Terry Allen on Austin City Limits, 2021. Photo by Scott Newton.
Austin City Limits spotlights a Texas legend enjoying a late-career high-point, iconoclastic sculptor-songwriter Terry Allen, in a career-spanning hour, joined by his longtime Panhandle Mystery Band featuring all-stars including Lloyd Maines, Charlie Sexton and Shannon McNally. The new installment premieres January 29 at 8pm ET/7pm CT as part of the series Season 47. Check local PBS listings for times. The episode will be available to music fans everywhere, streaming online the next day beginning January 30 @10am ET at pbs.org/austincitylimits. Despite the challenges facing live music during the past year, ACL is proud to deliver a full season of performances for viewers, all recorded at ACL’s studio home in Austin, Texas in 2021, in front of limited live audiences. The Peabody Award-winning program 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 a remarkable 47 years. ACL airs weekly on PBS stations nationwide (check local listings) and full episodes are made available to stream online at pbs.org/austincitylimits following the initial broadcast.
Lubbock native, outlaw-country veteran, and groundbreaking visual artist Terry Allen makes his long-awaited return to the ACL stage in his first headline appearance since 1998. The 78-year-old cult favorite, recently profiled in The New Yorker, showcases songs from his acclaimed 2020 release Just Like Moby Dick, alongside influential classics from his storied five-decade career, including gems from his cinematic 1975 debut Juarez and the seminal 1979 Lubbock (on everything). The hour is a friends and family affair as Allen on keyboards is joined by his nine-piece Panhandle Mystery Band, featuring guitarists Charlie Sexton and Lloyd Maines, singer Shannon McNally, fiddler Richard Bowden, bassist Glen Fukunaga, drummer Davis McLarty, cellist Brian Standerfer, and his sons Bukka and Bale Allen on accordion/keyboards and percussion.
The left-of-center artist displays his signature dark wit and honesty with highlights from his catalog, including the fan favorite rocker “There Oughta Be A Law Against Sunny Southern California” and the tragicomic tale “Gimme a Ride to Heaven Boy.” Allen’s songwriting details vivid small-town characters and haunting and hilarious narratives as showcased on the beguiling new album highlight “Death of the Last Stripper.” The collaborative performance allows each bandmember to shine, and Americana artist Shannon McNally takes the lead on a new number, the slowburn “All These Blues Go Walkin’ By,” joined by ace guitarist Charlie Sexton. In a nod to his remarkable half century of work, Allen performs “Red Bird,” the first song he ever wrote, originally performed on the TV show Shindig! in 1965. The Texas legend and his longtime band of friends close the hour with the moving Moby Dick closer “Sailin’ On Through,” a mordant fare-thee-well that ruminates on the inevitable passing of time.
“Lubbock, Texas, has produced more than its share of music legends, but Terry Allen is an anomaly,“ says ACL executive producer Terry Lickona. “He’s a storyteller, he’s a poet, he weaves tapestries out of songs. In that respect he’s like the ‘Leonard Cohen of West Texas’.”
Terry Allen & the Panhandle Mystery Band on ACL, 2021. Photo by Scott Newton.
Terry Allen setlist:
Lubbock Tornado
Death of the Last Stripper
All These Blues Go Walkin’ By
City of the Vampires
What of Alicia
There Oughta Be A Law Against Sunny Southern California
Red Bird
Flatland Boogie
New Delhi Freight Train
Gimme A Ride To Heaven Boy
Sailin’ On Through
Season 47 upcoming:
February 5Olivia Rodrigo | Phoebe Bridgers
February 12(season finale)The Best of Nanci Griffith
Tune-in, log on, and let ACL be a trusted sidekick for entertainment during these challenging days. 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.
The cast sings "California Stars" at the ACL 7th Annual Hall of Fame Honors. Photo courtesy Austin City Limits.
