Tag: MUNA

Categories
Episode Recap Featured New Broadcast News

Episode premiere: Jenny Lewis/MUNA

Jenny Lewis and MUNA on Austin City Limits. Photos by Scott Newton.

Austin City Limits (ACL) newly-launched Season 49 continues with a double-bill showcasing a pair of Los Angeles-based acts: acclaimed singer-songwriter Jenny Lewis returns to the ACL stage for her first appearance in a decade with selections from her latest Joy’All and breakthrough indie-pop band MUNA deliver a revelatory set in a radiant ACL debut. The new episode premieres October 14 at 7pm CT/8pm ET. ACL airs weekly on PBS stations nationwide (check local listings) and full episodes are made available to stream online at pbs.org/austincitylimits immediately following the initial broadcast. 

The program, produced by Austin PBS and recorded live at ACL’s studio home ACL Live in Austin, Texas, continues its extraordinary run as the longest-running music television show in history, providing viewers a front-row seat to the best in live performance for 49 years as the music institution nears a remarkable half-century milestone. Austin City Limits celebrates 50 years as a live music beacon in 2024: on October 17, 1974, Willie Nelson taped the pilot episode and the trailblazing series premiered in 1975. Stay tuned for news on special concerts, fan events and activations as Austin City Limits salutes an incredible legacy of 50 golden years of American musical history and iconic performances. 

Jenny Lewis on Austin City Limits, 2023. Photo by Scott Newton.

“What a joy to be back here at ACL,” says Jenny Lewis as she opens a joy-filled set in her second appearance as a solo artist on the ACL stage, two decades into a prolific career. Clad in a black leather jumpsuit, and fronting an all-female band of ringers, Lewis perches on a circular mini-stage for “Joy’All,” the irresistible title track of her acclaimed fifth album, produced by Nashville ace Dave Cobb. The clarion quality of Lewis’ voice soars as she switches between a guitar and a Wurlitzer. She sits at the keyboard for the soulful “Heads Gonna Roll,” from 2019’s On the Line, a tumultuous road trip anthem fueled by a fire of unrequited love. Revered by fans for her confessional, narrative lyrics, a set highlight is the country-rock kiss-off “Psychos,” featuring a lush melody, pedal steel arrangement and the fan-favorite line “I’m not a psycho, I’m just tryna get laid.” The set closes with the joyous rock tune “Love Feel,” earning rapturous cheers from the crowd as she namechecks forebears Waylon and Wilie, Marvin Gaye, Johnny Cash, Hank Williams and another ACL inspiration: “A little shout-out to John Prine there!” as Lewis closes out a sparkling set with a smile. 

MUNA perform on Austin City Limits, April 25, 2023. Photo by Scott Newton.

In their ACL debut, LA trio MUNA perform a supercharged set showcasing gems from their self-titled third album. The group consists of lead singer and songwriter Katie Gavin, multi-instrumentalist Naomi McPherson and lead guitarist Josette Maskin. The trio are enjoying a meteoric rise and a banner year, becoming one of music’s must-see live acts, landing 2023 arena dates opening for Taylor Swift and boygenius, in addition to high-profile festival appearances at Coachella and Bonnaroo, and their own sold-out “Life’s So Fun” tour. MUNA have earned legions of fervent fans and widespread acclaim for their propulsive pop-rock melodies and hook-filled queer anthems. MUNA’s songwriting touches on the joys, longings and complexities of life in the LGBTQ community. The band radiates electric energy as their followers in the MUNAverse thrill to the empowering singalongs of “Kind of Girl” and “Anything But Me.” The performance reaches a fever pitch with “Home By Now,” a dancefloor banger, as Katie Gavin dances across the stage for a euphoric close.

“‘Joy’ is the operative word for this powerful combo,” said ACL executive producer Terry Lickona. “Jenny Lewis showcases a new chapter in her prolific career, proving that she continues to break musical boundaries, and MUNA’s anthemic songs prove that everything is possible when people connect to each other.”

