Follow Guy Clark, Susanna Clark, and Townes Van Zandt as they rise from obscurity to reverence: Guy, the Pancho to Van Zandt’s Lefty, struggling to establish himself as the Dylan Thomas of American music, while Susanna pens hit songs and paints album covers for top artists, and Townes spirals in self-destruction after writing some of Americana music’s most enduring and influential ballads.
The great alt-country band Uncle Tupelo played its last concert on May 1, 1994, at Mississippi Nights in St. Louis, Missouri. By the time of this show, Jeff Tweedy and Jay Farrar were already not getting along well. Soon after the performance, they would both go on to create other bands, with Farrar founding Son Volt and Tweedy forming Wilco, but on that night in May 1994, there was one last grasp at combined harmony and greatness. In the video below, Tweedy and Farrar trade off on the lead vocals, with drummer Mike Heindon joining the band on the final song of the set, “Looking for a Way Out,” and also singing on the encore with Brian Henneman and the Bottle Rockets on Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Gimme Three Steps.”
On August 19, 2013, Jason Isbell and his band The 400 Unit, stepped out onto the stage in front of a live audience in Austin, TX to film his first appearance on the longest running original music series in the U.S., Austin City Limits. Isbell performs songs from his critically acclaimed, award-winning album Southeastern along with songs from throughout his career, including fan favorites Outfit and Decoration Day. The set closed with a rousing rendition of the Rolling Stones Can't You Hear Me Knocking, a live staple.
A thrilling and often beautiful concert sitting unseen in a vault for a number of years, Lucinda Williams: Live from Austin, TX is the Louisiana-born singer-songwriter's complete, pre-edited performance from a 1998 appearance on Austin City Limits. With its 16 well-chosen songs, largely culled from Williams's most rewarding material since the 1980s, Live is indispensable for longtime fans and a great introduction to her unique artistry for the uninitiated.
A genre-defying band forms in Austin, covers a notorious rap tune, creates its own acclaimed roots music, and becomes a touring institution while striving to find its place in the challenging landscape of the music industry.
Alejandro Escovedo’s music ranges over an emotional depth that embraces all forms of genre and presentation in search of the healing truth of honesty. His earlier days in the punk band, The Nuns has inspired an ongoing rootsy edge, making his songwriting unpredictable, from hard edged rock to ballad-like emotional expressions. In this episode, Alejandro reveals the man behind the music with his backing band, The Sensitive Boys.
The DVD was recorded July 14 and 15, 2006, at the historic Cain's Ballroom and Dancehall in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in front of sold-out crowds. This showcases the band's staggering musicianship and and off-the-charts energy level.
The Long Ryders, with bands such as The Bangles and The Three O' Clock, were key players in the Paisley Underground, a musical movement from the mid-1980s, combining the chiming folk rock of the 1960s with a psychedelic bent and a bit of punk attitude. The Long Ryders developed a cult following, becoming college radio favorite. This presentation finds frontman Sid Griffin and his band performing at the Roxy in Los Angeles in February of 1986.