A special installment, Austin City Limits 7th Annual Hall of Fame Honors, premieres January 8 at 8pm CT/9pm ET on PBS. Austin City Limits (ACL) celebrates the newest class of Hall of Fame Inductees, honoring a trio of Americana greats with longtime ties to ACL: Lucinda Williams, Wilco and Alejandro Escovedo, with best-in-class performances and highlights from the 2021 ACL Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony presented by PNC Bank, recorded live in Austin, Texas on October 28, 2021. Music greats Jason Isbell, Rosanne Cash, Margo Price, Sheila E., Lenny Kaye, Japanese Breakfast and more salute the new class of inductees with one-of-a-kind collaborative performances and tributes. The hour-long broadcast premieres Saturday, January 8 at 8pm ET on PBS. Check local PBS listings for times. The special will be available to music fans everywhere to stream online beginning Sunday, January 9 at 10am ET at pbs.org/austincitylimits. In addition, a streaming-only, 90-minute bonus installment featuring exclusive content from the celebration will be made available for fans the same day, including acclaimed performances by John Doe, legendary Los Angeles punk band X co-founder, iconoclastic Texas singer-songwriter Terry Allen and indie icon Bill Callahan. Providing viewers a front-row seat to the best in live performance for a remarkable 47 years, the series returns January 15 ringing in a new year with all-new episodes as part of its Season 47. Viewers can visit acltv.com for news regarding future tapings, episode schedules and select live stream updates.
Margo Price and Lucinda Williams sing “Changed the Locks” at the 2021 ACL 7th Annual Hall of Fame Honors . Photo courtesy Austin City Limits
One of today’s finest songwriters, Jason Isbell, opens the hour to salute the night’s first honoree, legendary singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams. “A lot of my songs wouldn’t exist if I hadn’t spent so much time trying to rip her off,” grins Isbell in a heartfelt induction, providing insightful examples of the way Williams uses detailed imagery to paint pictures with her lyrics. “She’s made a map,” he explains, for other songwriters, including himself, to follow. “Too rock for country and too country for rock,” Williams cracks in her acceptance, recalling the music industry’s early reaction to her sound. Isbell performs a gorgeous rendition of Williams’ “I Envy the Wind” from her Grammy-nominated 2002 album Essence. The pioneering artist takes the stage for a pair of collaborative performances featuring highlights from her groundbreaking self-titled 1988 classic. “I’m on cloud nine,” says the honoree as she is joined by her friend of 30 years, Rosanne Cash, for the gem “Crescent City.” Country star Margo Price joins Williams for her signature scorcher “Changed the Locks’ ‘ in an electrifying duet.
Sheila E. congratulates her uncle Alejandro Escovedo at the ACL 7th Annual Hall of Fame Honors. Photo courtesy Austin City Limits.
Punk pioneer Lenny Kaye recounts how he first met Alejandro Escovedo in 1974, and inducts his longtime friend with wit and wisdom, capturing the essence of what makes the genre-defying Mexican-American artist’s eclectic, expansive body of work important to the world. Joined by his niece, the incomparable Queen of Percussion Sheila E. behind the drum kit, Lenny Kaye on guitar, and his veteran backing singers and string section, Escovedo opens the music salute with a Spanish-language song from his acclaimed 2018 immigrant-themed album The Crossing, bringing out Alex Ruiz, frontman for Austin Latin-rock band Del Castillo for the occasion. Escovedo completes his victory lap with a titanic take on “Put You Down,” his 1996 orchestral-rock anthem with which he opened his 2006 ACL appearance, guitar-windmilling his way through the thrilling performance.
Japanese Breakfast’s Michelle Zauner joins Wilco for “Jesus, etc.” at the ACL 7th Annual Hall of Fame Honors. Photo courtesy Austin City Limits.
ACL Hall of Famer Rosanne Cash inducts Wilco with deep accolades, referring to the celebrated Chicago band as “heartland laborers in the tower of song, with thick skins and open hearts” and champions them for being “subversive without being destructive” with a humanity that “somehow breaks us and heals us at the same time.” With Wilco’s music, Cash says, “we don’t need certainty when we love the questions.” Bandleader Jeff Tweedy, guitarist Nels Cline, bassist John Stirratt, keyboardists Pat Sansone and Mikael Jorgensen and drummer Glenn Kotche take the stage to perform early career highlight “Shot in the Arm.” A 2022 Grammy nominee and superfan, Japanese Breakfast’s Michelle Zauner is backed by the band for a radiant spin on the pop charmer “Jesus, Etc.” from the 2002 landmark Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.
