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Episode Recap Featured New Broadcast News

Billie Eilish reveals many dimensions on ACL’s Season 45

photo by Scott Newton

Austin City Limits spotlights newly minted five-time Grammy Award winner Billie Eilish in an epic hour.  The global pop phenomenon performs her off-kilter pop hits and songs from her acclaimed multi-platinum smash WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? 

18-year-old Los Angeles native Billie Eilish just swept the 2020 Grammy Awards, winning Best New Artist, Song, Record and Album of the Year, becoming only the second person in Grammy history to win all of the “Big Four” categories and the youngest person ever to win Album of the Year. 

Eilish’s celebrated debut album, 2019’s WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? is the centerpiece of her stunning ACL debut, and the striking neon-green clad teen commands the stage in an electrifying 14-song set, accompanied by her brother and collaborator FINNEAS, who earned his first Grammys as 2020 Producer of the Year for his sister’s debut.  

Sporting a shock of lime-green hair and an oversized t-shirt, Eilish playfully saunters onstage to the electronic pulse of her Grammy-winning, No. 1 megahit, the pop-noir smash “bad guy,” as her whisper-speak vocals lend a sinister edge to this tale of dark seduction. She thrills on the thorny world domination fantasy “you should see me in a crown,” directing the delirious crowd to “sing as loud as you possibly can.” The innately groundbreaking artist remakes pop iconography and gives voice to 21st century teen ennui with lacerating songs about Gen Z angst, recreational drug use, heartbreak and self-destruction. Eilish performs the early career highlights that launched her meteoric rise: the sparse, synthy 2016 viral hit ballad “ocean eyes” (that generated a massive online following), and the spellbinding, melancholy “idontwannabeyouanymore,” from her 2017 EP Don’t Smile At Me. 

A truly hypnotic performer, Eilish flaunts her range, singing with featherlight vocals and a lingering ache on the haunting heartbreak anthem “when the party’s over”—about going home angry and alone—before giving in to the sampled screams and grim impulses of the monster under the bed fever dream “bury a friend” for a riveting closer. The young star then descends into the rapt ACL audience, sweetly embracing her fans, enveloped in a screaming sea of hands and iPhones. 

photo by Scott Newton


“Whether you’re already a hardcore fan, or you were captivated by her mesmerizing Grammy performance, this is a rare opportunity to see the many dimensions of Billie Eilish live in concert,” says ACL executive producer Terry Lickona. “An artist like Billie comes along once in a generation. Her Grammy sweep is historic; her ACL performance is historic.”

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 another new episode, featuring Grammy-winning Spanish star Rosalía. 

BILLIE EILISH setlist:

bad guy

my strange addiction

you should see me in a crown

idontwannabeyouanymore

copycat

when i was older

wish you were gay

xanny

all the good girls go to hell

ilomilo

bellyache

ocean eyes

when the party’s over

bury a friend

goodbye (outro)

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Featured Live Stream News

ACL to live stream Yola’s taping debut

Austin City Limits is thrilled to announce that we are live streaming the first taping of our new Season 46—also the first taping of 2020—featuring multiple Grammy-nominee, British country-soul singer Yola, as she makes her ACL debut on February 4 at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT on the ACL YouTube channel.

Produced by ACL three-timer Dan Auerbach, Yola’s debut Walk Through Fire is a career-defining and genre-bending release from one of the most exciting emerging acts in music today. Yola’s arresting vocals captivate with sincere tales of heartache and loves lost, forgotten, and broken. Released on Nashville’s Easy Eye Sound, the album earned widespread critical acclaim from national press including The New York Times, Vogue, Rolling Stone and NPR, with The Los Angeles Times raving, “British, black and bold, Yola is shaking up American roots music”. Yola counts none other than Sir Elton John as a major fan, with the music icon hailing the singer-songwriter “as one of his favourite rising stars.” 

Known for show-stopping live performances, Yola’s 2019 highlights include standout appearances at ACL Fest, Glastonbury, Newport Folk Festival, SXSW and Farm Aid. She has shared the stage this past year with Dolly Parton, Mavis Staples, Kacey Musgraves, The Killers, Sheryl Crow and Brandi Carlile, and is currently opening for Chris Stapleton on multiple U.S. tour dates. We’re thrilled to welcome Yola to the ACL stage.

Join us here on February 4 at 8 p.m. CT for Yola’s soulful set. The broadcast episode will air as part of our new Season 46, premiering in October on PBS.

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Featured News Uncategorized

ACL congratulates the 2020 Grammy winners

photo by Scott Newton

Austin City Limits extends our congratulations to our Season 45 ACL performers for their big wins at the 62nd annual Grammy Awards. 

