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Featured News Taping Announcement

New tapings: Chris Stapleton, Carín León, Mickey Guyton, Norah Jones, the Avett Brothers, and Sturgill Simpson

Austin City Limits is proud to announce a stellar slate of acts for October tapings to complete our milestone Season 50, including a number of ACL Fest headliners featured on our namesake festival this fall. On October 3 we welcome back country giant Chris Stapleton for his second appearance on the ACL stage; on October 5 we present chart-topping Global Latin music superstar Carín León in his ACL debut; country music trailblazer Mickey Guyton comes to ACL for her first appearance on October 9; nine-time GRAMMY-winning Norah Jones returns to the ACL stage for her fifth appearance on October 10; October 13 brings The Avett Brothers to the ACL stage for their third headlining appearance; and Sturgill Simpson returns for the first time in nearly a decade with a new taping on October 28. We’re thrilled to welcome these exceptional artists to the ACL stage for our Anniversary season.

Kentucky-born Chris Stapleton is a 10x GRAMMY, 16x CMA and 19x ACM Award-winner and one of the country’s most respected and beloved musicians. In the midst of yet another triumphant year, Stapleton recently won four awards at the 59th ACM Awards as well as two more trophies at 2024’s 66th Annual GRAMMY Awards. These accomplishments celebrate Stapleton’s album, Higher, which includes break-out songs “White Horse” and “Think I’m In Love With You.” Produced by Dave Cobb, Morgane Stapleton and Chris Stapleton, the record landed on multiple “Best of” lists including Billboard, Esquire, Los Angeles Times, Vulture and Rolling Stone, who praises, “dazzling…the best evidence yet for the way one man’s voice has become synonymous with the very idea of a musical genre.” Additionally, The New Yorker declares, “Stapleton is the rare country star with both traditional bona fides and broad commercial appeal. He has an outlaw soul and a pop star’s capacity for inescapable hooks,” while GQ proclaims, “In an age rife with division, he’s maybe the only thing Americans all agree on.” Known for his electric live performances, Stapleton continues his extensive “All-American Road Show” through 2024. Additionally, Stapleton has new collaborations with Post Malone (“California Sober”), Slash (“Oh Well”), George Strait (“Honky Tonk Hall of Fame”) and Dua Lipa (“Think I’m In Love With You (Live from the 59th ACM Awards)”) in addition to recording a version of “I Should Have Known It” for the new Tom Petty tribute album.

Carín León continues his rapid ascent after a monumental 2023, including winning a Latin Grammy for Best Norteño Album for Colmillo de Leche and releasing two massive hit singles, with “Primera Cita” and “Según Quién” each charting Top 25 on Spotify and Top 30 on the Billboard Global 200. Earlier this year, the global Mexican star earned a standing ovation at the Grand Ole Opry with a set entirely in Spanish and made history as the first Latin artist to perform at both Coachella and Stagecoach. His single “ALCH SI” with Grupo Frontera reached the #1 spot on Billboard‘s Regional Mexican Airplay chart. León’s latest album Boca Chueca Vol. 1 is out now to great fanfare, and his Boca Chueca Tour 2024 sees stops across major cities in North America and Europe, including a performance at New York City’s Madison Square Garden. Originally from Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico, León embarked on his musical journey at the age of 15, taking his first steps by learning to play the guitar and developing skills in singing and songwriting. In 2018, León released his debut album Desvelada con Banda y Mariachi which propelled him to quickly dominate the Regional Mexican music scene as a performer, singer and songwriter. In 2021 his album INÉDITO debuted atop the Apple Music charts, reaching #1 on the Mexican Music chart and #3 on the Latin Music chart and was named one of Billboard’s 25 Best Latin Albums of the year. León has received countless nominations and multiple awards, including a 2024 People’s Choice Country Award nomination for “The One (Pero No Como Yo),” his bilingual collaboration with country star Kane Brown, an ASCAP Award for the song “Me La Aventé,” numerous Premios Lo Nuestro (“Regional Mexican Breakthrough Artist,” “Best Male Artist” and “Banda Song of the Year”) and a 2022 Latin Grammy win for “Best Regional Mexican Song” for “Como lo Hice Yo,” a collaboration with Mexican pop group Matisse.