The stars come out en masse for a stellar reading of Wilco’s breakout “California Stars” from 1998’s collaborative classic Mermaid Avenue, with Jeff Tweedy, Rosanne Cash and Alejandro Escovedo trading verses and the all-star ensemble of performers singing-along. Jason Isbell trades licks on the song’s solo with Wilco guitar great Nels Cline, bringing the luminous hour to an epic close.
“California Stars” via the cast of the ACL 7th Annual Hall of Fame Honors. Photo courtesy Austin City Limits.
The seventh class of ACL Hall of Fame inductees represent the essence of everything ACL has stood for— originality, authenticity, virtuosity. Roots-music icon Lucinda Williams has made four classic appearances on ACL over a remarkable four-decade career, starting with her debut on Season 15 in 1990. Celebrated Chicago band Wilco has also appeared on ACL four times during their 25-year career, beginning in 2000 for the series’ 25th Anniversary season. Texas legend Alejandro Escovedo made his debut during the first decade of the series in Season 8 in 1983 with the band Rank and File, going on to make a total of five appearances including a star-studded return in 2017.
Austin City Limits 7th Annual Hall of Fame Honors setlist:
Jason Isbell “I Envy the Wind”
Lucinda Williams & Rosanne Cash “Crescent City”
Lucinda Williams & Margo Price “Changed the Locks”
Alejandro Escovedo, Alex Ruiz, Sheila E. & Lenny Kaye “Algo Azul”
Alejandro Escovedo, Alex Ruiz, Sheila E. “Put You Down”
Wilco “Shot In the Arm”
Wilco & Japanese Breakfast “Jesus, Etc.”
Wilco “California Stars” (All-Star Finale)
Bonus performances (streaming-only):
John Doe “Sally Was A Cop” (Alejandro Escovedo tribute)
Bill Callahan “Sky Blue Sky” (Wilco tribute)
Terry Allen “One Sunday Morning” (Wilco tribute)
Austin City Limits Hall of Fame
In 2014, Austin PBS established the Austin City Limits Hall of Fame (ACL HoF) to recognize legendary musicians and key individuals who have been instrumental in making television’s longest-running popular music show an institution. The ACL HoF is a historical archive, educational resource and celebration of ACL and the Austin spirit, capturing milestones in the history of the show and celebrating the performers who have graced its iconic stage. The annual ACL HoF Induction and Celebration is Austin PBS’ largest fundraising event with performances taped for broadcast on PBS stations nationwide. The 7th Annual Austin City Limits Hall of Fame Inductions and Celebration is presented by PNC Bank with additional support for the broadcast from AXS.
Austin City LimitsAustin 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.
Wilco with Japanese Breakfast at the ACL Hall of Fame ceremony, Sept. 2021. Photo courtesy Austin City Limits.
Live music beaconAustin City Limits announces the second half of Season 47, with five new episodes to begin airing in January 2022 as part of the program’s thirteen-episode season. ACL returns with a stellar slate of new broadcast episodes, showcasing iconic performances featuring legends and highly-anticipated debuts from some of today’s most talked-about live acts. The program returns on Saturday, January 8 at 8pm CT/9pm ET with a special broadcast, Austin City Limits 7th Annual Hall of Fame Honors. Despite the challenges facing live music during the past year, ACL is proud to deliver a full season of performances for viewers, all recorded at ACL’s studio home in Austin, Texas in 2021, in front of limited live audiences. The Peabody Award-winning program 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 a remarkable 47 years. ACL airs weekly on PBS stations nationwide (check local listings) and full episodes are made available to stream online at pbs.org/austincitylimits following the initial broadcast.
A special installment, Austin City Limits 7th Annual Hall of Fame Honors, premieres January 8 at 8pm CT/9pm ET. Austin City Limits celebrates the newest class of Hall of Fame Inductees, honoring a trio of Americana greats: Lucinda Williams, Wilco and Alejandro Escovedo, with best-in-class performances and collaborations from the 2021 ACL Hall of Fame induction ceremony, recorded live in Austin, Texas on October 28, 2021. Music greats Jason Isbell, Rosanne Cash, Margo Price, Sheila E., Lenny Kaye, Terry Allen,Japanese Breakfast’s Michelle Zauner and more salute the newest class of inductees with one-of-a-kind collaborative performances and tributes.
