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R.I.P. Tony Kinman of Rank & File

Austin City Limits was sad to learn of the death May 3 of singer/songwriter/bassist Tony Kinman of Rank & File, the pioneering alt.country band who appeared on the show in 1983. He was 62.

Along with his guitarist brother Chip, Tony Kinman formed the Dils, one of America’s first punk rock bands, in 1977 in Carlsbad, California and based in San Francisco. After the Dils ended, the Kinmans moved to Austin, Texas, picked up then-local guitarist Alejandro Escovedo, and formed Rank & File, one of the first groups of ex-punks to explore country music and what would later be called Americana. The band’s 1982 debut Sundown, released on pioneering indie label Slash, is now considered a classic forerunner of the alt.country/No Depression wave in the nineties. Following R&F’s three-album run, the Kinmans became Blackbird, a noise pop duo indebted to the Jesus & Mary Chain. The brothers shifted gears later in the nineties to Cowboy Nation, an acoustic duo that performed old cowboy ballads and originals in a similar vein. Throughout the brothers’ career, Tony’s rock-solid bass playing and distinctive baritone voice were the anchor of all the Kinmans’ musical endeavors.

Tony’s most recent work was producing the debut album by Chip’s latest band Ford Madox Ford. He died of cancer in hospice in his home of San Diego, surrounded by family and friends. Our hearts go out to his loved ones and we hope he rests in peace.

Below is Rank & File performing “Amanda Ruth,” a song some felt was the quintessential Tony song and performance.

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R.I.P. Sammy Allred of the Geezinslaw Brothers

Austin City Limits was saddened to learn of the death of Sammy Allred, Austin radio DJ and one half of ACL three-timers the Geezinslaw Brothers. He was 84.

As noted in the May 10 Austin Chronicle, the Geezinslaws were one of “Austin’s first breakout acts,” with a career going back to the fifties and stints on the Louisiana Hayride with Elvis Presley. Allred and Dewayne “Son” Smith released twelve albums over the course of forty-plus years, starting in 1963 with The Kooky World of the Geezinslaw Brothers and concluding with 2005’s Eclectic Horseman. The duo scored via tunes like “Five Dollar Fine,” “I Wish I Had a Job to Shove,” “Help I’m White and I Can’t Get Down” and unique takes on classic tunes like the Eagles’ “Take It to the Limit” and Judy Garland’s “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” Besides ACL, the band appeared on The Tonight Show, The Smothers Brothers Show and The Roger Miller Show. Meanwhile, Allred’s work in Austin radio spanned decades, including a long stint on KVET-AM that proved both contentious and beloved.

“To really appreciate Sammy Allred, you had to have a slightly – maybe very – warped sense of humor, which is probably why I considered him my favorite DJ of all,” says ACL executive producer Terry Lickona. “He also came to be a good friend in later years, and we had many laughs together. His on-air persona stirred some controversy, but as he often said, ‘That’s just a character’ (think: Stephen Colbert back in the day). As for the Geezinslaws, their fans loved them dearly, and there were many of them – in Austin and far beyond. They did their part to ‘Keep Austin Weird’ before it became a ubiquitous slogan. To borrow one of his favorite expressions (stolen from Fatty Arbuckle), ‘Choo-choo bug, Sammy…and goodnight, nurse.'”

Allred and the Geezinslaws appeared on ACL in 1982, 1986 and 1989. Here they are doing their distinctive version of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.”

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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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R.I.P. original Austin City Limits producer Paul Bosner

Original ACL producer Paul Bosner on the set of the Season 1 taping of the Charlie Daniels Band, 1975. Photo by Gary Bishop.

Austin City Limits is saddened to learn of the death of Paul Bosner on March 24, 2022, at the age of 94. A veteran television producer, filmmaker and photographer (click over to his obituary for an overview of his amazing career), Bosner was one of the original triumvirate of ACL creators, along with director Bruce Scafe and executive producer Bill Arthos. Despite living in Dallas, it was Bosner who hit the music clubs and soaked in the cosmic cowboy scene, encouraging KLRN/KLRU program director Arhos in 1974 that the station needed to produce a music show for PBS national. 

Alongside Scafe, Bosner was key in developing the look and feel of ACL in its first season. “He wanted honesty,” wrote Clifford Endres in the 1987 book Austin City Limits. “The only way the camera would capture the truth of the event was for all concerned to concentrate not on technique but on understanding their subject: the music and its audience.” As Bosner himself put it in a memo to the production staff, quoted in Endres’ book:

“…the essence that is to be recorded on tape is that magic that floats back and forth between the musician and the audience, an energy that permeates the atmosphere…There will be no need to establish a visual point of view as to where the camera is – it will be everywhere seeking out relationships, audience to musicians, musicians to each other, musicians to audience.”

The influence of those ideas drives the show to this day. 

On top of that, Bosner is usually credited with coming up with the name Austin City Limits. Arhos wanted a three-word title inspired by the movie Macon County Line; since Bosner’s weekly commute from Dallas saw him pass the “Austin City Limits” sign, “the image gradually merged in his mind with the music he heard during his nights in the clubs,” as Endres put it. “‘I’ve got the perfect title,’ he told Scafe.” Thus Bosner saved the show from being titled Hill Country Rain or Travis County Line, and an icon was born. 

Our condolences go out to his family, friends and industry colleagues. May he rest in peace. 

Paul Bosner on the set of Austin City Limits, 1974. Photo by Gary Bishop.
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R.I.P. Naomi Judd

The Judds on Austin City Limits, 1985. Naomi Judd on the left. Photo by Scott Newton.

Austin City Limits was surprised and saddened to learn of the death of Naomi Judd, one half of the superstar country act the Judds. She passed away on April 30, a day before the Judds were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and just after announcing a final tour. No official cause of death was given. 

With her daughter Wynonna, Naomi scored six gold and platinum albums and fourteen #1 singles on the country charts during the late eighties and early nineties, becoming one of the most successful C&W duos of all time. The Judds appeared on Austin City Limits only once, in the tenth anniversary season, fresh off the success of their debut album Why Not Me. But the family’s Austin experience goes deeper than that. As a single mom, Naomi moved her daughters to the city in 1974, at the peak of the progressive country movement and right as the seeds for ACL had been planted, becoming friends with Asleep at the Wheel and the Fabulous Thunderbirds. This was their introduction to country music, so their appearance on ACL a decade later was more than just the introduction of the next superstar act – it was the closing of a circle. 

Our hearts go out to Wynonna and Ashley Judd during this difficult time. As we say goodbye, we present the Judds opening their ACL segment with their joyous, celebratory #1 hit “Girls’ Night Out.” 

The Judds sing “Girls’ Night Out” on Austin City Limits, 1985.
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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.