Mickey Guyton is a four-time GRAMMY-nominated artist and country music trailblazer. Over the course of her career, the Arlington, Texas native has been recognized for her musical achievements, including being named TIME Magazine’s Breakthrough Artist of the Year in 2022 and CMT’s Breakout Artist of the Year in 2021. With her 2021 debut studio album, Remember Her Name,  Mickey made history as  the first Black artist to earn a  GRAMMY nomination for Best Country Album.  Additionally, she became the first-ever Black female solo artist to earn a nod  in a country category with additional nominations for “Best Country Song” and “Best Country Solo Performance.” Beyond the GRAMMYs, Mickey has shined on the grandest of global stages, delivering powerful renditions of the national anthem at Super Bowl LVI and the 2023 World Series. She has also performed on a wide array of star-studded award shows and platforms, including the ACM Awards, CMA Awards, CMT Music Awards, ESPYs, CBS Mornings, Good Morning America, The Today Show, The Jennifer Hudson Show, The Kelly Clarkson Show, SHERRI, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Sesame Street, and many more. The multihyphenate has also evolved into a media personality, having co-hosted the Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks special on NBC, the 2023 National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony on CBS and co-hosted the 56th Academy of Country Music Awards on CBS along with Keith Urban. Mickey recently released a series of new songs, including “Scary Love,” “Make It Me,” and “My Side of the Country” leading to her highly-anticipated sophomore album House On Fire out Sept. 27, 2024 on Capitol Records Nashville.

Norah Jones’ ninth solo studio album Visions is a vibrant and joyous 12-song set of original songs that finds the singer-songwriter-pianist singing about feeling free, wanting to dance, making it right, and acceptance of what life brings. The album is a collaboration with producer and multi-instrumentalist Leon Michels (Sharon Jones, Dan Auerbach). “The reason I called the album Visions is because a lot of the ideas came in the middle of the night or in that moment right before sleep,” says Jones. “We did most of the songs in the same way where I was at the piano or on guitar and Leon was playing drums and we were just jamming on stuff. I like the rawness between me and Leon, the way it sounds kind of garage-y but also kind of soulful, because that’s where he’s coming from, but also not overly perfected.” Jones first emerged on the world stage with the 2002 release of Come Away With Me, her self-described “moody little record” that introduced a singular new voice and grew into a global phenomenon, sweeping the 2003 GRAMMY Awards including Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best New Artist. Since then, Jones has become a nine-time GRAMMY-winner, sold 53 million albums, and her songs have been streamed 11 billion times worldwide. She has released a series of critically acclaimed and commercially successful solo albums—Feels Like Home (2004), Not Too Late (2007), The Fall (2009), Little Broken Hearts (2012), Day Breaks (2016), Pick Me Up Off The Floor (2020), the live album ‘Til We Meet Again (2021), and her holiday album I Dream Of Christmas (2021). The 2010 compilation …Featuring Norah Jones showcased her incredible versatility by collecting her collaborations with artists as diverse as Willie Nelson, Foo Fighters, Outkast, and Herbie Hancock. In 2022, Jones launched her podcast Norah Jones Is Playing Along which features candid conversations and impromptu musical collaborations with some of her favorite musicians.

The Avett Brothers return with their first album in five years, produced by longtime collaborator Rick Rubin. The Avett Brothers, their eleventh studio album, is a record interested in the divine unknowable, as much untitled as it is self-titled. Songs like “Love Of A Girl,” “Country Kid” and “Forever Now” seek the sacred in the commonplace: a cheap cup of coffee, broken hearts and school bus lessons, a baby’s first steps, growing older and holding on to one’s roots, losing someone and accepting fate, rediscovering hope and finding sanctity in tragedy…ultimately reveling in the fun and surrender of what we cannot understand. Recorded in Malibu, Nashville, Mar Vista, and the band’s hometown of Concord, NC, the album is also one that revealed itself naturally over time. As their first LP on Ramseur Records/Thirty Tigers since 2007’s Emotionalism, The Avett Brothers is at once a cumulative opus and fresh start for the band’s future. Since the start of their expansive US tour of nearly 50 dates that extends throughout 2024,  The Avett Brothers have remained tireless and gleefully unpredictable in their music, live set and beyond.

