Live music beacon Austin City Limits (ACL) is opening its archives as a gift to music fans during the current live music moratorium. Starting March 23, the perennial television series will make fan-favorite episodes from the recently broadcast Season 45 available for streaming, in addition to the entire slate of programs from the previous two seasons of the acclaimed concert showcase. Over 35 ACL installments will be available to stream free online at https://www.pbs.org/show/austin-city-limits/ offering a wide variety of music’s finest from every genre. The series has also created an upcoming broadcast programming block with highly-requested episodes from recent ACL archives to air weekly on PBS stations (check local listings for times) beginning March 28.
Cited by USA Today as the lead option for streaming live music, Austin City Limits has offered viewers a front-row seat to the best in performance for an incredible four-and-a-half decades from the Live Music Capital of the World, Austin, Texas; the series is the flagship of the popular ACL Music Festival.
While live music is grounded and with the postponement and cancellation of countless tours and music festivals, ACL aims to keep its spirit alive, providing new viewing options for the house-bound. The program has fast-tracked popular episodes to stream at home, and the show goes on with a generous helping of performances to choose from. Favorites from ACL’s recent Season 45 will be available to stream beginning Monday, March 23 at https://www.pbs.org/show/austin-city-limits/. There’s something for everyone: an electrifying hour with guitar hero Gary Clark Jr.; an epic stage journey with 2020’s Grammy-winning global pop phenom Billie Eilish; supergroup The Raconteurs, featuring Jack White and Brendan Benson, in an all-out hour of pure rock and roll. The line-up also features many recent Grammy winners and nominees including powerhouse R&B sensation H.E.R.; breakout singer-songwriter Maggie Rogers; indie rock titans Vampire Weekend; standout Austin progressive soul act Black Pumas and a thrilling hour with celebrated Flamenco-fusion artist Rosalía. ACL’s renowned production is an industry leader, making it a required stopping point for legendary artists and innovators of all genres. Featuring unparalleled audio, and dynamic camerawork, ACL captures all the artistry and energy of live performance.
ACL has also assembled an encore broadcast block featuring some of the most popular installments from recent ACL archives, set to air consecutively in the upcoming weeks, beginning on March 28 with an endorphin rush set from dance floor magnets LCD Soundsystem; the programming slate again offers something for all and continues through the end of June: choices include the euphoric funk of Janelle Monáe; country superstar Chris Stapleton; UK modern rock superstars Arctic Monkeys; celebrated jazz legend Herbie Hancock; folk hero John Prine; breakout R&B/pop star Khalid; left-of-center country queen Kacey Musgraves; Americana icon Steve Earle; laid-back indie rocker Mac DeMarco; and stripped-down roots music with Patty Griffin. These broadcast episodes will also be available to stream at https://www.pbs.org/show/austin-city-limits/.
Tune-in, log on, and let ACL be a trusted sidekick for entertainment during these challenging days. The power of music has sustained people in difficult times throughout history and ACL encourages fans and folks to please enjoy these gifts from their archives.
ACL Encore Broadcast Schedule
March 28 LCD Soundsystem
April 4 Patty Griffin / The Revivalists
April 11 Janelle Monae
April 18 John Prine
April 25 Kacey Musgraves / Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real
May 2 Gary Clark Jr.
May 9 Herbie Hancock
May 16 Maggie Rogers
May 23 Khalid / Mac DeMarco
May 30 Steve Earle & The Dukes: A Tribute to Guy Clark
June 6 H.E.R.
June 13 Vampire Weekend
June 20 Chris Stapleton / Turnpike Troubadours
June 27 Arctic Monkeys / Wild Child
You can also browse the ACL YouTube channel for exclusive songs, behind-the-scenes videos and full-length interviews with our artists.
We here at Austin City Limits were deeply saddened to learn about the premature passing of Sharon Jones after a heroic battle against pancreatic cancer, at the age of 60.
