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Featured News

Own a piece of ACL history

photo by Scott Newton

As Austin PBS prepares for a farewell salute to Studio 6A, the original home of storied music television program Austin City Limits, a piece of music history is being dismantled and made available for auction. Austin PBS, the public television station that produces the series, will auction panels from the historic Studio 6A Austin skyline backdrop, featured in every episode of the Peabody Award-winning series from Season 7 in 1982 to Season 36 in 2010. Legends from Willie Nelson to the Foo Fighters played to millions of PBS viewers with that skyline beaming light behind them. The iconic original skyline consists of 20 panels that will each be a separate item up for auction. Bidding starts Monday, July 12, at 10 a.m. CT and closes on July 22 at 10 a.m. CT. Proceeds raised from this online auction will support Austin PBS as it relocates operations to a new home in 2022, ushering in a new generation of public media with expanded community engagement. Register to bid at: 

https://www.biddingforgood.com/auction/item/browse.action?auctionId=341698246

This unique opportunity offers music fans a chance to own panel sections featuring the familiar images of the infamous skyline, including Austin’s Capitol building and the University of Texas tower. Images and dimensions of each panel will be included in the item description. Country superstar Garth Brooks’ sold-out pair of intimate benefit performances for Austin PBS on July 20 and July 21, 2021, Farewell to Studio 6A, will be the final performances featuring this original skyline backdrop.      

The small Studio 6A soundstage on the UT campus was the birthplace of Austin City Limits, hosting the now-infamous 1974 debut taping with Willie Nelson, as well as the setting for history-making performances for its first 36 seasons, spotlighting hundreds of legendary artists and music innovators, including Ray Charles, Merle Haggard, Loretta Lynn, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Bonnie Raitt, Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton, Leonard Cohen, Pearl Jam, B.B. King, Foo Fighters and more. Studio 6A was officially designated a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Landmark in 2009. The final Austin City Limits episode in Studio 6A was taped in 2010, when the program moved to its current studio home for the last decade, ACL Live at The Moody Theater, in downtown Austin, where it will continue to be taped and is now in its 47th Season.  

Austin PBS

Austin PBS, KLRU-TV is dedicated to telling stories that entertain, inspire and change lives. This community-supported public television station highlights what makes Austin unique — whether music, arts or public issues — by creating and distributing award-winning original content. Austin PBS produces Austin City Limits, Arts In Context, Central Texas Gardener, Overheard with Evan Smith and more for PBS stations across the nation. We also create online-first projects like Decibel, a community journalism initiative that seeks to amplify diverse voices in Central Texas. As a nonprofit educational organization, Austin PBS also prepares children to succeed in school and creates lifelong learning opportunities for all. Find out more at austinpbs.org. 

Austin City Limits

Austin City Limits (ACL) offers viewers unparalleled access to featured acts in an intimate setting that provides a platform for artists to deliver inspired, memorable, full-length performances. Now in its 47th Season, the program is taped live before a concert audience from The Moody Theater in downtown Austin. Austin City Limits is the longest-running music series in television history and remains the only TV series to ever be awarded the National Medal of Arts. Since its inception, the groundbreaking music series has become an institution that’s helped secure Austin’s reputation as the Live Music Capital of the World. The historic Austin PBS Studio 6A, home to 36 years of ACL concerts, has been designated an official Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Landmark. In 2011, ACL moved to the new venue ACL Live at The Moody Theater in downtown Austin. ACL received a rare institutional Peabody Award for excellence and outstanding achievement in 2012.

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Featured News

One Year at the Moody Theater

This month Austin City Limits celebrates one year of production at ACL Live at The Moody Theater. Last year on February 26, we taped the Steve Miller Band, the first taping of Season 37 and the first in our new home.

It wasn’t an easy decision to move from the comfy confines of KLRU’s Studio 6A, but it was a necessary one: the growth of the show over the years meant the outgrowth of that 320-seat space. But we worked closely with Stratus Properties on the design of our new digs, and The Moody Theater is all we ever dreamed of as a venue – the space, the sound, the lights, the multiple bathrooms on the same floors as the seats.

