Posted on August 24th, 2011

KLRU has reached the end of our August pledge drive and we are just $495 short our goal of $240,000. If you are among the thousands who have responded over the last 17 days, THANK YOU!

If you have not given yet, you have a unique opportunity to give the gift that puts KLRU over it’s goal. Give that gift right now!

During this drive we offered tickets to a number of one-of-a-kind KLRU experiences. As you think about how you would like to be thanked for your support, please consider joining us for one (or more) of these incredible events:

2 tickets to the Austin City Limits taping with Arcade Fire on September 17th

2 tickets to KLRU Antiques Appraisal Fair (bring 3 treasures with you) on January 21st

2 tickets to spend the day on the set of Central Texas Gardener on October 6th

2 tickets to our BBQ bus tour – KLRU-Daytripper Meat-Up on October 1st

We hope you will make a donation, and perhaps join us for one of our events. Also, please consider inspiring others by sharing your reason for supporting KLRU at our Facebook page, or on Twitter – using the hashtag #whyKLRU.

Thank you for watching and supporting KLRU!

Posted on August 12th, 2011

If you’ve already given a gift or shared why you love KLRU this August, thank you for your support! In just one week, you have helped raised $90,000 towards our goal of $240,000! We’re not done yet – tonight and Saturday we’ll be live in the KLRU studios with really exciting programs and thank you gifts!

Tonight is our regular Friday public affairs line up starting at 6pm with PBS Newshour, Washington Week at 7pm and Need to Know at 7:30pm. If you call in to support any of our public affairs programs you’ll be entered in a drawing to win season tickets to our engaging speaker series, Spark at the Moody.

Following public affairs at 8:30pm is American Masters: Jeff Bridges: The Dude Abides, an incredible portrait of the life, career, and creative journey of a very talented actor, artist and musician. Jeff Bridges just taped his Austin City Limits performance this week (airing in November), and we’ll be giving away his signed, limited edition posters and also tickets to the Big Lebowski quote-a-long at the Alamo Drafthouse this month – you’ll have to watch to win, so don’t forget to tune in!

PBS Preview: American Masters: Jeff Bridges: The Dude Abides

The highlight of Saturday afternoon is 90 minutes of Central Texas Gardener starting at 4pm. We’ll be live in the studio with all the CTG folks who are eager to hear from the garden-lovers out there. We have a great fall preview show lined up (read more about it at the CTG blog!), a special gift package to give away from Eastside Cafe, Go Local Austin businesses answering the phones,  and  an exclusive behind-the-scenes experience for fans to see an actual taping of a CTG episode! It’ll be CTG-super-sized and not to be missed!

Central Texas Gardener Saturday Special Promo

Stick around KLRU into the evening for the next live pledge event: Austin City Limits, Season 37 Preview. See next season’s performances and backstage interviews before anyone else does! And if you’re a fan of Arcade Fire, you will have an opportunity to receive tickets to their ACL taping in September – tickets will go fast, so don’t miss your chance! Give now and watch the preview tomorrow for more ACL goodies!

Austin City Limits Special: Season 37 Preview

Posted on September 28th, 2010

KLRU is very grateful to have received several recent commitments towards its ACL Studio Fund. Bettye & Bill Nowlin have made a generous contribution of $250,000 through the Austin Community Foundation. Pledges have been made by The Brown Foundation, Inc., of Houston, ($100,000) and the Still Water Foundation ($50,000).

We are thrilled that the Moody Foundation has pledged $50,000 toward our Grand Opening Street Party for the Moody Theater in February 2011. This gift will allow approximately 2,000 members of the general public to attend a free unveiling of the new Austin City Limits Stage and to enjoy festivities around the W Austin Hotel downtown, including a live, outdoor projection of the evening’s highlights from inside the venue.

We are so fortunate to have enlisted the support of these partners — and we look forward to sharing the outcomes with Central Texas and beyond!

Posted on September 7th, 2010

Although Austin City Limits: 35 Years in Photographs isn’t officially released until September 14th, you may have seen it popping up at various places around Austin (including for sale at recent ACL tapings!). This substantial coffee-table book features hundreds of stunning photographs by long-time ACL photographer Scott Newton. Edited by Newton and Executive Producer Terry Lickona, the photographs have been carefully curated and presented with memories and quotes about ACL from the artists who have performed on the show. The book is currently available for sale through KLRU’s website as well as most major booksellers. More information about the book itself:

Austin City Limits is the best of the best: the best moments from some of the most brilliant, mesmerizing, quirky, esoteric, and unforgettable performances on the longest-running popular music series in American television history.

