Austin City Limits

Austin City Limits presents true American originals—the legendary Los Lobos and folk rock wonders Thao & The Get Down Stay Down. Los Lobos return to the ACL stage for their fifth appearance, while innovator Thao Nguyen and her band The Get Down Stay Down make their ACL debut. Music mavericks with far-reaching influences, both acts exemplify ACL’s outstanding legacy of “Great Music, No Limits.”

More than forty years into their run, Los Lobos are one of America’s great rock ‘n roll bands. The influential and enduring East L.A. band return to the ACL stage celebrating their recent 40th anniversary alongside ACL’s. “Los Lobos are still one of America’s best, bravest, and most satisfying bands, and their skills and their instincts remain razor-sharp,” raves AllMusic. After four decades together the beloved band continue to create music that resonates with audiences around the world, and the three-time GRAMMY winning group will be honored this year with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Latin Recording Academy. Opening their ACL set with the fan favorite “La Pistola y el Corazon”, the group perform highlights from their vast catalog. The crowd-pleasing performance displays their world-class musicianship, as the veteran rockers perform their signature style of “Chicano rock” with an eclectic set of rock ‘n roll, country, folk, R&B, blues and norteño music. The group close out the masterful set with “Mas y Mas”, joined by Austin’s own Grupo Fantasma on horns, showing great music is universal.

“Los Lobos and ACL have always felt like kindred spirits,” says ACL executive producer Terry Lickona. “We share the same impulse towards originality, experimentation and fun with music. They’re still one of the best rock ‘n’ roll bands in America!”

Led by enigmatic singer-songwriter Thao Nguyen, the San Francisco-based Thao & the Get Down Stay Down have built a devoted following based on their spirited live shows and their catalog of smart, genre-blending indie rock. The band’s ACL debut features them performing songs from their 2013 release We the Common. The group’s blend of rhythms and Thao’s folk-influenced fingerpicking give the band a distinctive sound that truly makes it stand out from the pack. Bandleader Thao’s natural exuberance and wide-ranging songwriting acumen make for a joyful, must-see ACL appearance. The band close out the scorching set with the singalong folk pop of “We the Common,” with the Austin crowd happy to oblige.

“Thao is a true artist for the 21st century,” says Lickona. “Her influences are wide-ranging, and her live performances are mesmerizing and infectious!”

Tune in this weekend for this episode, and, as always, check your local PBS listings for the broadcast time in your area. Go to the episode page for more info, and don’t forget to click over to our Facebook, Twitter and newsletter pages for more ACL info. Next week: Tweedy.

Austin City Limits presents a spectacular hour of country music, Texas-style, featuring the ACL debuts of Grammy Award-winning Texas native Kacey Musgraves and Austin’s own country icon Dale Watson.

Breakout country artist Kacey Musgraves walked away with two trophies for Best Country Album and Best Country Song at this year’s Grammy Awards for her critically-acclaimed major label debut Same Trailer Different Park. The release produced the hit singles “Follow Your Arrow” and the Grammy-winning “Merry Go ‘Round” and topped many critics’ 2013 year-end best lists including Entertainment Weekly, NPR, Country Weekly, Spin and The New York Times, with Rolling Stone calling her “the gen aught Loretta Lynn…ballsy, unsentimental, thoroughly pop and yet totally in the (country) tradition.” Viewers will want to pull up a chair for a front row seat to one of the most arresting ACL debuts of the season. “Welcome to our little trailer park,” says the twenty-five year old singer-songwriter, kicking off her radiant performance surrounded by a white picket fence and porch lights. Musgrave’s honest, effortless vocals shine on songs that demonstrate her witty knack for storytelling in a bold, irresistible ACL set.

“If you didn’t know much about Kacey Musgraves before her triumph at the Grammys, you’ll really know what the buzz is all about after seeing her ACL performance,” says executive producer Terry Lickona. “She’s a remarkable songwriter and all-around talent who is blazing new trails for women in country music.”

Next up is Austin’s king of country music: Dale Watson. Called “the silver pompadoured, baritone beltin’, Lone Star beer drinkin’, honky-tonk hellraiser” by The Austin Chronicle, the hometown hero has flown the flag for classic honky-tonk for over two decades and twenty albums. His latest album, El Rancho Azul, continues his work as one of the world’s finest C&W singers and songwriters, and ACL is thrilled to present Austin’s favorite son in his first feature performance. For Watson’s set, the ACL studio is transformed into a substitute for his regular Austin haunt Ginny’s Little Longhorn, with a room full of dancers two-stepping in the time-honored manner and he gets the ATX audience fired up with “Honkiest, Tonkiest Beer Joint,” his paean to the legendary saloon. Watson turns on the Texas charm as he performs a career-spanning, crowd-pleasing set, turning ACL into a full-on honky-tonk complete with Texas shuffles, closing out the season in good fun on a glorious high note.

“Dale is the real deal. Nobody else is making country music like this today,” Lickona says. “It’s time for the rest of the world to discover why he’s so special to us in Austin.”

Check out the episode page for more details. Be sure and visit our Facebook and Twitter pages or sign up for our newsletter for more ACL news and happenings. Next week: Emmylou Harris & Rodney Crowell.

Austin City Limits presents an encore with two of the biggest acts in Latin music today, Juanes and Jesse & Joy. Colombian superstar Juanes headlines with a thrilling, high energy set, while Mexico City’s sibling duo Jesse & Joy sing a selection of their breakthrough hits.

With six solo albums to his credit and multi-platinum sales of over 16 million, Juanes is the world’s leading all-Spanish language rock artist. An electrifying guitarist and gifted songwriter, Juanes made his ACL debut back in 2005, and has since gone on to win multiple Grammy Awards and a record number of Latin Grammys. The Associated Press calls Juanes “the first truly international rock star to emerge from Latin America.” Juanes returns to the ACL stage in a dynamic performance, kicking things off with “Fijate Bien,” the Latin Grammy-winning title track to his debut album.  He pays tribute to one of his inspirations—Bob Marley—with a Latin spin on the reggae classic “Could You Be Loved?”.  By the time he launches into his huge hits, Juanes proves he doesn’t need to sing in English any more than he needs a surname to thoroughly rock the Austin audience.

Jesse & Joy have become one of the most celebrated pop-rock acts to emerge in the Latin music scene since they formed in Mexico City in 2005. The musical siblings boast five Latin Grammy Awards, including four for their triple platinum 2012 album ¿Con Quién Se Queda El Perro? (“Who Gets the Dog?”) and their first Grammy Nomination this year for Best Latin Pop Album.  The Los Angeles Times raves, “Their rootsy, soft-rock sincerity evokes ’80s country-pop, and Joy’s dulcet-but-earthy voice has been compared to those of Norah Jones, Alanis Morissette and, almost inevitably, Kelly Clarkson.” With Jesse Huerta on guitar, piano, drums, and background vocals and Joy Huerta on vocals and guitar, these siblings in sound deliver a breakout performance. A highlight is the duo’s emotional performance of their smash hit “Corre”— with the audience singing along to every word, waving their hands in the air, it’s a moment that reflects the truly universal language of music.

“Juanes is the first Latin artist since Ricky Martin to break out and transcend musical and cultural barriers,” says ACL Executive Producer Terry Lickona. “Audiences connect with him on many levels, and his charisma on stage is magnetic! As brother and sister, Jesse & Joy’s music is very genuine and emotional, and it’s just fun to watch them interact with each other and their fans.”

Check out the episode page here for setlists and more. Keep up with ACL happenings via our Facebook and Twitter pages or our newsletter. Next week: Jason Isbell and Neko Case.