Jenny Lewis setlist:

Joy’All

Heads Gonna Roll

Cherry Baby

Psychos

Puppy And A Truck

Love Feel

MUNA setlist:

Loose Garment

Winterbreak

Kind Of Girl

Taken

Anything But Me

Home By Now

Season 49 Broadcast Line-up (second half of season to be announced separately)

Oct. 7 Rodrigo y Gabriela featuring the Austin Symphony Orchestra

Oct. 14 Jenny Lewis / MUNA

Oct. 21 Lil Yachty / Sudan Archives

Oct. 28 Margo Price / Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway

Nov. 4 Jorge Drexler

Nov. 11 Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit

Nov. 18 Foo Fighters

Watch new episodes live, stream online, or download the PBS App. The complete line-up for the full 14-week season, including seven new episodes to air beginning January 2023, will be announced at a later date.  Viewers can visit acltv.com for news regarding live streams, future tapings and episode schedules or by following ACL on Facebook, Twitter, IG and TikTok. Fans can also browse the ACL YouTube channel for exclusive songs, behind-the-scenes videos and full-length artist interviews.

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 49th 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.  

Austin City Limits is produced by Austin PBS and funding is provided in part by Dell Technologies, the Austin Convention Center Department, Cirrus Logic and AXS Ticketing. Additional funding is provided by the Friends of Austin City Limits. Learn more about Austin City Limits, programming and history at acltv.com.

Categories
Featured New Broadcast News

ACL announces first half of Season 49 broadcast schedule

Rodrigo y Gabriela with the Austin Symphony Orchestra, Season 49. Photo by Scott Newton.

Venerable television music series Austin City Limits (ACL) announces the fall return of the program and the initial Season 49 broadcast line-up with seven all-new installments to begin airing October 7 at 7pm CT/8pm ET as part of the broadcast’s fourteen episode season. ACL brings fans a new season, packed with a stellar slate of ACL legends and highly-anticipated debuts from some of today’s most talked-about live acts. ACL airs weekly on PBS stations nationwide (check local listings) and full episodes are made available to stream online at pbs.org/austincitylimits immediately following the initial broadcast. 

The program, recorded live at ACL’s studio home ACL Live in Austin, Texas, continues its extraordinary run as the longest-running music television show in history, providing viewers a front-row seat to the best in live performance for 49 years as the music institution nears a remarkable half-century milestone. Austin City Limits celebrates 50 years as a live music beacon in 2024: on October 17, 1974, Willie Nelson taped the pilot episode and the trailblazing series premiered in 1975. Stay tuned for news on special concerts, fan events and activations as Austin City Limits salutes an incredible legacy of 50 golden years of American musical history and iconic performances. 

Austin City Limits returns this fall with a singular highlight as the season opener: Grammy-winning guitar virtuoso duo Rodrigo y Gabriela joined by the Austin Symphony Orchestra. The Mexico City natives are joined by an ensemble of over 30 musicians from the esteemed Austin Symphony Orchestra in an exhilarating hour; the unprecedented performance marks the first time ACL has collaborated with the world class orchestra, one of Austin’s leading arts institutions.

A season highlight is the return of Foo Fighters for their third appearance. The Rock & Roll Hall of Famers previously rocked the ACL stage twice before, with unforgettable performances in 2009 (in ACL’s original Studio 6A) and 2015. ACL saluted the rock superstars’ 25th Anniversary in 2021 with a fan-favorite hourlong special featuring beloved classics from both appearances, now one of the most requested episodes in the ACL archives. ACL is thrilled to feature the iconic band back on the ACL stage in an epic new hour.

The new season continues with a number of highly-anticipated appearances from a diverse slate of artists. Acclaimed singer-songwriter Jenny Lewis returns for the first time in nearly a decade, making her third appearance on the iconic ACL stage with highlights from her latest album Joy’All alongside career favorites; sharing the hour is breakout indie-pop band MUNA in a thrilling debut. ACL spotlights a pair of innovators making ACL debuts in a captivating double-bill: rap star Lil Yachty showcases his genre-bending album Let’s Start Here joined by special guests; violin savant and singer-songwriter Sudan Archives performs songs from her Natural Brown Prom Queen. Two American originals are paired in a revelatory new hour: country standout Margo Price returns for her second headlining appearance with her latest album Strays as the centerpiece; and next-generation bluegrass musician Molly Tuttle and her band Golden Highway dazzle in their first ACL appearance with gems from their 2023 Grammy-winning Best Bluegrass Album Crooked Tree and latest City of Gold. Global music powerhouse Jorge Drexler, who swept the 2022 Latin Grammy Awards with a record seven awards, makes his first appearance on the ACL stage with a sparkling hour of lush soundscapes and irresistible Spanish-language songs from his landmark Tinta y Tiempo. Celebrated singer-songwriter and four-time Grammy winner Jason Isbell and his band the 400 Unit, who made their initial debut a decade ago in Season 39, return for their third headlining appearance in a highly-anticipated hour featuring fan-favorites and new gems from his recent Weathervanes. 

