"Please, remember me..."

Easily my favorite Austin City Limits moment to date is Iron and Wine's closing performance of "The Trapeze Swinger", which originally aired on November 15, 2008.  For me, this version easily trumps both the album and soundtrack releases (listen to a full cut of the album version here).  The singular, steady beat and instrumentation on the album seems to take away from the emotional intensity of the lyrics that he captures in the live setting. 

Before watching, find someone you love and hold them like you know you should have but haven't recently.

Ok - maintain that position and push play.

Watch the full episode. See more Austin City Limits.

   
The solitary acoustic guitar; the harmonizing with sister Sarah Beam; the accelerated and slowed pace; the phrases that seem to pause and linger - his voice trailing off without the guitar like without the love he sings about; the depth and density of the songwriting which require at least an entire post of their own, all make this a moment not soon forgotten. 

Thanks Sam.

Stay Still

Also out from the Austin City Limits family is a new book of photos, entitled Austin City Limits: 35 Years in Photographs, by house photographer Scott Newman.  Since 1979, Newman has been behind the lens and in the front row, giving him an exceptional vantage point to capture some great moments.  Learn more on the book here.

"Great Music. No Limits."

For the past 35 years, PBS's Austin City Limits has brought some of music's most innovative and diverse musical acts into the living rooms of America.  The longest running television concert series, debuting in 1976,  has remained relevant by honoring our rich country, rock, and blues heritage, while promoting the new voices of each generation.      

That tradition continues this weekend, when the show premiers its 2010-2011 season with reggae legend Jimmy Cliff.  This years lineup includes a mix of past favorites and new friends, to commemorate the end of taping at the show's current, and original musical home, on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin.  The show will move into a newly constructed venue as part of the Block 21 development project next season.  The final guests in ACL's old home will include past favorites Robert Earl Keen, Rosanne Cash and Lyle Lovett, along with first timers The Black Keys, Monsters of Folk, Trombone Shorty, and John Legend & the Roots.

Many of the tapings by this years artists coincide with their appearances at the show's festival offshoot, Austin City Limits Festival, on October 8th-10th.  ACL Festival 2010 looks to have one of the best top to bottom lineup's of any this summer. The Eagles, Muse, and Phish headline, with performances by M.I.A., LCD Soundsystem, Vampire Weekend, and many, many, more. 

The Austin City Limits brand has outlived others dedicated to capitalizing on the concert experience, like MTV's Unplugged, and captured today's music listener, by embracing new music and new media.  It's possible to watch a selection of full episode's on the show's website.  The show has joined with taping partner KLRU to offer Satellite Sets - short video concerts of up and coming, yet still largely unknown, bands.  The ACL Festival has used Facebook and Twitter as platforms to reach the mobile media generation, while at the same time marketing the festival to environmentally and socially conscience twenty and thirty somethings, and still hip parents looking to bring their kids along.  

Looking back, it's easy to see why Austin City Limits has been a success; we need no other evidence than the show's pilot episode, taped October 17, 1974 - a rollicking performance by country music's outlaw extraordinaire, and Texas's own, Willie Nelson.  Check out the impressive full list of the show's past performers here.

Watch the full episode. See more Austin City Limits.

Everywhere is the Best Seat

What follows is an attempt to write about some of the things that inform and inspire my life, namely: music, art, and beer.  The title for this blog comes from a quote from avant-garde composer John Cage - "Everything you do is music, and everywhere is the best seat".  Cage's all encompassing acceptance of every sound as music perfectly captures my own love for the constant noise enveloping each of our lives.  The clock ticks, a car radio filters in through an open window, your ringtone sings out, and without encouragement, songs enter and exit.  The music breathes in and out around us.  There is no such thing as silence.   

If nothing else, I hope this conversation with myself allows me to research, understand and appreciate those sounds, musicians, artists, brewers, and thinkers that, for me, come through the rest of the static.  For those of us that live with heads stuffed with lyrics, melodies, and riffs, inhaling and exhaling the pulse of the life around us, the music truly never stops.  Listening is as easy as tuning in to the world around us to find our best seat.  The view from my seat is as follows: under a pair of headphones, behind a camera lens, and at the bottom of a pint glass.  Who wants to listen to silence anyways?