Billie Eilish took top honors last night, taking the trifecta of Song of the Year, Album of the Year, and Record of the Year, as well as Best New Artist and Pop Vocal Album of the Year, all thanks to her double platinum debut When We Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? (Her brother and creative partner Finneas also won Producer of the Year.) You can watch Billie showcase the LP on ACL in a new full-hour episode premiering Saturday, Feb. 1 on PBS – check your local listings, of course. 

photo by Scott Newton

Season opener Gary Clark Jr. also took home multiple trophies, winning Best Rock Song, Best Rock Performance, and Best Contemporary Blues album. Other Season 45 guests with brand new Grammy awards on their shelves include Patty Griffin (Best Folk Album), Cage the Elephant (Best Rock Album), Vampire Weekend (Best Alternative Music Album) and Rosalía (Best Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album). The Spanish singer/songwriter/dancer will be featured in a full-hour performance in our season finale premiering February 8. 

photo by Scott Newton

We also salute ACL alumni Grammy winners: Tanya Tucker (Best Country Song, co-written by ACL two-timer Brandi Carlile, and Best Country Album – amazingly, her first wins in her decades-long career), Willie Nelson (Best Country Solo Performance), Elvis Costello (Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album), Sarah Jarosz and Nickel Creek’s Sara Watkins (Best American Roots Song as part of supergroup I’m With Her), Esperanza Spalding (Best Jazz Vocal Album), Rodrigo y Gabriela (Best Contemporary Instrumental Album), Delbert McClinton (Best Traditional Blues Album), Keb’ Mo’ (Best Americana Album), Angelique Kidjo (Best World Music Album), Dolly Parton (sharing the Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance with King and Country) and John Legend (Best Rap/Sung Performance, for “Higher,” his collaboration with DJ Khaled and the late Nipsey Hussle). 

photo by Scott Newton

In addition, beloved singer/songwriter John Prine (saluted by his old friend Bonnie Raitt) and punk rock progenitor Iggy Pop both received Lifetime Achievement Awards for their distinguished service to music. ACL congratulates all the honorees and 2020 Grammy Award winners. 

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Episode Recap Featured New Broadcast News Uncategorized

Cage The Elephant and Tank and The Bangas galvanize ACL Season 45

photo by Scott Newton

Austin City Limits spotlights thrilling live bands in a new installment featuring rock giants Cage The Elephant, one of music’s biggest live acts. The hour also introduces a 2020 “Best New Artist” GRAMMY nominee, New Orleans breakout act Tank and the Bangas. 

Hailing from Kentucky, the Nashville-based six-piece Cage The Elephant perform tracks from their acclaimed fifth album Social Cues, alongside career highlights in a stellar, hit-filled set. Charismatic lead singer/live wire Matt Shultz takes the stage in a signature makeshift outfit: elbow-length blue gloves, blue tights adorned with women’s lace underwear, headphones and goggles. A wardrobe rack and a trunk filled with props sit onstage amidst the amplifiers, as the shape-shifting frontman changes outfits with each song. “It’s a lot of work wearing all these different personalities,” says Shultz, while seamlessly delivering a seven-song set of his ubiquitous alternative-rock hits. Opening with the new wave-heavy smash “Broken Boy,” Shultz, known for his wild antics, stalks the stage in a can’t-look-away performance. Reaching back to 2015’s GRAMMY-winning Tell Me I’m Pretty for “Cold Cold Cold,” Shultz changes into fluorescent yellow fishermen’s gear, and ventures into the audience, sprinting into the bleachers and sliding down the steps backward on his head. Without missing a beat, the hit parade continues with melodic charmer “Trouble,” as the crowd sings along with every word; an iconic slide guitar riff next signals the 2008 breakthrough hit “Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked,” as Shultz dons a fishnet face mask and climbs onto the P.A. for the Cage classic. The band closes out with radio smash “Come a Little Closer,” turned into a raucous, audience participation anthem.

“Matt Shultz takes the prize for the most wardrobe changes in a single show in ACL history,” laughs ACL executive producer Terry Lickona. “Who knew? Nobody knows quite what to expect from Cage The Elephant, and that’s a big part of why their fans love them so much.”

photo by Scott Newton

New Orleans five-piece R&B, funk and hip-hop outfit Tank and the Bangas shine in a radiant ACL debut featuring songs from the 2019 major label debut Green Balloon. A unit where jazz meets hip-hop, soul meets rock, and funk is the heartbeat of all they do, this versatile act came together in 2011 at a NOLA open mic event, and got propelled into the national limelight when they unanimously won NPR’s Tiny Desk Contest in 2017. The Big Easy band takes viewers on a handclapping, swaying, joyous ride through its world. Former slam poet and magnetic lead singer Tank Ball shifts from a lilting sing-song to deep and forceful rapping on set opener “Spaceships.” The Bangas keep the music rolling and solos flying as Tank unleashes her powerful vocal on “Ripperton Love,” in tribute to R&B legend Minnie Ripperton. On the soulful meditation “Hot Air Balloon,” Ball explores her elastic voice as the band provides an other-worldly soundscape building to a fiery sax solo. Set-closer “The Brady’s” has it all: sweet harmonies, crashing drums, rock guitar and relentless groove, anchored by Tank’s colorful vocal stylings.