Of course, The Moody isn’t just a television studio. It’s also a concert hall, with a huge variety of artists coming through and a growing reputation as a first-class room. It says a lot that folks like Santana and Diana Ross who could’ve played in much bigger halls, but instead chose to come to The Moody Theater instead. Indeed, Pollstar awarded The Moody Theater Best New Major Concert Venue at the 23rd annual Pollstar Concert Industry Awards. Plus the entire Block 21 complex has received LEED Silver Certification from Austin Energy’s Green Building program for commitment to sustainability.

Thanks for sticking with us through some major changes — we hope you love the new digs as much as we do. We look forward to bringing you more excellent music for many years to come!

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Featured News

Omnivore Recordings releases Walter Hyatt tribute from the ACL vault

Longtime fans of Austin City Limits and proto-Americana take note: we’re thrilled to announce the release via Omnivore Recordings of Mighty Fine: An Austin City Limits Tribute to Walter Hyatt today, October 1. The CD contains the music from the Walter Hyatt tribute episode 2204 of ACL, recorded in 1997. The disk can be ordered from the ACL shop here, or anywhere you purchase music. 

Uncle Walt’s Band (David Ball, Champ Hood, and Walter Hyatt) were one of the most popular acts in late ’70s/early ’80s Austin, Texas, where the South Carolina band relocated after a long stint in Nashville. Their on-point songwriting, playing, and singing garnered them local fans, but also Texas luminaries like Willis Alan Ramsey (in a very rare appearance), Jimmie Dale Gilmore, and (then Texas A&M student) Lyle Lovett. After a few self-released albums and cassettes (all available again via Omnivore), the band went their separate ways, with Hyatt returning to Nashville with his wife, Heidi. 

In 1990, Lovett produced Hyatt’s major label debut, King Tears, and went on the road with Walter as his opening act. Three years later, Hyatt released Music Town. Then, sadly, he died in the 1996 ValueJet plane crash that took the lives of all passengers and crew. Lovett helped organize tribute concerts to benefit Hyatt’s wife and children. In 1997, Austin City Limits broadcast one of those tributes featuring friends and fans including Lovett, Ramsey, Gilmore, Junior Brown, Marcia Ball, Allison Moorer, David Halley, Shawn Colvin, and his Uncle Walt’s Band partners, Ball and Hood. 

Now, nearly 25 years later, the 11 songs from that original broadcast are available on CD and Digital for the first time as Mighty Fine: An Austin City Limits Tribute to Walter Hyatt. Due from Omnivore on October 1, 2021, the set adds six tracks recorded for, but not shown on Austin City Limits. To make this collection even more special, four previously unissued Hyatt recordings make their debut. The packaging features photos and a new essay from North Carolina author and musician Thomas Goldsmith. It truly is Mighty Fine.

Track list 

Austin City Limits Tribute to Walter Hyatt

1. As The Crow Flies – Willis Alan Ramsey

2. Houston Town – David Ball

3. Georgia Rose – Jimmie Dale Gilmore

4. Are We There Yet Momma – Marica Ball

5. Lonely In Love – Willis Alan Ramsey

6. Motor City Man – David Halley

7. Tell Me Baby – Allison Moorer

8. Diggeroo – Junior Brown

9. Babes In The Woods – Lyle Lovett with Shawn Colvin

10. I’ll Come Knockin’ – Lyle Lovett

11. Aloha – Ensemble

Bonus Austin City Limits Recordings not Included in Original Broadcast

12. Rollin’ My Blues – Champ Hood

13. Teach Me About Love – Lyle Lovett

14. Going To New Orleans – Champ Hood

15. Message In A Bottle – David Ball

16. I’m Calling – Lyle Lovett

17. River Road – Champ Hood

Previously Unissued Walter Hyatt Recordings

18. Jungle Flower

19. In A Christmas Dream

20. Early Days

21. Shouldn’t Have Told Me That

Categories
Episode Recap Featured New Broadcast News

Norah Jones & Kat Edmonson defy categorization

There are so many genres of music in the world, and so many artists who embody them. But it’s nice to hear singers and songwriters who defy categorization, mixing parts from different traditions into their own distinctive blend. We’re proud to feature two of those performers: Norah Jones and Kat Edmonson.

