful Afternoon

Only the People That Love

My Little You

Early Morning Madness

Devils And Angels (Hatred)

Alone Time

Going To A Town

Season 46 Broadcast Line-up (six new episodes to be announced):

October 3 The Best of John Prine 

October 10 Yola

October 17 Stevie Ray Vaughan 30 Years On

October 24 Rufus Wainwright

October 31                ACL Presents: 50 Years of Asleep at the Wheel

November 7             John Legend & The Roots: Wake Up!

November 14 Jackie Venson | Mavis Staples w/Bonnie Raitt

November 21            The Mavericks

Tune-in, log on, 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 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.

About Austin City Limits

Austin City Limits 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 46th 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, RigUp, 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. 

Categories
Featured News Taping Recap

Taping recap: Ray Wylie Hubbard

photo by Scott Newton

Forty-six years in the making, the long-awaited taping of the great Texas songwriter Ray Wylie Hubbard was worth the wait. One of the original Texas outlaws, Hubbard is arguably best known for his early ‘70s composition, the much-recorded anthem “Up Against the Wall, Redneck Mother.” The Oklahoma native/longtime Lone Star resident relaunched his career in the nineties, and in one of music’s most remarkable second acts, has been prolifically recording critically-lauded work ever since. So we were thrilled to finally have the revered Texas troubadour on our stage for his first-ever headline appearance in a rousing performance that was livestreamed around the world. 

Hubbard and his ace four-piece band, which includes his son Lucas on guitar, drummer Kyle Schneider, Bukka Allen on keyboards and Gurf Morlix on bass, kicked things off with the bluesy “Rabbit,” on which he declares that, while he doesn’t know what “between the devil and the deep blue sea” mean, “maybe it means I’m funky and cool – maybe it means I’m on Austin City Limits!” “So that’s what a smattering of applause sounds like,” said the jovial raconteur, noting the lack of a live audience due to the pandemic. The songwriter drove his band even deeper into the swamp with “Snake Farm,” the title track to his 2006 album. After band intros, Hubbard launched into “Drunken Poet’s Dream,” a co-write with Hayes Carll the pair performed together during Carll’s ACL appearance in Season 36. Hubbard then turned his attention to Co-Starring, his acclaimed recent major label debut, featuring guest appearances from titans Joe Walsh, Ringo Starr, Chris Robinson and more. He showcased a trio of tracks from the record in a row, including the bluesy grind of “Bad Trick,” a song penned with his wife Judy. He donned a 12-string for “Rock Gods,” a heartfelt tribute to Tom Petty and his peers who’ve entered the Pearly Gates, and a meditation on how death comes to us all. After those sobering thoughts, Hubbard led the band into the funky rocker “Fast Left Hand,” highlighted by earthy solos from Allen’s Hammond organ and the younger Hubbard’s guitar.

“If this is the first time you’ve seen me on Austin City Limits, you might get the idea that I’m an acquired taste,” Hubbard remarked. “So this song should weed you out.” That bon mot dropped, the singer/songwriter pulled out the outlaw swamp rocker “Mother Blues” from 2012’s The Grifter’s Hymnal – the story of a stolen Les Paul Goldtop, two romances rooted in an afterhours gig, and the wisdom of keeping your gratitude higher than your expectations. He and the band launched into his 2017 classic “Tell the Devil I’m Gettin’ There As Fast I Can,” a “kind of rock & roll fable” that, as Hubbard explained with a wink in the intro “hopes God grades on a curve.” Longtime drummer Schneider then thumped out the rumbling groove of an anthem, “Wanna Rock and Roll,” the album closer from 1992’s Lost Train of Thought, a tune later recorded by the red dirt rockers Cross Canadian Ragweed that earned Hubbard enough royalties “to buy a fence. That’s very important where I live.” 