Season 47 returns in January with a line-up showcasing multiple 2022 Grammy nominees, including seven-time nominee, multi-platinum Olivia Rodrigo; the chart-topper shares the hour with a fellow LA act making her ACL debut, indie-rock original Phoebe Bridgers in a captivating double-bill showcasing two of today’s most acclaimed singer-songwriters. (The installment had an initial airing in December 2021 as a mid-season bonus for fans). Grammy-winning art-rock icon St. Vincent, nominated for a 2022 Grammy, makes her third appearance on the ACL stage, in an electrifying performance, sharing an hour with breakthrough singer-songwriter Joy Oladokun in a must-see ACL debut. A Season 47 highlight is the first-ever appearance by international superstars Duran Duran in an epic hour-long installment, performing a hit-filled set along with new gems. ACL spotlights a Texas legend enjoying a late-career high-point, iconoclastic sculptor-songwriter Terry Allen, in a must-see hour, joined by his longtime Panhandle Mystery Band featuring all-stars Lloyd Maines, Charlie Sexton, Shannon McNally and more. ACL salutes one of songwriting’s finest talents and closes out the season with a tribute to a Texas icon we lost during 2021, Nanci Griffith. The Best of Nanci Griffith features historic highlights from the influential songwriter’s seven appearances on the ACL stage. The hour-long installment offers a fascinating look at the late ACL legend’s evolution dating back to her debut on the series in 1985 through her multiple appearances on the ACL stage.
Duran Duran on ACL, 2021. Photo by Scott Newton.
“ACL kicks off the new year with a mix that celebrates the past, present and future,” says ACL executive producer Terry Lickona. “As always, we love to celebrate the great music of the past while showcasing the most exciting and inspiring new music of today. ACL continues to bring out the best in artists across genres and generations!”
Season 47 Broadcast Schedule (Second Half):
January 8Austin City Limits 7th Annual Hall of Fame Honors
January 15St. Vincent | Joy Oladokun
January 23Duran Duran
January 29Terry Allen
February 5Olivia Rodrigo | Phoebe Bridgers
February 12The Best of Nanci Griffith
ACL’s Season 47 premiered on October 2021 with standout performances featuring many 2022 Grammy nominees, including New Orleans musician/bandleader Jon Batiste, country superstar Miranda Lambert, bluegrass star Billy Strings, legendary Jackson Browne, R&B singer-songwriter Leon Bridges, country standout Brandy Clark and Americana singer-songwriter Sarah Jarosz alongside acclaimed performances from eclectic groove trio Khruangbin, celebrated singer Brittany Howard, UK singer-songwriter Jade Bird, “Gulf & Western” country sensation Charley Crockett and more. The series will continue to broadcast fan-favorite encore episodes through the end of 2021.
Tune-in, log on, and let ACL be a trusted sidekick for entertainment during these challenging days. 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.
About 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 46th 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 KLRU 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 Limitsis produced by Austin PBS, KLRU-TV and funding is provided in part by Dell Technologies, RigUp, the Austin Convention Center Department and Cirrus Logic. Additional funding is provided by the Friends of Austin City Limits. Learn more about Austin City Limits, programming and history at acltv.com.
Terry Allen and the Panhandle Mystery Band on Austin City Limits, 2021. Photo by Scott Newton.
A charter member of the Lubbock Mafia (Joe Ely, Butch Hancock, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, etc.), Terry Allen helped give rise to a substantial chunk of Lone Star musical style. Of course, Allen was long gone, off to his still-thriving career as a visual artist, by the time Ely and company made their names. But Texans take Texas with them wherever they go, and Allen’s unique take on the songwriting tradition he co-founded has continued to turn heads and blaze trails, including on his 2020 landmark thirteenth album Just Like Moby Dick, an album the Washington Post raves finds “new ways to marry his personal memories to more universal concerns about looming catastrophe and societal decay.” Returning to headline his own show for the first time since 1998, Allen and his all-star Panhandle Mystery Band showcased the album, and conducted a survey of his career to date, in a magnificent concert that we live streamed around the world.