As anyone who ever saw her perform with her crackerjack band the Dap-Kings knows, the Brooklyn native was a powerhouse onstage. Her rich vocals and dynamic stage presence could rouse a dead man from his grave. She spent her first forty years as a session backup vocalist, wedding singer, corrections officer and armored car guard – it’s as if it all came bursting out when she was finally given her turn in the spotlight in 1996, when she recorded her first single “Switchblade.” Once she had the Dap-Kings writing for, producing and backing her on the road, she was unstoppable. She released a series of classic old-school soul and funk LPs on DapTone in the new millennium, starting with Dap Dippin’ in 2002 and sadly ending with her 2015 Christmas album It’s a Holiday Soul Party and compilation soundtrack to the acclaimed documentary Miss Sharon Jones! Tunes like “Stranger to My Happiness,” “I Learned the Hard Way” and “100 Days, 100 Nights” will last as long as the 60s soul and R&B classics that inspired them. With her unflagging optimism (even in the face of cancer) and soaring musical capacity, Sharon Jones was a shining light in an often dark industry, and she will be missed.
Jones and the Dap-Kings rocked the ACL house in 2008 during Season 34. Here she is performing the opening cut, joined by a member of our audience on the funky “How Do I Let a Good Man Down?”
Shakey Graves has worked hard in the last few years. The Austin musician known as Alejandro Rose-Garcia to his parents has been a road dog of the first degree, taking first his one-man-band act then his band on the road to any club, festival and living room that would have him. The work has paid off with a pair of highly acclaimed albums and a growing national fanbase. For last night’s livestreamed taping, the young singer/songwriter was welcomed by a loving hometown crowd.
“I’m just gonna take a minute and soak all this in,” Graves said before launching into “Roll the Bones,” the title track of his debut album. Thumping a suitcase bass drum and tambourine combo and fingerpicking a noisy hollowbody guitar, the raspy-voiced Austin native made his case immediately: passionate, funny, mindful of folk and blues tradition without being dragged down by it. Graves was joined by his stalwart drummer Boo for the cowpunkabilly “If Not For You” and then by guitarist Patrick O’Connor for the more folky “Family and Genus,” with the trio then taking “The Perfect Parts” to the swamp. Boo and O’Connor took a break to let Graves go back to singing solo, digging into his folk bag for “Tomorrow,” the vaudeville-tinged “Chinatown” (a request from his mom, who was present) and “ Proper Fence,” which ended with playful call and response with the crowd. Following the fingerpicked electric blues of “Buil to Roam,” Graves’ band then retook the stage, swaying into the grungy “Pansy Waltz” and blazing into the surfing cowpunk of “Where a Boy Once Stood.” Inviting his friend Carson McHone to duet, Graves and co. ended the main set with his triple-A radio hit “Dearly Departed,” which brought the audience to its feet.
Graves came back alone for the encore, showing off both sides of his personality: the sensitive troubadour of “Hard Wired” and the sardonic storyteller behind the crime story “Late July.” With that one-two punch, the show concluded to rapturous applause, as the hometown hero left the stage. It was an excellent show, and we can’t wait for you to see it when it airs during Season 41 on PBS.
Austin City Limits is pleased to announce that we will be streaming our taping with Shakey Graves live on Wednesday, May 6, 8pm CT/9pm ET. The taping will webcast in its entirety via our YouTube channel.
Austin-based singer/songwriter Shakey Graves will be playing songs from his acclaimed 2014 LP And the War Came. An actor who had a recurring role on Friday Night Lights and appeared in several Robert Rodriguez films, the erstwhile Alejandro Rose-Garcia started making music as part of New York City’s “anti-folk” scene. Since returning to Austin, Shakey Graves has become so closely associated with his hometown that for the last three years, Austin has celebrated “Shakey Graves Day” by mayoral proclamation. With And the War Came, he extends the ground emotionally and sonically broken by his 2011 self-released debut Roll the Bones, which still ranks near the top of Bandcamp’s digital best-seller charts. As noted by Exclaim, And the War Came “displays remarkable growth as a songwriter, guitar player and arranger without entirely leaving behind the one-man-band, lo-fi aesthetic that made his debut such a captivating listen.”
The broadcast version of this show will air this fall on PBS. Join us for this live webcast of the Austin City Limits debut of Shakey Graves.
KLRU-TV, Austin PBS and the family of Bill Arhos announce visitation and service to celebrate his life.
There will be a visitation on Thursday, April 16 from 6 to 8 pm at Weed-Corley at 3125 N Lamar Boulevard.
On Saturday, April 18 at 3 pm there will be a Celebration of the Life of Bill Arhos at ACL Live at The Moody Theater, 310 Willie Nelson Boulevard. Both events are open to the public.