“There’s no doubt in my mind that this is the most diverse mix of music and talent ACL has ever presented in a new season – and it’s only the beginning!’ says longtime ACL executive producer Terry Lickona. “We strive to live up to the axiom that ‘anything goes’ on ACL as long as it’s authentic, original or groundbreaking – or all three! There’s so much great music being made today from all genres and all corners of the world, and we try to showcase it all.”

Season 49 Broadcast Line-up (second half of season to be announced separately)

Oct. 7 Rodrigo y Gabriela featuring the Austin Symphony Orchestra

Oct. 14 Jenny Lewis / MUNA

Oct. 21 Lil Yachty / Sudan Archives

Oct. 28 Margo Price / Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway

Nov. 4 Jorge Drexler

Nov. 11 Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit

Nov. 18 Foo Fighters

Watch new episodes live, stream online, or download the PBS App. The complete line-up for the full 14-week season, including seven new episodes to air beginning January 2023, will be announced at a later date.  Viewers can visit acltv.com for news regarding live streams, future tapings and episode schedules or by following ACL on Facebook, Twitter, IG and TikTok. Fans can also browse the ACL YouTube channel for exclusive songs, behind-the-scenes videos and full-length artist interviews.

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 49th 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.  

Austin City Limits is produced by Austin PBS and funding is provided in part by Dell Technologies, the Austin Convention Center Department, Cirrus Logic and AXS Ticketing. Additional funding is provided by the Friends of Austin City Limits. Learn more about Austin City Limits, programming and history at acltv.com.

Categories
Featured News Taping Recap

Taping recap: MUNA

MUNA perform on Austin City Limits, April 25, 2023. Photo by Scott Newton.

Fresh from their “Life’s So Fun” U.S. headlining tour, arena dates with Taylor Swift and Lorde, the radio hit “Silk Chiffon,” and one of the most exciting sets at this year’s Coachella, MUNA are ready to conquer the world of pop. Having first visited Austin in 2016 for SXSW, the journey by Katie Gavin (vocals), Josette Maskin (guitar), and Naomi McPherson (keyboards, guitar) toward stardom brings them to the Austin City Limits stage for their debut taping in support of their latest, self-titled album.

Following a bombastic flourish, the L.A. trio – backed by bassist Geo Bothelho and drummer Sarab Singh – launched right into the equally expansive rocker “What I Want,” the musicians only staying in one place during their three-part harmonies. They kicked up the tempo a notch with the bright pop rocker “Number One Fan” – a clear crowd favorite, given that they started singing the lyrics with the band. Maskin’s closing guitar grunge segued right into the next song, the eighties Britpop-influenced “Solid.” But this band aren’t retro-stylish – the soaring pop anthemry of “Stayaway” (“If you know the words,” said Gavin, “sing it with me”) belongs in the twenty-first century. 

More contemplative without stinting on rock energy, “Loose Garment” traversed the sky on the wings of Maskin’s lush e-bow and Gavin’s earnest voice. The latter then donned an acoustic guitar for the melancholy “Winterbreak,” a swirl of 12-string and slide guitar that wore its heart glistening on its sleeve. The same configuration drove “Kind of Girl,” a self-actualization ballad that will, at some point, result in thousands of lighters being waved. “I’m the kind of girl who thinks I can,” Gavin sang – a message taken to heart by the band’s queer and trans fanbase. The country-kissed power ballad “Taken” followed suit, before some dreamy synthesizers led the band into the dramatic widescreen electro-pop of “Pink Light,” which earned a huge cheer.  

The band revisited their debut LP About U for “Around U,” another supercharged melody with a galloping beat. MUNA shouted out their backing musicians and crew before going into “Home By Now,” an anthemic dance rocker that practically demanded audience participation. Singh then laid down a walloping 6/8 beat for the cheeky “Anything But Me” (“I hope you get anything you need – anything but me”), before some overtly eighties bass and keyboards heralded the group’s brand new single “One That Got Away,” released only a week prior. “I’m curious,” pondered Gavin, “if any of you already know some of the words. So this is your test.” Many members of the MUNAverse passed with flying colors. 

MUNA jumped happily back into anthemland for the hands-in-the-air energy of “I Know a Place,” one of the first songs Gavin, Maskin, and McPherson ever wrote together, and another tune cherished by the audience. To close the show, McPherson strapped on an acoustic guitar as a synth pulse built and MUNA slipped into “Silk Chiffon,” an ear-hooking song about “being queer and being happy” that had the crowd singing along at the top of their lungs. “We love you, Austin!” shouted Gavin, as MUNA capped off their debut ACL by bringing the house down. We can’t wait for you to see it when it airs this fall as part of our Season 49 on your local PBS station. 