Respected, beloved and fiercely independent, Sturgill Simpson makes his highly anticipated return to music with the release of his acclaimed new album, Passage Du Desir, under a new name, Johnny Blue Skies. Of the new chapter, Johnny Blue Skies shares, “You can turn the page or you can light the book on fire and dance around the flames. You can try to live above hell or you can just go raise some. Here’s to clean livin’ and dirty thinking.” The eight-song Passage Du Desir was produced by Johnny Blue Skies and David Ferguson and recorded at Clement House Recording Studio in Nashville, TN and Abbey Road Studios in London, England. Simpson and his band—Kevin Black (bass), Robbie Crowell (keys), Laur Joamets (guitar) and Miles Miller (drums)—will also make their long-awaited return to the road this fall with the “Why Not? Tour.” Simpson’s first full tour in over four years, the extensive headline run includes stops at L.A.’s The Greek Theatre, Washington State’s The Gorge Amphitheater, Lexington’s Rupp Arena, Chicago’s Salt Shed (two nights), Queens’ Forest Hills Stadium and Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena among many more. Simpson also headlined Outside Lands and will close out both weekends of this year’s Austin City Limits Music Festival. Since his debut, Simpson has released five full-length studio albums—2013’s High Top Mountain, 2014’s Metamodern Sounds in Country Music, 2016’s A Sailor’s Guide to Earth, 2019’s Sound & Fury and 2021’s The Ballad of Dood and Juanita—along with the 2020 projects, Cuttin’ Grass Vol. 1 and Vol. 2. Throughout his singular career, Simpson has relentlessly pushed against expectations, earning widespread acclaim and countless accolades including a Grammy Award in 2017 for Best Country Album and six GRAMMY nominations across four genres: country, rock, bluegrass and americana.

We’re thrilled to welcome these remarkable artists to the ACL stage for our milestone season. Want to be part of our audience? We will post information on how to get free passes a week in advance of each taping. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for notice of postings. The broadcast episodes will air on PBS as part of our upcoming anniversary Season 50.

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Featured News Taping Cancelled

Sturgill Simpson ACL taping postponed

Due to ongoing concerns related to COVID-19, Sturgill Simpson’s taping for Austin City Limits Season 46 originally scheduled for December 8 is postponed. We hope to reschedule Sturgill’s taping in 2021 for our Season 47.

We are thankful for all our wonderful artists, fans and supporters and wish y’all a safe and healthy Thanksgiving.

Categories
Featured News Taping Announcement

New tapings: Sarah Jarosz and Sturgill Simpson

To wrap up our Season 46 taping schedule, Austin City Limits is proud to announce the highly-anticipated return of a pair of American originals: Sarah Jarosz on November 24 and Sturgill Simpson on December 8. 

With World On the Ground, the follow-up to 2016’s two-time Grammy Award-winning Undercurrent, and her first solo album in four years, Sarah Jarosz shares a collection of stories of her Texas hometown of Wimberley, each song lit up in her captivating voice and richly detailed songwriting. World on the Ground takes its title from the album cut “Pay It No Mind,” which finds wisdom being passed down through song by a bird observing the world below: “When the world on the ground is gonna swallow you down, sometimes you’ve got to pay it no mind.” Throughout the album, the triple Grammy Award-winner explores the tension and inertia of small-town living, the desire for escape and the ease of staying put. As she inhabits characters both real and imagined, Jarosz reveals her remarkable gift for slipping into the interior lives of others and patiently uncovering so much indelible insight. 

Producer/songwriter John Leventhal (Elvis Costello, Lucinda Williams, his wife Rosanne Cash) played a vital part in Jarosz’s decision to center the album on her intricate storytelling. “The first time we met to talk about the record, John said he wanted me to try to take a step back and look out at the world, rather than inward,” says Jarosz. “It completely opened the gates for me, and I started thinking a lot about growing up in Texas and diving into those memories in a way I’d never really done before. I think it has something to do with being in my late 20s, and starting to enter the phase where I’m looking back at what got me to where I am now—as opposed to constantly looking forward, as you do when you’re younger. It felt like the right time for me to return full circle to my roots and my home.” 

