The Best Episodes of Austin City Limits Season 36

Bluegrass is the order of the night with Steve Martin and Sarah Jarosz. Comedian Martin picks up his banjo with the Steep Canyon Rangers for new tunes in the old tradition. Young Texan Jarosz rewrites the bluegrass rules with her original songs and style.

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ACL presents the best of contemporary R&B with John Legend & The Roots. The innovative hip-hop collective backs the Grammy-winning soul singer on a set of 70s soul covers and originals.

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ACL welcomes rock icon Cheap Trick. The band performs material from its acclaimed album “The Latest” and selections from its classic catalog.

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Reggae legend Jimmy Cliff has a career that spans almost 50 years. With “a voice that is preserved to startling perfection (Rolling Stone)” the only living musician to hold the Order of Merit, the highest honor for achievement in the arts and sciences granted by the Jamaican government, has a soon-to-be-released CD and a live show that has critics raving. Billboard wrote "Reggae legend Jimmy Cliff has absolutely no business at 62 sounding as good as he does.”

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Hailed as “one of the most engaging American bands of the past decade” (The Phoenix) by critics and fans, Spoon returns to Austin City Limits for their third turn on the stage with a new album that “strikes a balance between its early angsty indie-rock and the soulful deconstructed pop of its 2007 release, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga” (Billboard).

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Patty Griffin’s remarkable ability to copiously fill every note on her newest album with the soulful passion of a gospel veteran leaves even the most discerning gospel critics in awe. And with her fifth appearance on the Austin City Limit stage, Griffin, and her group of special guests, will be inspiring awe with her “uplifting, moving, and exquisite” (Slant Magazine) live performance.

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As “one of the genuine lights in rock music” (Billboard) Alejandro Escovedo returns to the Austin City Limits stage to perform songs from his soon-to-be-released CD. His authentic Austin sound has led him to national stardom and critical acclaim. “To call Alejandro Escovedo the godfather of modern country rock would sell him short,” wrote critic Will Hermes in Rolling Stone.

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Making a name for himself back in 1984 with his debut album, No Kinda Dancer, Texas native Robert Earl Keen is now regarded as one of the most highly venerated country music veterans of the past 20 years.

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Great voices and songs combine with Rosanne Cash and Brandi Carlile. Cash presents tunes from her C&W tribute album “The List”. Brandi Carlile follows with genre-spanning tunes from “Give Up the Ghost.”

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Take one part My Morning Jacket, add one part She & Him and two parts Bright Eyes, and the result is a pristine super-group incorporating four exceptional artists that define the current indie-folk generation appropriately titled Monsters of Folk. Though not strangers to the Austin City Limits stage separately, tonight they make their onstage debut under this monicor performing songs from their self-titled debut album.

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ACL welcomes the cream of underground rock with The National and Band of Horses. The National plays songs from its acclaimed record High Violet, while Band of Horses highlights its latest LP, Infinite Arms.

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Alternative rockers Sonic Youth showcase songs from the 2009 "The Eternal" album and blues-rock duo the Black Keys perform tracks from the 2010 "Brothers" album.

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ACL brings it home with Texan songwriters Lyle Lovett and Bob Schneider. ACL veteran Lovett plays tracks from his latest LP Natural Forces, as well as classics. Schneider surveys his decade-long, eclectic solo career.

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