Arhos, a longtime KLRU station executive and father of Austin City Limits, died Saturday, April 11th, at the age of 80. His life’s work was devoted to KLRU, public media and music. He served in many positions during his nearly 40-year career at KLRU, joining in 1961 to help launch the public television station. Over the years, Arhos served as Producer, Program Director, Vice President of Programming, Executive Producer of Austin City Limits (1975-1999), and President/General Manager from 1986 until his retirement in 1999. He also served on the boards of PBS and the Country Music Association. Arhos was a proud graduate of Rice University, graduating in 1957. Rice honored Arhos in 2007 with the Association of Rice Alumni’s Distinguished Alumni Award.
Arhos will be buried in a private ceremony at the Texas State Cemetery alongside other Texas legends.
The family requests donations to the Bill Arhos Fund at KLRU in lieu of flowers.
Austin City Limits is ready to write the next chapter in its remarkable 50+ year broadcast run with the announcement of the initial tapings of Season 51: country maverick Charley Crockett returns to the ACL stage for his second appearance on April 1 to preview his new release Lonesome Drifter; ACL will celebrate 50 years of the blues and legendary Austin blues club Antone’s own 50th anniversary with a special taping “ACL & Antone’s Celebrate the Blues” on April 28, featuring an all-star line-up of blues standouts; on May 19, breakout singer-songwriter Waxahatchee makes her highly-anticipated ACL debut in support of her Grammy-nominated album Tigers Blood; and modern soul act Thee Sacred Souls take the ACL stage in their debut appearance on May 28 with highlights from their latest Got A Story To Tell.
Texas troubadour Charley Crockett made a sensational ACL debut in Season 47 in 2021 and we’re thrilled to welcome him back to our stage with his highly-anticipated new album Lonesome Drifter. After a decade of touring and more than a dozen independent albums under his belt, Lonesome Drifter marks his first for a major label, and will be released by Island Records on March 14. Hailing from the Texas bordertown of San Benito, Crockett has been on a helluva ride, tapping into a rebellious strain of country and defying the odds with a diehard work ethic; grinding from obscurity to garnering millions of streams and headlining some of the country’s most renowned venues, including the Greek Theater, Red Rocks and the Ryman. He capped 2024 with his first Grammy nomination for his acclaimed album $10 Cowboy. Lonesome Drifter was co-produced by Crockett and Shooter Jennings, and recorded at the legendary Sunset Sounds Studios in LA. “If you can hang on as long as I have, you’ll have some good stories to tell,” grins Crockett. Lonesome Drifter arrives with the single and title track, a slow-burning rocker that finds him telling the tale of a vagabond traveler. “I started writing the song back when I was still playing in subways in New York,” he recalls. “While I was waiting for the next train, I wrote songs. A few years later, I was in California working on the ganja farms, and I came up with the ‘Lonesome Drifter’ section…The burden of becoming a troubadour is you’re standing in a position that gives you a clear perspective of the struggles of humans.” Crockett tips his hat to his Texas roots on the album with a pair of choice covers: “Jamestown Ferry,” made famous by Tanya Tucker, along with George Strait’s country classic “Amarillo by Morning.”
Legendary Austin club Antone’s celebrates its 50th anniversary this year and Austin City Limits is proud to salute this milestone, along with our own history of showcasing blues music, with a special taping featuring a stellar slate of blues all-stars taking the ACL stage. Performers will include Jimmie Vaughan, Sue Foley, Christone “Kingfish” Ingram, Charlie Sexton, Big Bill Morganfield, Lil’ Ed Williams, Grace Bowers, Bobby Rush, Kam Franklin, John Primer, Benny Turner and Lurrie Bell. These blues all-stars will be backed by an incredible 14-piece house band featuring legendary players, including ACL Hall of Famer Chris Layton, Steve Bell, Joe Sublett, Rodd Bland, Jon Deas, Nick Connolly, Larry Fulcher, Derek O’Brien, Jay Moeller, Eve Monsees and The Texas Horns, all under the musical direction of Zach Ernst.
