"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.