Austin City Limits

35 Years in Photographs

Photographs by Scott Newton

Edited by Terry Lickona and Scott Newton

Foreword by John Mayer

September 2010

$40.00 hardcover, ISBN 978-0-292-72311-5

10.5 x 11 inches, 204 pages, 294 color and b&w photos

Brad and Michele Moore Roots Music Series

Honored as a “historic rock and roll landmark” by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, Austin City Limits is the longest-running popular music series in American television history. Austin City Limits began in 1974 by featuring original Texas music that ran the gamut from western swing and Texas blues to Tejano, progressive country, and rock and roll. By the time the show celebrated its thirty-fifth anniversary in 2009, its coverage encompassed unique regional, national, and even international performers in an eclectic, ever-expanding range of genres. Austin City Limits has also broadened its live audience beyond its iconic studio on the University of Texas campus with the annual Austin City Limits Music Festival, a three-day extravaganza that spotlights some 150 bands and attracts more than 200,000 fans.

Austin City Limits captures the excitement and energy of the show in photographs by Austin City Limit’s longtime still photographer, Scott Newton. The images span Austin City Limit’s first thirty-five years, with special emphasis on legendary artists such as Johnny Cash, Ray Charles, Leonard Cohen, and Willie Nelson, and the most compelling contemporary performers and bands from the past ten to fifteen years, including Coldplay, John Mayer, Elvis Costello, Pearl Jam, David Byrne, The Flaming Lips, Wilco, Lucinda Williams, and Norah Jones. Proving that he has few peers among photographers of live music, Newton’s images deliver amazing glimpses into the intimate, revealing, and powerful moments in each artist’s performance. They also depict the direct and potent connection between performer and audience that has always been a hallmark of Austin City Limits.

SCOTT NEWTON has been the house photographer for Austin City Limits since 1979. His work has been published on numerous album covers and in many magazines and books, including three books illustrated entirely by his work: two about Austin City Limits (the most recent being Austin City Limits: 25 Years of American Music) and The Improbable Rise of Redneck Rock: New Edition.

TERRY LICKONA has been the producer of Austin City Limits since 1978. He served as chairman of the board of trustees of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences from 2005–2007 and was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Americana Music Association in 2009.

For more information from University of Texas Press please contact Andrea Prestridge at 512.232.7633 or aprestridge@utpress.utexas.edu.

Posted on November 10th, 2009

Earlier this year, The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum designated Austin City Limits an official rock and roll landmark. University of Texas workers installed the official plaque marking the show as part of music history onto the outside of Communications Building B on the University of Texas campus on November 10.

Posted on October 16th, 2009

To commemorate the 35th anniversary of the first taping of the award winning PBS series AUSTIN CITY LIMITS, Mayor Lee Leffingwell has declared October 17 “Austin City Limits Day.” The date recognizes the show’s very first taping, which took place on October 17, 1974 and featured the iconic Willie Nelson. To mark the honor KLRU and ACL will stream the original episode in its entirety for one month. For more information visit the newly launched austincitylimits.org. And, on November 15, ACL will again present a very special episode with Willie Nelson, in a joint performance with Austin legends Asleep at the Wheel.

Watch the proclamation ceremony:

AUSTIN CITY LIMITS: “Great Music. No Limits.” Now the longest-running music series in American television history, ACL showcases popular music legends and innovators from every genre. In addition to being honored by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum as a rock and roll landmark, AUSTIN CITY LIMITS is the only television program to ever receive the National Medal of Arts, the nation’s highest award for artistic excellence. Still to come in this exciting anniversary season are shows with Kenny Chesney, Pearl Jam, Elvis Costello, The Avett Brothers, Mos Def and more.

Posted on October 6th, 2009

Posted on October 2nd, 2009

We’ll be live streaming the Austin City Limits panel discussions taking place at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. today (Oct. 2) at KLRU.

Live TV : Ustream

Posted on September 25th, 2009

Go to Austin City Limits’ new blog at austincitylimits.org/blog for details about ticket giveaways for Them Crooked Vultures taping on 9/30, Mos Def followed by K’naan taping on 10/1 and Pearl Jam simulcast party on 10/3.

Posted on September 23rd, 2009

RSVP for 11 a.m. panel discussion here

RSVP for 1 p.m. panel discussion here

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum will officially designate the Austin City Limits studio as a rock and roll landmark with an historic marker unveiling and educational programs at the KLRU-TV’s Studio 6A on Thursday, October 1. In honor of this distinction, on Friday, Oct. 2, KLRU, ACL and the Rock Hall will host two 75 minute educational discussion panels moderated by Dr. Lauren Onkey, vice president of education and public programs at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, to spotlight the impact that ACL has on American culture. Both panels will take place in KLRU’s Austin City Limits studio 6A.

The first panel will feature seasoned members of ACL’s staff who will talk about the history and evolution of America’s best known music television series. Doors will open at 10:30 a.m. and the discussion will start at 11 a.m. RSVP here for this panel

The 11 a.m. discussion will lay the groundwork for the second panel beginning at 1 p.m. which will feature artists Alejandro Escovedo, Patty Griffin and Martie Maguire talking about ACL’s impact on music in general. Jim Henke, vice president of exhibitions and curatorial affairs at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum will also join the panel to provide a historical perspective. Doors will open at 12:30 p.m. and the discussion will start at 1 p.m. RSVP here for this panel