ACL featured blues acts on the series dating back to its early seasons, providing the first television exposure for many including Lightnin’ Hopkins, Gatemouth Brown, Miss Lavelle White, B.B. King, W.C. Clark, Elizabeth Cotten and Ruth Brown. ACL is thrilled to celebrate a kindred long-running music institution that has played an instrumental role in Austin’s reign as “the live music capital of the world.” Antone’s “Home of the Blues” was founded by the late Clifford Antone in 1975 as the first live music venue on the city’s now-famous Sixth Street, and quickly became a home away from home for a Mount Rushmore of blues musicians including Muddy Waters, Albert King, Otis Rush, Buddy Guy, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Willie Dixon and B.B. King – as well as a broader tapestry of American roots music. The force behind all this was Clifford Antone, and under his guidance, his namesake club emerged as one of the most important blues joints and stages in the country. Throughout the venue’s remarkable five-decade run, Antone’s continued to define the present and shape the future of blues music, bolstering the careers of internationally-renowned artists including The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Doug Sahm, Charlie Sexton, Angela Strehli, Lou Ann Barton and many more. It remains a vital presence in the live music scene, with its legacy and influence carried forward by the next generation of trailblazing artists including Gary Clark Jr., Kam Franklin, Jackie Venson, Eve Monsees and Christone “Kingfish” Ingram.
ACL is proud to welcome Katie Crutchfield, the indie musician who performs as Waxahatchee (the name of a creek she grew up near in Alabama). She’s been releasing albums as Waxahatchee since 2012 and recently scored a career high with Tigers Blood, which earned a 2025 Grammy nomination for Best Americana Album. Recorded at Sonic Ranch in the Texas bordertown of Tornillo with producer Brad Cook, the Kansas City-based Crutchfield wrote most of the songs on the album during a self-described “hot hand spell” while on tour in 2022. Tigers Blood features her most potent songwriting to date and includes the breakout single “Right Back To It,” a lo-fi gem that features southern indie-rock ace MJ Lenderman on harmony vocals and guitar, nominated for Song of the Year at the 2024 Americana Music Awards. Album highlights include the spellbinding opener “3 Sisters”; “365,” a powerful meditation on co-dependency and addiction; and “Bored,” a blazing number on diverging friendships in your 30s. Tigers Blood is Waxahatchee’s first release in four years since 2020’s acclaimed Saint Cloud, a pandemic era standout and turning point that found Crutchfield steering away from indie rock and leaning into Americana and roots music, a sound with deep ties to her southern upbringing. The road-tested artist is touring throughout 2025, including a special Luck Ranch show on March 14 with one of her primary influences, Lucinda Williams. Waxahatchee will also join Willie Nelson on his 2025 Outlaw Music Festival.
It’s been a tremendous couple of years for fast-rising Southern California sweet soul trio Thee Sacred Souls. Their sophomore release Got A Story To Tell (Daptone Records) features 12 original tracks that further cement the band’s status as masters of modern soul. The follow-up to their breakout 2022 self-titled debut, the album was recorded at Penrose Recorders in Riverside, CA, with producer and Daptones Records co-founder Gabriel Roth at the helm. Got A Story To Tell reflects the band’s artistic growth and deep connection to the soul tradition that inspires them. Richly layered with strings, smooth guitar, piano, congas, and horns, the album creates an immersive soundscape, unfolding like a novella filled with evocative tales of love, struggle, and triumph. NPR praises their “satin vocals and vintage melodies;” The LA Times raves, “One of the top acts in contemporary soul revival music. Thee Sacred Souls count fans among older enthusiasts of 1960s-style sweet soul as well as Gen Z listeners who vibe with the group’s grooving messages of romanticism, introspection, and empowerment.” Written by Thee Sacred Souls founding members Alejandro Garcia, Salvador Samano, and Josh Lane, the trio found inspiration in Brazilian legend Arthur Verocai, the Delfonics, Jamaican rocksteady and Motown siren Mary Wells. It’s a soaring statement of exquisite craftsmanship from a young band whose own story grows bigger by the day. Millions of monthly listeners on Spotify. In just two years, an ever-growing list of celebrity fans including SZA, Alicia Keys, Leon Bridges, and Kylie Jenner, and festival debuts at Austin City Limits, Bonnaroo, Newport Folk and Lollapalooza; the band make their Coachella debut this spring.
We’re thrilled to welcome these stellar acts to the ACL stage. Want to be part of our audience? We will post information on how to get free passes a week in advance of each taping on our website. Follow us on socials – Instagram, Facebook and Twitter for taping announcements and latest episode news, and subscribe to our YouTube channel for even more. The broadcast episodes will air on PBS this fall as part of our upcoming Season 51, stream previous seasons online or on your connected TV with the PBS App.