Hubbard ended the show with “Desperate Man,” a song he co-wrote with country superstar Eric Church (and the title track of Church’s 2018 LP) – a bluesy rocker that encapsulates as well as any his characters’ outlaw ethos. It was a great way to end a great show, and we can’t wait for you to see it when it airs early next year as part of our Season 46 on your local PBS station. 

photos by Scott Newton
Categories
Episode Recap Featured New Broadcast News

Episode recap: Stevie Ray Vaughan 30 Years On

photo by Scott Newton

Austin City Limits celebrates an icon with Stevie Ray Vaughan 30 Years On, an epic hour featuring the guitar giant’s two classic appearances on the ACL stage, on the 30th Anniversary of his tragic death. Widely hailed as one of the premier blues-rock guitarists, the Grammy-winning Vaughan made magic in his ACL outings and the broadcast captures his magnetic performances. The installment premieres October 17 at 9pm ET/8pm CT as part of the live music beacon’s Season 46. With live music still on pause, ACL continues to provide viewers a front-row seat to the best in live performance. The series airs weekly on PBS stations nationwide (check local listings) and full episodes are made available online for a limited time at pbs.org/austincitylimits immediately following the initial broadcast.  

Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble’s two iconic appearances on the ACL stage in 1983 and 1989 rank among the most highly-requested episodes in the program’s archives. Stevie Ray Vaughan 30 Years On, an hour-long special, showcases the pair of performances in a rare broadcast, bookends of an incredible career cut short by the guitar hero’s tragic death in a helicopter crash at age 35 on August 27, 1990. The Texas bluesman’s towering command of the Fender Stratocaster was unparalleled, and Vaughan bridged the gap between blues and rock ‘n’ roll with an excitement that hadn’t been witnessed since Jimi Hendrix’s reign, sparking a rebirth of the blues, and inspiring a new generation of music fans. Three decades later, his lasting influence continues to resonate as countless musicians credit Vaughan’s ACL appearances as their inspiration to pick up the guitar. Vaughan and Double Trouble were inducted into the inaugural class of the Austin City Limits Hall of Fame in 2014 and the hometown legend is forever memorialized with a bronze statue in Austin. 

The thrilling hour opens with Vaughan’s December 1983 ACL debut, with the iconic riff of his signature “Pride and Joy,” as the virtuoso captivates with his passion-fueled guitar music and blistering Stratocaster solos. Performing alongside Double Trouble, featuring Chris Layton on drums and Tommy Shannon on bass, the guitar-slinger soars on a pair of inspired covers: the title track to his 1983 debut album Texas Flood, with a slowburn reading of the Lone Star classic, dazzling with his ability to play the guitar behind his back, and an epic interpretation of Jimi Hendrix’s “Voodoo Child” that is pure rock ‘n’ roll swagger.

Vaughan made his final ACL appearance on October 10, 1989, less than a year prior to his untimely death, newly sober and at the height of his powers, in a performance for the ages. Delivering back to back highlights from his acclaimed 1989 final album In Step, including “Tightrope,” “Cold Shot” and “Leave My Girl Alone,” Vaughan’s performance is extraordinary, displaying a combination of raw power, deep emotion and technical brilliance with note perfect solos. Augmented by the addition of keyboardist Reese Wynans, Double Trouble and Vaughan sizzle with an exhilarating performance of their 1989 smash “Crossfire,” punctuated by the guitar icon’s scorching runs. “This one goes out to anyone who’s still suffering in any way,” says the all-time great as he launches into the shimmering instrumental “Riviera Paradise,” pushing the guitar to new heights and continuing to explore new boundaries.

“30 years after his tragic death, these performances serve as bookends to Vaughan’s brilliant career with Double Trouble,” says ACL executive producer Terry Lickona, “showing a striking contrast between ‘zero self-confidence’ and ‘pure magic,’ but in both cases you can see a master at work.”

“My brother was so incredibly talented,” says Jimmie Vaughan. “Austin City Limits captured many of his best performances.”

Stevie Ray Vaughan 30 Years On setlist:

Pride and Joy

Texas Flood

Voodoo Child (Slight Return)

Tightrope

Leave My Girl Alone

Cold Shot

Crossfire 

Riviera Paradise

Season 46 Broadcast Line-up (six new episodes to be announced):

October 3 The Best of John Prine 

October 10 Yola

October 17 Stevie Ray Vaughan 30 Years On

October 24 Rufus Wainwright

October 31                ACL Presents: 50 Years of Asleep at the Wheel

November 7             John Legend & The Roots: Wake Up!

November 14 Jackie Venson | Mavis Staples w/Bonnie Raitt

November 21            The Mavericks

Tune-in, log on, 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 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.

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 46th 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, RigUp, 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.