Allen and the PMB (guitarists Charlie Sexton and Lloyd Maines, fiddler Richard Bowden, accordionist/keyboardist Bukka Allen, bassist Glen Fukunaga, drummer Davis McLarty, cellist Brian Standerfer, percussionist Bale Allen and singer Shannon McNally) took the stage to wild applause from the crowd. Allen dedicated the show to his longtime friend and supporter Dave Hickey, who passed away three weeks ago, and went into the two-stepping “Amarillo Highway,” his signature tune from his classic 1979 album Lubbock (on everything). The round robin solos from Sexton (on a day off from Bob Dylan’s band), Bukka Allen, Bowden and Maines made clear what an amazing group Allen assembled for the show. He followed with one of his other Lubbock classics – the sardonic seduction waltz “The Beautiful Waitress,” before shifting from tentative love to definite destruction on the rocking “The Lubbock Tornado,” documenting a real-life storm from Allen’s childhood. “Disaster is fun,” he noted wryly.
Next up were songs from the acclaimed Moby Dick, starting off with “Houdini Didn’t Like the Spiritualists,” a true life narrative documenting exactly that sentiment, as well as featuring a soulful McNally solo vocal. That was followed by “Death of the Last Stripper,” a tune co-penned by Dave Alvin and Allen’s wife Jo Harvey that acknowledged its title with the wistfully sad line “We’re the only ones who even know that she died.” McNally took the lead vocal for the ballad “All These Blues Go Walkin’ By,” which she, Jo Harvey, Sexton and Bukka Allen all had a hand in co-writing with Terry. The family affair continued with “City of the Vampires,” a song co-written by Allen’s nine-year-old grandson Kru that, once again, concerned exactly what the title promised.
Allen introduced the PMB, before performing a suite of songs going all the way back to his first album, 1975’s Juarez, starting with the folky waltz “The Juarez Device (AKA Texican Badman).” The audience barely had time to clap before the group eased into the moody minor key narrative “What of Alicia,” which itself nearly crashed into the fan favorite rocker “There Oughta Be a Law Against Sunny Southern California.” Allen reached even further back for the next song: “Red Bird,” the first song he ever wrote, first performed on the TV show Shindig! in 1965. Moving forward a few decades, Allen said “This is for Jo Harvey” by way of introduction to the frisky “Flatland Boogie.”
Then it was time to rock & roll once again, with the rollicking, Indian-flavored Allen standard “New Delhi Freight Train,” a song covered by Little Feat two years before Allen recorded it himself on Lubbock (on everything). He returned to Moby Dick for “Sailin’ On Through,” a mordant farewell that ruminates on the inevitable passing of, well, everything. But he and the band weren’t quite done. “We’ll end with a religious number,” Allen said, which meant one thing: “Gimme a Ride to Heaven Boy,” one of his most popular and hilarious songs, and a perfect way to close out this special show. A grinning Allen and the Panhandle Mystery Band took a bow to enthusiastic, well-deserved applause. It was an excellent show and a great way to wrap our 47th season, and we can’t wait for you all to see it when it broadcasts early next year on your local PBS station.
Terry Allen & the Panhandle Mystery Band perform on Austin City Limits, Season 47, 2021. Photos by Scott Newton.
Austin City Limits is proud to announce our final taping of Season 47, with a Texas legend making his highly-anticipated return to the ACL stage: maverick singer/songwriter Terry Allen returns for his first headline taping in over two decades on December 1. He will be joined by his longtime group the Panhandle Mystery Band—featuring Lloyd Maines, Charlie Sexton, Richard Bowden, Shannon McNally, Davis McLarty and sons Bukka and Bale Allen. The taping will also be live streamed, as ACL offers fans worldwide a unique opportunity to watch the taping live in its entirety at 8pm CT/ 9pm ET at this location. ACL’s public ticket giveaway, which had been suspended throughout Season 47 due to Covid restrictions, will resume with this taping and we are thrilled to welcome back the general public.