“Tank and the Bangas radiate joy, and their set is nothing but a musical joy ride,” says Lickona. “The world needs Tank and the Bangas more now than ever.”

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 another new episode, featuring Grammy-nominated pop newcomer Billie Eilish. 

Categories
News

David Olney 1948-2020

photo by Scott Newton

We at Austin City Limits are saddened to learn of the death of David Olney, a Nashville-based singer/songwriter revered by his peers. He died while performing onstage in Florida on Saturday, Jan. 18, of an apparent heart attack, at the age of 71. 

Born in Rhode Island, Olney moved to Nashville in 1973 and fell in with Guy Clark’s expatriate songwriters community including Rodney Crowell, Richard Dobson and Townes Van Zandt (whose songs he often covered). In 1980 he formed the rock band the X-Rays, with whom he recorded two LPs, opened for Elvis Costello, and appeared on ACL. He became known as a solo troubadour after that, issuing over two dozen albums over thirty-plus years, and garnering acclaim for his powerful live performances. His songs – which covered everything from John Barrymore (“Barrymore Remembers”) to the donkey that carried Jesus into Jerusalem (“Brays”) – have been covered by Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris, Del McCoury, Steve Earle and Paul K & the Weathermen, among others. His friend Townes said, “Anytime anyone asks me who my favorite music writers are, I say Mozart, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Bob Dylan and Dave Olney.”

Here is Olney with the X-Rays on ACL in 1982 with the title track of his debut album The Contender.

Austin City Limits 713: David Olney and the X-Rays – “The Contender” from Austin City Limits on Vimeo.

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Mitski and Rainbow Kitten Surprise bring fresh sounds to ACL 45

photo by Scott Newton

Austin City Limits showcases a pair of innovators in a captivating double bill: acclaimed indie songwriter and performer Mitski in a rare television performance and eclectic alt-rockers Rainbow Kitten Surprise. 

Critically acclaimed as the vanguard of indie rock, Japanese-born American Mitski Miyawaki performs songs from her stunning fifth album Be the Cowboy alongside career highlights in her ACL debut. The singer-songwriter pulls the curtain back on her emotionally raw songs in a spellbinding 8-song set backed by her 4-piece band. The innovative artist has a singular performance style that plays out like conceptual art; the stage is set with a white wooden table and chair, basic props that are repurposed as a platform, a screen and a shield as the show unfolds. Wearing black shorts, knee pads and dance shoes, and armed with a stone-cold stare, Mitski moves slowly, deliberately, opening with the passionate, throbbing “I Will,” from her 2014 debut Bury Me At Makeout Creek, climbing atop the prop table victoriously at the song’s climax. With velvety tones and incisive poetry, she raises her voice on love and loneliness, coaxing the rapt audience to enter the darkest parts of her mind, to swirl in her insecurities, to stand at her side as she vanquishes residual longing from love gone wrong. On her knees on the table as guitarist (and longtime producer) Patrick Hyland strums the chords to the anthem “Your Best American Girl,” from her 2016 breakout Puberty 2, Mitski rides the gorgeous swells of sound, whipping her hair, before delivering a gut-wrenching performance of “I Bet on Losing Dogs” that leaves her curled in a fetal position on top of the table. The performance is a meticulously detailed exercise in vulnerability and cathartic release, for one of the most compelling performances ever on the ACL stage.

“Performance is as much a part of Mitski’s show as the songs are – maybe even more so,” said ACL executive producer Terry Lickona. “I guarantee that if you’re a longtime fan of ACL,  you’ve neve seen anything quite like this.”

Nashville-based five-piece Rainbow Kitten Surprise formed at Appalachian State University in 2013 and make their ACL debut drawing heavily from their acclaimed third album How To: Friend, Love, Freefall.  Opening with the fan-favorite “Hide,” the song is amplified by singer Sam Melo’s soulful vocals and bitter cries of “You better hide your love!” The high-spirited alt-rockers deliver a blissed-out free-for-all, with charismatic frontman Melo engaging in unpredictable bursts of physical expression, from high kicks to swirling twirls to near-leaps into the crowd and bassist/sparkplug Charlie Holt often mirroring his jumps and dips. This joyful vitality and powerful camaraderie infuse the music’s kaleidoscopic sonic palette with inventive arrangements and indelible melody. Set highlights include “Cocaine Jesus,” augmented by a cappella harmonies and “When It Lands,” an ambitious, multi-movement composition that showcases each member’s talents. Melo is behind the piano as he croons the intro to the dramatic “Holy War,” before retaking the mic at center stage for the tumbling folk of set-closer “Painkillers.” 

photo by Scott Newton

“If you haven’t experienced seeing Rainbow Kitten Surprise, you are missing something in your life,” said Lickona. “The combo of jump kicks, their original electro-folk sound and ghostly harmonies will carry you away to psychedelic Neverland.”

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 another new episode, featuring wild-eyed rockers Cage the Elephant and eclectic R&B ensemble Tank & The Bangas.