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R.I.P. Paul English, longtime drummer for Willie Nelson

Paul English from the Austin City Limits pilot

We here at Austin City Limits were shocked to learn of the death of Paul English, Willie Nelson’s longtime drummer and best friend, after a bout with pneumonia.  He was 87. 

Born in Vernon, the North Texan grew up in Fort Worth, living the kind of outlaw life usually only glimpsed in the movies, a life that led him to be (proudly) listed in the Fort Worth Press’s “Ten Most Unwanted Criminals” for five years straight. (His son Paul, Jr. noted in the Oxford American: “If you’re writing songs about shooting people, it’s nice to have a guy who’s shot people up there onstage with you.” Read the whole compelling piece here.) He first played with Willie in 1955, becoming his regular drummer in 1966. From then on, English was the rock in Willie’s band – not only the Family’s heartbeat, but its road manager, tour accountant, collector, and, if need be, muscle. The subject of Willie’s fan favorite tune “Me and Paul,” English was also Willie’s running buddy for five decades, the man who watched his boss’s back, literally and figuratively, gun in boot, ready to take on anyone who showed his pal – or anyone in the Willie organization – any disrespect. English slowed down in recent years, having already been joined on drums by his younger brother Billy for many moons, but his larger-than-life persona, closeness to his employer, and de facto leadership of the Family Band kept him the heart and soul of Willie Nelson’s music. 

Due to his long tenure, English appeared in every episode featuring Willie as headliner, from the first in 1974 to the most recent in 2018. Here he is in the pilot, in his signature hat and cape, accompanying Willie & Family on “Devil in a Sleeping Bag” – a song about life on the road in which he figures as the titular Devil. 


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ACL Season 45 Streaming Bonus: Epic Hour with Rock Supergroup The Raconteurs

photo by Scott Newton

Steady now: Austin City Limits turns up the volume with a fan-favorite highlight from this season: a streaming-only bonus installment of The Raconteurs’ acclaimed appearance, back by popular demand and amplified by previously unseen performances for a full, hour-long set. The return of powerhouse rockers The Raconteurs, the supergroup featuring Jack White, Brendan Benson, Patrick Keeler and Jack Lawrence, in their first appearance in over a decade was one of the most-watched broadcasts of Season 45.  The free webisode offers double The Raconteurs and will be available to music fans everywhere to stream online here beginning Wednesday, February 12, 3 pm CT at pbs.org/austincitylimits. 

The Raconteurs’ electrifying Season 45 broadcast earned raves from viewers and critics alike: “The Raconteurs Cut Loose with Face-Melting Austin City Limits Performance”—Spin; “The Raconteurs Rock the Fuck Out on ACL TV”—Consequence of Sound. The 11-song enhanced performance includes five additional songs from their 2019 Austin City Limits taping—more of the incomparable Jack White and his partners-in-crime, more blazing guitar solos, more iconic riffs and more swaggering hooks.

The Raconteurs return with a full-tilt romp featuring killer gems from the acclaimed HELP US STRANGER, their third studio LP and first album in more than a decade. Featuring both Jack White and Brendan Benson as lead singers/guitarists AND songwriters, with an ace rhythm section of Jack Lawrence (bass) and Patrick Keeler (drums), and augmented by multi-instrumentalist Dean Fertita (Queens of the Stone Age) for this appearance, The Raconteurs deliver a love letter to classic rock in a performance for the ages. Fellow Detroit natives Benson and White trade-off lead vocals in a blistering 11-song set of pure rock and roll. Tearing into back-to-back STRANGER highlights including “Bored and Razed,” “Only Child,” “Sunday Driver” and “Help Me Stranger,” the energy is pushed to 11, as the band adds new classics to rock’s canon. The hard-driving combo dip back into 2008’s GRAMMY-winning Consolers of the Lonely for the searing “Old Enough” and “Top Yourself” anchored by White and Benson’s mighty guitar work, then nod to the Sixties with an ecstatic cover of Donovan’s 1965 classic “Hey Gyp (Dig the Slowness)”. With dazzling showmanship and guitars shredding in harmony, the band rips into the number that introduced The Raconteurs to the world,  “Steady, As She Goes,” from their 2006 debut Broken Boy Soldiers. White leads the crowd in call-and-response with the audience chanting “Are you steady now?” before the face-melting anthem erupts into an epic blitz of guitar bliss. Tying it all off is an extended version of “Carolina Drama,” The Raconteurs’ gothic American murder ballad. “If you want to know the truth of the tale,” howls White, with the Austin audience chanting the final, dramatic “Go and ask the milkman” line for a storybook ending and a standing ovation.