Iconic and iconoclastic Texan songwriter and visual artist Terry Allen returns to the ACL stage to showcase his highly lauded 2020 album Just Like Moby Dick. Raised in Lubbock, Texas, the cult favorite continues the remarkable artistic trajectory he began almost fifty years ago with influential classics including his cinematic debut Juarez (1975) and his 1979 masterstroke Lubbock (on everything). Just Like Moby Dick has earned widespread acclaim: “A remarkable late-career high point” (Austin American-Statesman); “One of outlaw country’s strongest and oddest talents” (Uncut); “…takes you on a journey through the brilliant mind of this ‘master lyricist’” (New York Times). Casting his net wide for wild stories, Just Like Moby Dick features, among many other things, Houdini in existential crisis, the death of the last stripper in town, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, mudslides and burning mobile homes, and all manner of tragicomic disasters, abandonments, betrayals, bad memories, failures, and fare-thee-wells. Alongside his iconic musicianship, Allen also is an accomplished, “flat-out inspiring” (LA Times) visual artist whose work has been shown throughout the United States and internationally, and is represented in major private and public collections. His work will be the subject of the upcoming exhibition MemWars at Austin’s Blanton Museum of Art beginning December 18 through July 2021. The New York Times notes, “There is just one person whose art has been seen in highbrow museums around the country and is an inductee of the Buddy Holly Walk of Fame in Lubbock. He is Terry Allen.” Allen is the subject of the recent documentary concert film, Scott Ballew’s Everything for All Reasons, featuring frequent collaborators including David Byrne, Kiki Smith, Joe Ely and Allen’s wife, actress writer Jo Harvey Allen. Allen has also collaborated with Guy Clark, Butch Hancock, Dave Alvin and Lucinda Williams, and his haunting and hilarious songs have been covered and championed by the likes of Bobby Bare, Ryan Bingham, Richard Buckner, Jason Isbell, Little Feat, Sturgill Simpson, and Kurt Vile.
Want to be part of our audience? We will post information on how to get free passes on November 22 at 10 a.m. CT. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for notice of postings. The broadcast episode will air in early 2022 on PBS as part of our Season 47.
Austin PBS has adopted updated health & safety protocols for those in attendance at tapings until further notice, including the requirement of avnegative COVID test or proof of vaccination for entry. As public health conditions for live entertainment change, ACL will remain flexible and adapt to applicable health protocols. We appreciate your understanding and patience as we continue to respond to ever-changing conditions. Our top priority is bringing y’all great music and keeping everyone who attends ACL tapings safe.
Following last year’s pandemic-related pre-emption, we were beyond thrilled for the return of our biggest event/party of the season: the Austin City Limits Hall of Fame Inductions & Celebration Presented by PNC Bank. We were proud to induct three longtime ACL favorites, all trailblazing artists who have all appeared on the show multiple times: renowned alt-country band Wilco, Austin rock icon Alejandro Escovedo, and the truly legendary singer/songwriter Lucinda Williams. Joined by a diverse and impressive line-up of musicians paying tribute to these fantastic figures, we had a grand time celebrating some of our favorite performers on our favorite night of the year. We were also excited to announce the formal unveiling of PNC Plaza at ACL Live as part of the ceremony. Our new partner PNC Bank has made a five-year commitment as the Official Bank of Austin City Limits.
Alejandro Escovedo. Photo courtesy Austin City Limits.
