Austin City Limits

We’re immensely proud of the eclectic range of Austin City Limits – the variety of genres and locations from which our artists come is amazing. But it’s nice to for us to showcase the “Austin” in our name with a hometown hero. Gary Clark Jr. has been busting it in the River City for over a decade, and his hard work has paid off with a growing touring audience, high profile shows at major festivals (including the Austin City Limits Music Festival and Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Festival) and his much-acclaimed major label record Blak and Blu. He’s been with us before, as part of the Jimmy Reed tribute five years ago, but we were thrilled to welcome him back to the ACL stage, this time under his own name.

“I’ve been wanting to do this for like 16 years,” the young guitar slinger commented before he began. “So let’s have some fun!” There’s an irony to that statement being followed by the downhearted “When My Train Pulls In,” but the heavy blues riffs defied the lyrics’ melancholy cast. The show kicked into high gear immediately afterward with the driving fingerpicked boogie of “Don’t Owe You a Thang,” and the hometown crowd settled into the palm of his hand. “@garyclarkjr is slaying @acltv right now mayne!!!,” claimed tonythecuate on Twitter.

Though the blues forms the heart of his music, Clark is more than just a blues man. “Travis County,” a tune he claims is “about my younger days runnin’ around and gettin’ into trouble,” rocked like Chuck Berry with hair on his chest. “Ain’t Messin’ Round” added a horn section for a jumpin’ soul number, while “Things Are Changin’” and the falsetto-sung “Please Come Home” worked enough R&B magic to prove that Clark will be known as much for his silky singing as for his six-string skills. He also created an epic medley of Jimi Hendrix’ instrumental showcase “Third Stone From the Sun” and Little Johnny Taylor’s funky soul tune “If You Love Me Like You Say” that had the audience roaring by the end. “GC Jr has really come into form these last 4 years. Truly phenomenal guitar player/ singer/ songwriter nowadays,” commented fan Jason Long.

As much versatility as Clark demonstrated, however, he didn’t forget the blues that originally inspired him. He paid tribute to key influences early on by covering Albert Collins’ “If Trouble Was Money” (“one of my favorite songs,” he noted) and Muddy Waters’ “Catfish Blues.” His own original “Bright Lights” put a psychedelic shimmer on the ages-old form, while the grungy “Numb” recalled the days when the blues formed the basis of heavy metal.

The crowd was buzzed enough once the main set was over, but Clark wasn’t done with us yet. His three-song encore delivered original country blues in “Next Door Neighbor,” more heart-throb soul with “You Saved Me” and a canny Albert King cover with “Oh, Pretty Woman,” featuring Clark and his co-guitarist Zapata! trading licks in tribute to the late blues man. When it was all over, the crowd was left exhausted but ecstatic. “@GaryClarkJr just absolutely tore a hole in the roof of this joint. Amazing set! Doing his hometown proud!!” boasted Nakia on Twitter. “I just raised him on my list from “who is this guy” to “have to buy a CD” and “watch for him playing close by”! GroovyHoovy,” exhulted David Hoover on YouTube.

Gary Clark Jr. has come a long way from being a teenager playing blues standards in bars he wasn’t old enough to drink in. We’re proud to host his coming out party and can’t wait for everybody to see the episode, It’ll air in February next year – don’t miss it!

The rise of Austin’s own Gary Clark Jr. has been a joy to behold, from his days as a teenage blues guitar slinger to the eclectic, critically acclaimed festival draw he is twenty years later. ACL has followed that rise with four previous appearances on the show, starting with his participation in the Jimmy Reed tribute in 2007 up through his 2012 and 2015 headlining slots and his 2015 guest appearance with Foo Fighters. (Not to mention appearances on our Hall of Fame specials and the 40th anniversary celebration.) Through those years, the ATX native has grown by leaps and bounds – and that’s never been more true than now, with his third Warner Bros. studio album This Land. So we were thrilled to welcome him back for a live streamed taping showcasing the widely hailed LP.

Clark got a loud hometown welcome as he came onstage after executive producer Terry Lickona’s introduction. The Austin homeboy basked in his welcome for a second before donning his Epiphone and going into This Land’s “What About Us,” a choogling blues rocker kissed by Clark’s alluring falsetto and co-guitarist Eric Zapata’s legato slide. “Feels good up here,” noted Clark, as Zapata knocked out the twangy riff to “When I’m Gone,” a R&B tune that could’ve come from a lost sixties soul compilation. The leader donned a Gibson SG and announced, “We’re gonna play some rock & roll for ya,” before launching into the grunged-out soul of “Low Down Rolling Stone” – like the other tunes from This Land, it focused as much on his soulful voice as his guitar. Keyboardist Jon Deas contribute a slinky Mini-Moog solo. Clark went back to his falsetto for the crunchy, but still groovy, “I Walk Alone,” taking it home with a gnarly guitar solo.

After a moment to catch his breath, Clark shifted back to a slice of warm-bath soul with “Guitar Man,” a sexy tune that, surprisingly, does not emphasize his six-string wizardry. The falsetto returned once again for “Feed the Babies,” a socially-conscious soul tune that came closer the classic sound of Curtis Mayfield than anyone outside of the man himself. Then the band went into “Feelin’ Like a Million,” an out-and-out reggae song spiced by stabs of power chords. Clark then started banging away at his axe for a repetitive guitar figure that led right into the near-punk of “Gotta Get Into Something,” a breath of fresh rock & roll air. The mood shifted from rock to funk for the similarly titled “Got to Get Up,” a hard groover that let Clark off the leash on his guitar.

After nine songs in a row from the new album, Clark dipped into his back catalog for “When My Train Pulls In,” delivering a more subdued, less fuzz-encrusted reading than usual, often more reminiscent of B.B. King than Jimi Hendrix – at least until the end, when Clark built an extended guitar solo from croon to scream. As a palette cleanser, he essayed the lovely, moody “Blak and Blu,” slowly moving towards his signature tune “Bright Lights,” which came on like a wave crashing to shore. It was the perfect setting for his latest killer: the angry, defiant “This Land,” given a seething, smoldering read. After that bit of catharsis, he ended the main set on a soothing note with the beauteous “Pearl Cadillac,” another showcase for his falsetto singing. That wasn’t quite all, of course, as Clark and band returned for a crowd singalong through his grungy version of the Beatles’ “Come Together” from the Justice League soundtracks. It was a brilliant way to end his third solo taping, and we can’t wait for you to see it when it airs this fall on your local PBS station.