“As usual, The Raconteurs are doing what comes natural – reminding us that rock and roll is alive and well, and in Jack White’s hands the power of the guitar has no match,” said ACL executive producer Terry Lickona.

THE RACONTEURS SETLIST: *(additional songs not in original broadcast)

BORED AND RAZED*

ONLY CHILD*

NOW THAT YOU’RE GONE

SUNDAY DRIVER

HELP ME STRANGER

THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS*

OLD ENOUGH*

TOP YOURSELF

HEY GYP (DIG THE SLOWNESS)

STEADY, AS SHE GOES

CAROLINA DRAMA*

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R.I.P. Lyle Mays of the Pat Metheny Group

Austin City Limits is disheartened to learn of the death of Pat Metheny Group keyboardist Lyle Mays, who died at age 66 in Los Angeles on Feb. 10 after a recurring illness. 

Born in Wisconsin to musician parents, Mays studied piano and organ from an early age. After graduating from the University of North Texas, where he’d composed and arranged for the college’s famous One O’Clock Lab Band, Mays joined clarinetist Woody Herman’s group on the road. He met Pat Metheny in 1974, recording the guitarist’s second album Watercolors with him in 1977 and forming the Pat Metheny Group that same year. As co-writer, producer and arranger, Mays recorded fourteen albums with the band over the course of thirty-plus years, winning eleven Grammy awards along the way. He also performed as a sideman for artists ranging from Joni Mitchell to Earth, Wind & Fire, as well as composing music for theater and children’s records. Mays released five solo albums, including 1993’s Fictionary, a trio record with fellow North Texas alumnus Marc Johnson. After retiring from music following the Metheny Group’s final tour in 2010, the self-taught computer programmer followed his other passion and became a software manager. 

Here is Mays performing “Proof” in 2003 with the Pat Metheny Group on Austin City Limits. 


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R.I.P. Joseph Shabalala of Ladysmith Black Mambazo

photo by Scott Newton

We here at Austin City Limits are saddened to learn of the death of singer and teacher Joseph Shabalala, founder of South African choral group Ladysmith Black Mambazo, who appeared on ACL in 2006. He was 78.

He was born Bhekizizwe Joseph Siphatimandla Mxoveni Mshengu Bigboy Shabalala in 1941 in the town of Ladysmith (eMnambithi district) in the KwaZulu-Natal region of South Africa. In the late fifties he joined the Durban Choir, leaving them two years later when they refused to perform his original songs. He founded his own isicathamiya group the Blacks in 1959, renaming them Ladysmith Black Mambazo in 1960. The group signed a recording contract in 1972, selling 40,000 copies of their first album Amabutho, making it South Africa’s first gold-selling record. Ladysmith Black Mambazo continued to be popular in its home country, but gained international fame after appearing on singer/songwriter Paul Simon’s Grammy-winning 1986 LP Graceland, specifically the songs “Diamonds on the Souls of Her Shoes” and “Homeless,” which Shabalala co-wrote. The group won its first Grammy in 1988 for its album Shaka Zulu, winning four more over the course of a long – and ongoing – international career. Shabalala retired from performance with Ladysmith Black Mambazo in 2014, continuing to teach choral music until his death. 

Here is Shabalala on Austin City Limits in 2006, closing out the night’s performance with “Phansi.”  

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Episode Recap Featured New Broadcast News Uncategorized

Rosalía invigorates ACL’s season 45 finale

photo by Scott Newton

Austin City Limits closes out Season 45 with a spectacular full-hour performance showcasing celebrated Spanish singer-songwriter Rosalía in her ACL debut. The globally praised Flamenco-fusion artist has taken the music world by storm, winning her first Grammy Award and five Latin Grammys while also garnering the first-ever Best New Artist Grammy nomination for a principally Spanish language artist.

Catapulted to global stardom with chart-topping Spanish language hits, Rosalía lights up the ACL stage in an irresistible hour, filled with songs from her acclaimed 2020 Grammy-winning El Mal Querer album, which also led the field of winners at this year’s Latin Grammy Awards—including the first “Album of the Year” recognition in 13 years for a solo female artist. She dazzles in a stellar 16-song set that showcases her trailblazing fusion of classic flamenco, reggaetón, hip-hop and electronic beats. The captivating red-clad singer, flanked by dancers in sheer red outfits, opens the hour with “Pienso En Tu Mirá,” her emotive vocals augmented by double-time flamenco handclaps and exciting choreography. The 26-year-old Catalan, Spain native puts her hand to her heart as she reacts to enthusiastic cheers from the Austin audience, saying “It means so much to me to be here because I’m very far from where I am from.” Rosalía has revolutionized flamenco, making it accessible for a new generation, and thrills the rapt audience with a passionate, goosebump-inducing a capella version of an early 20th century flamenco classic, “Catalina.” A gifted, expressive singer and dancer, she tilts her head back to unleash her powerful vocal amid rhythmic handclaps and the audience erupts. Rosalía closes out a stunning set with back-to-back showstoppers including the smash international single, “Con Altura,” her chart-topping collaboration with reggaetón star J Balvin (which has racked up more than 1.2 billion views on YouTube, making it 2019’s most-viewed music video by a female artist) and the breakout single “Malamente” that started it all, earning six 2018 Latin Grammy nods, propelling Rosalía from Spanish pop star to international sensation.