ACL fans certainly aren’t strangers to Norah Jones, who’s been on the show twice before. She’s back to demonstrate her continued evolution as a vocalist, writer and musician. Showcasing Little Broken Hearts, her latest album produced by Danger Mouse, Jones and her new band take her previous mix of jazz, pop and torch songs and put it through a funky psychedelic filter, giving the sprightly kiss-off “Say Goodbye” and the nonchalant murder confession “Miriam” a rich, spacey allure. Jones also visits her acclaimed record The Fall, closing the show with the luminous “Stuck” (co-written by Will Sheff, of fellow ACL alumni Okkervil River). Watch and listen as Jones takes the next step in her evolution.

Kat Edmonson makes her ACL debut on the strength of her second album Way Down Low, a record that lifts her away from the jazz traditionalism of her debut. Though still rooted in jazz, Edmonson and her band don’t stick to formalities, letting as much pop melody and singer/songwriter intimacy into her music as improvisation and harmonic complexity. The catchy pop of “I Don’t Know,” the sly jazz of “Lucky” and the beautiful torch balladry of “Nobody Knows That” showcase a stunning young talent that commands the stage with understated grace. Edmonson may be an unfamiliar face to many ACL fans, but they’ll be searching their local record stores and streaming sites for her music once they see this episode.

photo by Scott Newtobn

 

You can find more information on this episode here, but the best way to experience these singers is to tune in to your local PBS station and watch for yourself. Don’t forget that you can find more info on the comings and goings of ACL on our Facebook page, Twitter feed and News page. Next week: Bob Mould and Delta Spirit.

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News Taping Recap

Norah Jones dazzles with groove and soul

Norah Jones has been on Austin City Limits twice before, including recording a show before the release of her gazillion-selling debut Come Away With Me. But tonight’s taping was different than what she’s done before. Armed with a gamechanging new record and more self-confident stage presence than ever before, the Texas-born singer/songwriter dazzled the Moody Theater with a performance full of texture, groove and soul.

It’s no secret that Little Broken Hearts, her latest LP produced and co-written by acclaimed polymath Danger Mouse, was inspired by a relationship gone down the tubes. But while failed romance may be bad for Jones’ personal life, it’s great for her music. The acid-tinged pop of “Happy Pills” and assertive rock of “Say Goodbye” well support the kiss-off lyrics. Indeed, psychedelia seems to be a new touchstone for Jones, as it is for Danger Mouse – the moody atmospheres of “All A Dream” (on which she took the first guitar solo) and “Little Broken Hearts” and the distorted rock of “Take It Back,” aided and abetted by Jason Roberts on extra spacey guitar, put her music on a new plane, onto which the audience was happy to follow her.

This new sound is no radical break from her past, however. Jones blended it with songs in her more familiar style and nothing sounded out of place. She performed the whimsical “Man of the Hour,” a tribute to the superior companionship of a dog over a boyfriend, solo at the piano, while “She’s 22” was just as subdued, even as the lyrics wavered between bitter and dismissive. She combine her new and old approaches on “Miriam,” a brilliant song whose pretty melody and arrangement belie the lyrics’ depiction of a murder in progress.

Jones closed the show with “Lonestar,” “an old Texas song from my first album,” as the crowd went wild. But she had a special treat for the encore. She and her band returned to the stage with unplugged acoustic instruments, giving the unreleased Hank Williams song “How Many Times Have You Broken My Heart” a gorgeous read around a single microphone. She closed the evening with “Come Away With Me” in the same style, reinventing her standard to the delight of her loyal ACL fans.

The Norah Jones episode will air in early winter – details forthcoming. Don’t miss it!

