Hayes Carll informed the audience that he and Scott Davis (accompanying Carll on the guitar) didn’t bring the entire band because “it would have been too much for y’all to handle – we’re saving it up for Sunday.” Carll was referring to his ACL set on Sunday evening (7:30pm on the...
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No one knows just how many talented musicians toil in obscurity their entire career, always just missing their big break. By that measure, 62-year old Florida soul singer Charles Bradley is one of the lucky ones. And he knows it. He never even recorded until 2002 – thank the retro-soul...
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If you wanted to be flip about it, you could describe Francisca Valenzuela as a Chilean Fiona Apple with sprinkle of Regina Spektor. If you did, you wouldn’t be doing the 24-year-old California born, Chile transplant justice. Valenzuela's no stranger to the festival crowd. She has performed at...
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We are greatly indebted to our fantastic, talented volunteer photographer Sean C. Murphy who has shot ACL for us for the last 3 years. Sean is a pleasure to work with and a very knowledgeable music fan so his photos are always a real treat. Sean manages to catch more acts at ACL than, I'm pretty...
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Sam Beam offered his family a knowing glance as he walked off the stage Saturday afternoon. He directed it up to the rafters above the AMD stage (second only in capacity to the Bud Light stage on the opposite end of the park) where they’d been watching him perform as Iron & Wine. It was one of...
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TV on the Radio took the Google+ stage just as the sun was setting over a rain cooled crowd. Standing shoulder to shoulder with fist pumping music fans is so much more enjoyable when you aren’t sticking together. The N.Y. indie outfit got the hands in the air right off the bat with a full bore...
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Kurt Vile broke out this year with Smoke Ring For My Halo, an album that highlights the Philadelphia songwriter’s fractured folk-rock. Vile took to the Austin Ventures stage Friday evening with just an acoustic guitar, focusing on the folk aspect for the first half of the set. But with his...
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When you ask a band to arrive on-site for a sound check at 8am (something we rarely have to do), you never know what kind of a response you’re going to get. But the West Plains, Missouri four-piece Ha Ha Tonka proved not only up to the task on Friday morning, but genuinely happy to do it. Their...
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Brothers Luther and Cody Dickinson decided to put a band together back in the mid-1990s, but never thought it would come to this. Their unique blend of Southern rock and old-school blues has won them critical acclaim and scores of fans around the nation. Working as a trio (along with bassist...
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For those expecting a weekend in Zilker Park marked by hellish heat, long lines waiting for buses, choking clouds of dust or puddles of dillo dirt: we regret to report that based on our conversations, the 10^th iteration of the Austin City Limits...
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Playing a fairly early slot at 2pm, California-natives Young the Giant took the AMD stage by storm, literally. Frontman Sameer Gadhia instantly connected with the rainsoaked crowd and off they went. Longtime listeners got to show off their devoted fandom when the band played songs from their days...
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Daniel Lanois, best known as a masterful producer for the likes of Bob Dylan, U2 and Neil Young, brought the dark, moody sounds of his latest project, Black Dub, to the light of day in Zilker Park. The modest, intermittent rain seemed the ideal ambiance to accompany the brooding, bottom-heavy...
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It's probably fair to say that Stevie Wonder's Saturday night set was one of the most anticipated events of this year's ACL Fest, and the size of the crowd there to see him underscored that point. So it's curious that Wonder's sound levels were seemingly half as loud as the other acts . For the...
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Back in 2003, when the ACL Festival was much less crowded but no less exciting, I was handed a CD while taking a much needed break under a shade tree. It was a single called ‘Trouble’ by some guy named Ray Lamontagne. Now, eight years later, I’m watching Lamontagne play on one of the main...
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