In the making of World On the Ground, Jarosz – who already has two ACL appearances under her belt (in 2010 and 2014) – ultimately moved undeniably closer to one of her greatest ambitions as an artist: to create an emotionally honest body of work that continually reveals new meaning for the listener. “My favorite records are the ones I just want to play over and over again because of all the details that are there to discover,” she says. “As I was writing this record, it was the deepest I’d ever gone in terms of getting down to the very specific details in the way I told each story. The details are what make people feel something and connect the story to their own lives, and that’s really all I want for my music.” 

photo by Semi Song

Since breaking through in 2014 with his Grammy-nominated Metamodern Sounds in Country Music, shapeshifter Sturgill Simpson made his ACL debut in 2016 and has established himself as one of the most daring and acclaimed artists of our time. His music stretches across genres and styles, from the psychedelic soul of 2016’s A Sailor’s Guide To Earth (Grammy nominated for Album of the Year and winner for Best Country Album) to the fuzzed-out rock attack of 2019’s Sound & Fury. Now Simpson returns to the music of his native Kentucky with his first bluegrass project, Cuttin’ Grass Vol. 1 – The Butcher Shoppe Sessions. The surprise double album, which he calls “a mixtape for the fans,” was dreamed up while he was recovering at home after being hospitalized with Coronavirus earlier this year, and sees him reimagining songs from across his catalog backed by some of Nashville’s finest acoustic virtuosos. “This album started when I was in the third grade,” Simpson explains. “My paternal grandfather was sort of a bluegrass freak. He just lived and ate and breathed it, and every time he’d come to visit, he’d try to shove it down my throat. My palette wasn’t ready to absorb it at the time—I was probably still into the Monkees and, thanks to an older cousin, discovering bands like Cream and Led Zeppelin far too young. One night in my room, when he could sense my rejection of what I was hearing, he looked at me directly and said, ‘One day it’s gonna get in ya, and it’ll never get out.’”

“Many years later, after returning home to Kentucky from the military and living for some time out on the West coast, I was driving down the road one day and the public radio station played an old Monroe Brothers song and it absolutely floored me,” he explains. “A wave of emotion slammed me in the chest and I had to pull over on the side of the road. I was pretty much drifting at the time—completely lost, I guess you could say—and hearing that music brought everything to the surface. It sounded like home. Bluegrass music is healing. I truly believe this to be true. It is made from ancient, organic tones and, as with most all forms of music, the vibrations and the pulse can be extremely therapeutic.” After using social media to crowdfund a charity drive, Simpson had the idea to take songs from his back catalog and record them in a bluegrass style. “I had it in my mind for a long time that someday I want to cut as many of these songs as possible in this fashion, just organic and stripped down to the raw bones of the composition. If you can’t sit down and play a song like that, it’s probably a pretty shitty song. I called up my engineer/co-producer/partner in crime David Ferguson and said, ‘Get all the best players in town,’ and we went in and banged this record out in about three days, with no planning or preparation. 

“The thing I’ve realized about the ride I’ve been on these past seven years is that to me, despite what others may call and label them, all my records are simply ‘American music,’” Simpson states. “My head and my heart go different directions all the time, and when you put out a record, it becomes this definitive thing, like ‘this is who you are now’ because people need to define things for the cycle of that album. This album for me was always just supposed to be a sort of simple mixtape for my fans, so it’s somewhat funny to me to think we might play TV shows and whatnot to promote it, and for a time I’ll be considered a bluegrass musician. In all honesty, though, I guess that’s probably the closest thing to the truth that could ever be put in print about me.”

For this appearance, Simpson will be “cuttin’ grass” with the line-up of bluegrass all-stars that recorded the album, including Stuart Duncan, Sierra Hull, Tim O’Brien, Scott Vestal, Mike Bub, Mark Howard and longtime drummer Miles Miller. 

We’re proud to welcome Sarah Jarosz and Sturgill Simpson back to the ACL stage.