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Featured Hall of Fame News Taping Announcement

Norah Jones, Boz Scaggs, Gary Clark Jr. and more to perform on ACL Hall of Fame 2018

Austin City Limits announces a star-studded slate of guest performers and presenters for the 2018 ACL Hall of Fame Inductions & Celebration on October 25, 2018. Music greats Norah Jones, Boz Scaggs, Gary Clark Jr., Ruthie Foster, Robert Randolph, Lou Ann Barton, Shelley King, Carolyn Wonderland, Adrian Quesada and additionally, filmmaker Robert Rodriguez, have been added to this year’s line-up of luminaries celebrating the fifth anniversary class of inductees. These special guests, along with returning host Chris Isaak and previously announced acts Irma Thomas and Tracy Nelson, join in an evening filled with unique performances and heartfelt tributes as three American originals enter the Austin City Limits Hall of Fame: the legendary Ray Charles, blues stalwart Marcia Ball and pioneering rockers Los Lobos. Get your tickets now to this one-of-a-kind event. 

Ray Charles by Scott Newton

All-star guests will handle induction honors for the epic night: Robert Rodriguez will be on hand to induct Los Lobos, with Boz Scaggs and Robert Randolph performing in tribute. Norah Jones, Gary Clark Jr. and Ruthie Foster will salute Ray Charles, and John Burk, President of Concord Label Group and producer of Ray Charles’ final studio album, will induct the late icon. New Orleans soul queen Irma Thomas will induct Marcia Ball and lead a one-of-a-kind tribute featuring an all-female line-up of blues all-stars: Tracy Nelson, Lou Ann Barton, Shelley King and Carolyn Wonderland. Inductees Los Lobos and Marcia Ball will also perform at the ceremony. ACL Hall of Famer Lloyd Maines returns as music director, leading an ace house band.

The ceremony will be held at ACL’s studio home, ACL Live at The Moody Theater in downtown Austin. Musical highlights and inductions from the ceremony will air in a special New Year’s Eve broadcast of Austin City Limits as part of the program’s Season 44 which premieres October 6, 2018 on PBS.

The event is open to the public and tickets are currently on sale here. Sponsor packages are available at acltv.com/hall-of-fame. All proceeds benefit KLRU-TV, Austin PBS.

The fifth class of inductees features a diverse group of music legends with longtime ties to Austin City Limits: The one and only Ray Charles, who died in 2004, made two classic appearances on ACL starting in Season 5 in 1980 and again in 1984, playing an instrumental role in validating the nascent show’s reputation as a live music beacon. Los Lobos’ musical kinship with ACL includes six appearances on the series, debuting in Season 14 in 1989, and returning to celebrate their milestone forty years as a band during ACL’s own 40th anniversary season in 2014. Celebrated blues pianist and vocalist Marcia Ball debuted on the program’s first season in 1976, making four more standout appearances in 1979, 1990, 1998 and 2006.

Established in 2014, the Austin City Limits Hall of Fame honors the legacy of legendary artists and key individuals who have played a vital part in the pioneering music series remarkable 40+ years as a music institution. The inaugural induction ceremony in 2014 honored Willie Nelson, Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble, Lloyd Maines, program creator Bill Arhos and Darrell Royal. The second annual ACL Hall of Fame ceremony in 2015 honored Asleep at the Wheel, Loretta Lynn, Guy Clark, Flaco Jiménez and Townes Van Zandt, along with the original crew of the show’s first season in 1974-75. The 2016 Hall of Fame honored Kris Kristofferson, Bonnie Raitt and B.B. King, alongside former ACL executive producer Dick Peterson. Last year’s Hall of Fame honored Roy Orbison, Rosanne Cash and The Neville Brothers, and the 50th Anniversary of the Public Broadcasting Act.

The 5th Anniversary Austin City Limits Hall of Fame Inductions and Celebration is presented by NetApp and is sponsored in part by American Airlines, AXS, Brown Distributing, Cirrus Logic, Cousins Properties Incorporated, Dell, Keller Williams, Stratus Properties and Texas Monthly.