Following welcomes from Austin PBS acting CEO Lori Bolding and ACL executive producer Terry Lickona, it was time to induct the first honoree: Austin’s own Alejandro Escovedo. Legendary rock writer, producer and longtime Patti Smith guitarist Lenny Kaye did the honors. Kaye spoke of his long friendship with Escovedo, and what makes his eclectic, expansive body of work important not only to the industry, but to the world. Escovedo accepted his award in a stunning, sparkling lime-green jacket, and spoke of the influence of his wife Nancy Rankin, his Mexican family, especially his older brother, jazz great Pete Escovedo, and of his journey through music, as well as his gratitude to ACL for giving a platform to showcase his musical theater piece By the Hand of the Father in 2002. Joined by his niece, the incomparable Sheila E., behind the drum kit of the Austin All-Stars Band and his veteran backing singers and string section, Escovedo opened the music salute with “Algo Azul,” a song from his most recent album The Crossing, bringing out Alex Ruiz, frontman for Austin Latin-rock band Del Castillo and filmmaker Robert Rodriguez’s band Chingon, for an all-Spanish version of the song La Cruzada. Escovedo then welcomed another old pal, John Doe, co-founder of legendary Los Angeles punk band X, to sing the rocking story song “Sally Was a Cop,” from the 2012 album Big Station, amplified by a burning solo from house band leader Lloyd Maines on pedal steel. Escovedo finished his victory lap with a titanic take on “Put You Down,” his 1996 rock anthem with which he opened his 2006 ACL appearance. Guitars raged, the string section seared, and the audience response was deafening.
Lucinda Williams with Rosanne Cash. Photo courtesy Austin City Limits.
The only way to follow that was by inducting another icon, which meant it was time to honor the singer/songwriter all other singer/songwriters bow down to: Lucinda Williams. One of her best-known disciples, Jason Isbell, inducted her into the HOF, explaining how Williams made a map for other songwriters, including himself, to follow. “This will fit real nicely next to my Grammys,” she commented wryly as she accepted her award. She praised Austin for helping give her her start, as well as Terry Lickona and the ACL staff. Isbell then took the stage to sing Williams’ beautiful “I Envy the Wind,” from her Grammy-nominated 2002 LP Essence. Williams joined her friend Rosanne Cash onstage to perform a moving version of the beguiling New Orleans tribute “Crescent City” from the Louisiana native’s groundbreaking 1988 self-titled LP, capped by a standing ovation from the crowd. Country rock star Margo Price joined Williams, presenting her hero with flowers and a heartfelt thanks for the example she sets. Along with the All-Stars, Price and Williams tore into “Changed the Locks,” the withering blues rocker also from 1988’s Lucinda Williams. After the two singers-in-arms left the stage, steel guitarist and house bandleader Lloyd Maines – the first musician to be inducted into the ACL Hall of Fame – introduced the ace ACL All-Stars Band: guitarist David Grissom, bassist Bill Whitbeck, drummer Tom Van Schiak and keyboardist Chris Gage.
Wilco. Photo courtesy Austin City Limits.
Following an intermission, it was time to induct Wilco. Rosanne Cash welcomed her friends into the Hall with a speech touching on their “musical alchemy that’s just the thing if you want to spark a revolution in your audience.” Her words earned her hugs from all six members (leader Jeff Tweedy, bassist John Stirratt, guitarist Nels Cline, keyboardists Pat Sansone and Mikael Jorgenson, drummer Glenn Kotche), while Tweedy gave a speech thanking not only ACL but all the bands that gave them inspiration along the way. Wilco then picked up their instruments to do what they do best, opening their segment with Summerteeth’s rocking “A Shot in the Arm.” The band exited the stage with the exception of guitarist Nels Cline remaining to accompany their friend Bill Callahan on lap steel. The low-fi great sang “Sky Blue Sky” in his deep baritone, with Cline coloring the proceedings with keening steel lines. Legendary Texas singer/songwriter Terry Allen took the stage solo, for a stately piano performance of “One Sunday Morning.” Wilco returned to the stage joined by Japanese Breakfast’s Michelle Zauner, along with Lloyd Maines (who played on Wilco’s 1995 debut A.M.) for “Jesus, Etc.,” the pop charmer from 2002’s landmark Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.
“We’d like to invite everybody back on the stage,” said Tweedy, bringing the all-star cast out for a stellar reading of “California Stars.” Escovedo, Cash, Isbell, Allen, Sheila E., Price, Callahan, Kaye, Zauner, Doe, Maines, and the string players joined in on Wilco’s early career highlight for a powerhouse closer. It was a great way to end the show, and stay tuned for highlights on Austin City Limits 7th Annual Hall of Fame Honors when it airs January 8 on PBS.
ACL 7th Annual Hall of Fame Honors. Photos courtesy Austin City Limits.