“‘Original’ is often a cliché when it’s applied to new music, but there’s no better way to describe Rosalía,” says ACL executive producer Terry Lickona. “Her impact is profound – blurring all the boundaries between cultures, genres, and generations. She is the future, here today.”

As always, check your local PBS listings for the broadcast time in your area, and don’t forget to click over to our Facebook and Twitter pages or sign up for our newsletter for more ACL info. Join us next week for a special encore episode, featuring Americana superstar Brandi Carlile. 

ROSALÍA setlist:

PIENSO EN TU MIRÁ

BAREFOOT IN THE PARK

DE MADRUGÁ

CATALINA (a cappella)

DIO$ NO$ LIBRE DEL DINERO

A NINGÚN HOMBRE

DE AQUI NO SALES (PREGÓN)

DI MI NOMBRE

BAGDAD

BRILLO

PARRITA REMIX

SANTERÍA

YO X TI, TU X MI

CON ALTURA

AUTE CUTURE

MALAMENTE

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Featured News Taping Recap

Yola opens ACL 46 taping season with buckets of soul

photo by Scott Newton

You’d be forgiven for thinking Yola is from the American South.  But singer, songwriter and multiple Grammy nominee (including four nods in the Americana category) actually hails from Bristol, England. She recorded her debut Walk Through Fire with Black Keys frontman Dan Auerbach for his Easy Eye Sound label, garnering much love and acclaim, as well as those Grammy noms. Now her path leads her to her debut taping for Austin City Limits, which doubles as our first taping for Season 46, live streamed around the world.

The singer and her band took the stage and immediately began “Lonely the Night,” a midtempo bit of melancholy that near-perfectly inhabits the midpoint between soul and country – a sweet spot Yola owns. Donning her acoustic guitar, Yola’s vision further crystallized in follow-up “Ride Out in the Country,” one of the tunes that brought her to the public’s attention (as evidenced by the crowd’s enthusiasm), and given a tight, simmering reading here. “Shady Grove” took a more relaxed route, alluding to the folk music from which the title is adapted. Her album’s title track came next, with Yola sharing the story of its surprising inspiration: a house fire in which she was caught, which she remarkably translated into a smoldering love song with the help of Auerbach and legendary songwriter Dan Penn. She went back to folk rock for “Love All Night (Work All Day),” a tribute to doing what’s necessary to sustain one’s passion. Acknowledging the inspiration of Graham Nash and the Hollies, she then injected a dollop of soul into the Hollies’ “The Air That I Breathe,” ironically a song on which Nash himself did not perform. The audience loved it anyway. “That was fun, wasn’t it?” she teased. 

Yola put down her guitar for “Faraway Look,” perhaps her most well-known hit (so far), giving the ballad the full force of her magnificent voice. After introducing the band, she sang the upbeat, uplifting “Love is Light” and the sadder (but still upbeat) “Still Gone.” Yola then flipped her back pages for the rocking “What You Do,” a track from her 2016 debut EP Orphan Offering. “It Ain’t Easier” followed, a powerhouse ballad that once again unleashed her full vocal power. Yola and her group closed the main set with a song by “my all-time hero,” Elton John – namely the grand ballad “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,” which was unsurprisingly right up her alley. The crowd sent her off with a huge roar of applause. 

Needless to say, Yola wasn’t done quite yet. She and the band came back onstage with “I Don’t Wanna Lie,” an old-fashioned soul groover that became an audience singalong. She brought the show home with Aretha Franklin’s explosive take on the classic Marvin Gaye/Tammi Terrell tune “You’re All I Need to Get By.” The audience went wild once again, as Yola walked off in triumph. It was a great show and a great season debut, and we can’t wait for you to see it when it airs this fall on your local PBS station.  

  • photo by Scott Newton
  • photo by Scott Newton
  • photo by Scott Newton
  • photo by Scott Newton
  • photo by Scott Newton
  • photo by Scott Newton
  • photo by Scott Newton
  • photo by Scott Newton
  • photo by Scott Newton