Old-School Country with Sturgill Simpson and Asleep at the Wheel on 'Austin City Limits'

As a long-time fan of Asleep at the Wheel and relative recent convert to singer-songwriter Sturgill Simpson, I am very excited to catch the next episode of 'Austin City Limits' this weekend...

Old-School Country with Sturgill Simpson and Asleep at the Wheel on 'Austin City Limits'

New episode premieres October 17, 2015 on PBS

Watch Sturgill Simpson Perform "Life of Sin" on Austin City Limits TV

October 16, 2015—Austin, TX—Austin City Limits (ACL) new Season 41 kicks into high gear with breakout country artist Sturgill Simpson sharing the bill with legendary Western swing institution Asleep at the Wheel.  Two acts steeped in old-school tradition but beamed through a contemporary prism, the must-see episode features rising star Simpson making his full set ACL debut while Texas swing veterans Asleep at the Wheel return for their 11th appearance. Asleep at the Wheel, newly-minted ACL Hall of Fame members, are joined by guest stars The Avett Brothers, Amos Lee and the Quebe Sisters in a special tribute to musical forebear Bob Wills, the King of Western Swing.  The episode premieres Saturday, October 17th at 8 p.m. CT/9 p.m. ET on PBS.  ACL airs weekly on PBS stations nationwide (check local listings for times) and full episodes are made available online for a limited time athttp://video.pbs.org/program/austin-city-limits/ immediately following the initial broadcast. The show's official hashtag is #acltv.  

Forty years after Willie Nelson made his iconic debut on ACL on October 14, 1974, country rebel Sturgill Simpson arrives at the top of his game in a standout ACL debut.  With his acclaimed breakthrough Metamodern Sounds In Country Music topping Best of 2014 Album lists and a stack of accolades to call his own—including a Grammy nomination, top honors at this year’s Americana Awards, slots at the year’s biggest music festivals, including Bonnaroo, Coachella and ACL Fest—ACL captures Simpson on the verge of full-blown stardom.  Playing an acoustic guitar, the Kentucky native and his ace four-piece band launch into a scorching seven-song set that makes a believer out of everyone.  He pays tribute to the outlaw country scene that inspired him, acknowledging his debt to Willie, and to Austin cosmic cowboy Steve Fromholz, with an impassioned rendition of “I’d Have to Be Crazy,” a Fromholz song Nelson made famous in the ‘70s, and a perfect showcase for Simpson’s rich baritone.  The full span of Simpson’s influences is evident with the inspired set-closer, a brilliant crossbreed of the Osborne Brothers’ bluegrass classic “Listening to the Rain” to glam-rock band T-Rex’s “The Motivator”.

"This show goes back deep to the roots of where Austin City Limits began,” says ACL executive producer Terry Lickona.  “Sturgill would've fit perfectly into the Austin music scene of the ‘70s, and it speaks volumes that his own progressive country sound resonates so strongly and stands in contrast to much of the country pop today.  Asleep at the Wheel appeared on the very first episode of our very first season, and they're still kicking it 41 years later - just like ACL!"

Asleep at the Wheel / Photo credit: Wyatt McSpadden

A national as well as Texan treasure, the nine-time Grammy Award-winning Austin supergroup Asleep at the Wheel has kept the Western swing flame burning for forty-five years.  Still led by larger-than-life founder Ray Benson, AATW appeared in the first official episode of Austin City Limits in 1976, and returns for a remarkable eleventh appearance to perform selections from their recent Bob Wills tribute album Still the King: Celebrating the Music of Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys, a salute to the great bandleader.  Wills’ music, born in the 1920s and ‘30s, continues to inspire younger generations, and AATW is joined on the ACL stage by some very special guests, including soul singer Amos Lee, fiddle trio the Quebe Sisters and Americana sensations The Avett Brothers, who put their own spin on Western swing classics.  A highlight of the set comes when two former Texas Playboys—singer Leon Rausch, 88, and 92-year old saxophonist Billy Briggs—take the stage.  The entire ensemble returns for a crowd sing-along of the signature “Texas Playboys Theme,” winding “Happy Trails” into the old chestnut for a perfect close.

Episode Setlist:
Sturgill Simpson
Life of Sin
Sitting Here Without You
It Ain’t All Flowers 
Just Let Go
Railroad of Sin
I’d Have To Be Crazy
Listening to the Rain/The Motivator

Asleep at the Wheel
I Can’t Give You Anything But Love
A Good Man is Hard to Find
Navajo Trail (ft The Quebe Sisters)
I Hear Ya Talkin’ (ft Amos Lee)
The Girl I Left Behind Me (ft The Avett Brothers)
Brain Cloudy Blues (ft Leon Rausch and Billy Briggs)
Texas Playboy Theme

Season 41 Fall Broadcast Schedule (additional episodes to be announced)
October 3        2015 Hall of Fame Special
October 10      Cassandra Wilson
October 17      Sturgill Simpson / Asleep at the Wheel
October 24      Don Henley
October 31      Gary Clark Jr. / Courtney Barnett
November 7    TV On The Radio / The War on Drugs
November 14  James Taylor
November 21  ACL Presents: Americana Music Festival 2015

The complete line-up for the full 14-week season, including seven new episodes to air beginning January 2016, will be announced at a later date.  Viewers can visit acltv.com for news regarding future tapings, episode schedules and live stream updates.

About 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. The program is taped live before a concert audience from The Moody Theater in downtown Austin. ACL is the longest-running music series in American television history and remains the only TV series to ever be awarded the National Medal of Arts. Since its inception in 1974, 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.

ACL is produced by KLRU-TV and funding is provided in part by Budweiser, the Austin Convention Center Department, Dell and HomeAway. Additional funding is provided by the Friends of Austin City Limits. Learn more about Austin City Limits, programming and history at acltv.com.