MUNA on Austin City Limits, April 24, 2023. Photos by Scott Newton.

Categories
News Tickets Distributed

Giveaway: MUNA 4/24

UPDATE giveaway is now over. Austin City Limits will be taping a performance by MUNA on Monday, April 24th at 8 pm at ACL Live at The Moody Theater (310 W. 2nd Street, Willie Nelson Blvd). We will be giving away a limited number of passes to this taping. Enter your name and email address on the below form by Thursday, April 20th at 2 pm.

Winners will be chosen at random and a photo ID will be required to pick up tickets. Winners will be notified via email. Duplicate entries for a single taping will be automatically voided. Tickets are not transferable and will be voided if sold. Standing may be required. No photography, recording or cell phone use in the studio. No cameras, computers or recording devices allowed in the venue.

For entry to Austin City Limits tapings, you agree to abide by the Taping Health & Safety Protocols based on the current COVID-19 Community Risk Stage in effect at the time of the event. By attending the ACL tapings, you agree to the Terms & Conditions.

Categories
Featured Live Stream News

Free live stream announcement: MUNA on April 24

Austin City Limits is thrilled to announce that we will be live streaming our second taping of Season 49 with indie-pop act MUNA on April 24. ACL offers fans worldwide the unique opportunity to watch this highly-anticipated taping free in its entirety here on our ACLTV YouTube Channel. The fast-rising California trio take time from their US headlining tour, festival appearances at Coachella and stadium dates opening for Taylor Swift to make their Austin City Limits debut.

Working the source code of pop, MUNA is magic. Coming up on ten years of friendship, singer/songwriter Katie Gavin and guitarists Naomi McPherson and Josette Maskin began making music together in college, at USC, and released an early hit in the 2017 single “I Know a Place,” a pent-up invocation of LGBTQ sanctuary and transcendence. Now in their late twenties, the trio has become something more like family. Their now viral single “Silk Chiffon,” 2021’s life-affirming, queer anthem, which features MUNA’S new label head Phoebe Bridgers, hit the gray skies of the pandemic’s year-and-a-half mark like a double rainbow. 

For Naomi McPherson, MUNA’s guitarist and producer, it was a “song for kids to have their first gay kiss to.” “Silk Chiffon” leads off MUNA, their self-titled third release and a feat of an album — the forceful, deliberate, dimensional output of a band who has nothing to prove to anyone except themselves. The synth on “What I Want” scintillates like a Robyn dance-floor anthem; “Anything But Me,” galloping in 12/8, gives off Shania Twain in eighties neon; “Kind of Girl,” with its soaring, plaintive The Chicks chorus, begs to be sung at max volume with your best friends. MUNA earned widespread acclaim and the album landed on multiple best of 2022 year end lists including Billboard, Los Angeles Times, Rolling Stone, Stereogum and TIME Magazine. The band was also hailed as Consequence’s 2022 Band of the Year. MUNA sold out shows all over the world in 2022 and were handpicked by Taylor Swift for a coveted opening slot on her upcoming “Eras” 2023 stadium tour in between their own US headlining “Life’s So Fun” tour and festival slots at 2023’s Coachella and Bonnaroo. 

“What ultimately keeps us together,” Maskin said, “is knowing that someone’s going to hear each one of these songs and use it to make a change they need in their life.” McPherson added, “I hope this album helps people connect to each other the way that we, in MUNA, have learned to connect to each other.” What MUNA does, in the end is carve out a space in the middle of whatever existential muck you’re doing the everyday dog-paddle through and transports you, suddenly — you who’ve come to music looking for an answer you can’t find anywhere else — into a room where everything is possible. We’re thrilled to welcome MUNA to the ACL stage.

Join us here on April 24 at 8 p.m. CT for MUNA; the broadcast episode will air on PBS as part of our upcoming Season 49. Tune in to your local PBS station on Saturday nights for fan-favorite encore episodes of Austin City Limits; watch live on PBS, or stream anytime at PBS.org.

Categories
Featured News Taping Announcement

New tapings: Margo Price and MUNA

MARGO PRICE 2022. Photo by Alysse Gafkjen.

