The team behind Austin City Limits has revealed the schedule for the latter half of the show’s 46th season, featuring new performances from Ray Wylie Hubbard, Ruthie Foster, and The War And Treaty. Beginning in January 2021, the seven-week run will also feature tributes to Jerry Jeff Walker, Billy Joe Shaver, and Allen Toussaint. Along with Tuesday’s announcement, ACL shared a snippet of a past Foo Fighters appearance set to air early next year, highlighting the band’s performance of “Best Of You”.
The iconic PBS concert program began its 46th season earlier this year comprised of four new episodes, three of which were taped without an audience. In addition to new performances from Yola (who taped hers pre-pandemic in February), The Mavericks, Rufus Wainwright, and Jackie Venson, the season also included tributes to John Prine, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Asleep At The Wheel.
Related: Yola Covers Elton John On Her ‘Austin City Limits’ Debut [Watch]
As the pandemic continues to put a hold on all live concerts, Austin City Limits has elected to continue mining its archives for material. The season will begin on January 2nd with ACL Hall of Fame: The First Six Years which will air in lieu of ACL‘s annual Hall of Fame celebration which could not take place this year. The special will be comprised of 14 songs from the 2014—2019 events, featuring inductees Bonnie Raitt, Willie Nelson, Buddy Guy, Los Lobos, Rosanne Cash, Kris Kristofferson, and Shawn Colvin.
The following week (January 9th), PBS will air a special culled from Foo Fighters’ past performances from 2008 and 2014, both of which would air the year following their taping . In anticipation of that rebroadcast, Austin City Limits has shared the Dave Grohl-led act’s fiery rendition of “Best Of You” from their 2015 set. The next two weeks will feature new episodes with a half-hour of Foster paired up with War and Treaty on January 16th and a full hour of Hubbard’s long-awaited Austin City Limits debut on the 23rd.
After that, ACL will dip back into the archives for a few weeks with “The Best of Spoon” on January 30th, comprised of clips from the band’s four appearances on the program over the past two decades. On February 6th, audiences will be treated to a “Texas Icons” episode featuring salutes to outlaw folksingers Walker and Shaver who died within a week of each other earlier this year. Finally, season 46 of Austin City Limits will close out on February 13th with an hour-long tribute to New Orleans legend Toussaint.
Watch Foo Fighters perform “Best Of You” on Austin City Limits in 2015, and scroll down to see the schedule for the latter half of the show’s 46th season below.
Foo Fighters – “Best Of You” – Austin City Limits
[Video: AustinCityLimitsTV]
[H/T Austin360]