Austin City Limits proudly announces the first tapings of Season 49 with a pair of highly-anticipated tapings showcasing American originals. On March 19, acclaimed author/singer/songwriter Margo Price returns to our stage for the first time since Season 42. Fast-rising trio MUNA take time from their US headlining tour and stadium dates opening for Taylor Swift to make their ACL debut on April 24.

Margo Price returns to the ACL stage with Strays, her “strongest, most cohesive record yet” (Rolling Stone). Featuring “volcanic vocal performances and sharp character studies” (Vulture), as well as Sharon Van Etten, Lucius, and The Heartbreakers’ Mike Campbell, the record “struts through big-hearted indie country, honky-tonk stomp and ’70s guitar-explosion psychedelia” (The New York Times). The new album serves as a resilient proclamation of freedom for Price, who surmounts a lifetime of loss, lies, trauma and substance abuse (as chronicled in her best-selling memoir Maybe We’ll Make It, hailed one of the best books of 2022) with ten new songs that prove her place as an independent artist, singular storyteller and endlessly experimental explorer, with so much to say but nothing to prove. While much of Strays was written in a South Carolina cottage – during six days that the Nashville-based Price spent eating psychedelic mushrooms with her husband and musical partner Jeremy Ivey – the album was primarily recorded in California’s Topanga Canyon. There at producer Jonathan Wilson’s studio in the summer of 2021, Price and her longtime band of Pricetags channeled their telepathic abilities into their best recording sessions and most ambitious array of sounds, styles and arrangements to date. Having been together since the days before Midwest Farmer’s Daughter, her breakthrough 2016 debut that Rolling Stone named one of the Greatest Country Albums of All Time, Price and her band tracked live in the same room, simultaneously expanding upon and completely exploding the notions of every other album they have made together. Price sings unabashedly about self-worth, bodily autonomy and a woman’s right to choose. Across the rest of the LP, she writes about losing herself in sex, overcoming marital conflict, tuning out haters, the aftermath of quitting drinking and more, as “Strays bursts with easy confidence and kind, stoic pearls of wisdom” (Pitchfork). “I feel this urgency to keep moving, keep creating,” says Price. “Maybe it’s getting older, or the years the pandemic stole from us all. I feel more mature in the way that I write now, I’m on more than just a search for large crowds and accolades. I’m trying to find what my soul needs.”

MUNA. Photo by Isaac Schneider.

Working the source code of pop, MUNA is magic. Coming up on ten years of friendship, singer/songwriter Katie Gavin and guitarists Naomi McPherson and Josette Maskin began making music together in college, at USC, and released an early hit in the 2017 single “I Know a Place,” a pent-up invocation of LGBTQ sanctuary and transcendence. Now in their late twenties, the trio has become something more like family. Their now viral single “Silk Chiffon,” 2021’s life-affirming, queer anthem, which features MUNA’S new label head Phoebe Bridgers, hit the gray skies of the pandemic’s year-and-a-half mark like a double rainbow. For Naomi McPherson, MUNA’s guitarist and producer, it was a “song for kids to have their first gay kiss to.” “Silk Chiffon” leads off MUNA, their self-titled third release and a feat of an album — the forceful, deliberate, dimensional output of a band who has nothing to prove to anyone except themselves. The synth on “What I Want” scintillates like a Robyn dance-floor anthem; “Anything But Me,” galloping in 12/8, gives off Shania Twain in eighties neon; “Kind of Girl,” with its soaring, plaintive The Chicks chorus, begs to be sung at max volume with your best friends. MUNA earned widespread acclaim and the album landed on multiple best of 2022 year end lists including Billboard, Los Angeles Times, Rolling Stone, Stereogum and TIME Magazine. The band was also hailed as Consequence’s 2022 Band of the Year. MUNA sold out shows all over the world in 2022 and were handpicked by Taylor Swift for a coveted opening slot on her upcoming “Eras” 2023 stadium tour in between their own US headlining “Life’s So Fun” tour and festival slots at 2023’s Coachella and Bonnaroo. “What ultimately keeps us together,” Maskin said, “is knowing that someone’s going to hear each one of these songs and use it to make a change they need in their life.” McPherson added, “I hope this album helps people connect to each other the way that we, in MUNA, have learned to connect to each other.” What MUNA does, in the end is carve out a space in the middle of whatever existential muck you’re doing the everyday dog-paddle through and transports you, suddenly — you who’ve come to music looking for an answer you can’t find anywhere else — into a room where everything is possible. We’re thrilled to welcome MUNA 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 the taping. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for notice of postings. The broadcast episodes will air on PBS as part of our upcoming Season 49.