The 21st annual Austin City Limits Festival descended on Zilker Park for two weekends of music and good times and we were on hand to catch the madness.
Kevin Morby
He was born in Lubbock, raised in Kansas City, yet songwriter Kevin Morby’s expansive and expressive free-flowing folk style pinpoints him to no particular locale. Memphis looms large in his sixth album, 2021’s This Is a Photograph, a remarkable song cycle that puts a universal spin on the city’s locales and tragedies. Kevin Morby stopped by our backstage pop-up recording studio on the first Friday of the Austin City Limits music fest to chat about some of his favorite music growing up, the ups and downs of touring, and who he’d put in his dream supergroup.
Adrian Quesada
Like so many of the projects the Austin guitarist/songwriter/producer has been associated with over the years, Adrian Quesada’s latest album, Boleros Psicodelicos, is one of the year’s finest, and his ACL showcase was a real standout. With his mainstay band Black Pumas currently on a break, He’s already releasing a second album later this year! Hear Adrian answer many questions, including why he hung on to his Iron Maiden album.Adrian Quesada might just be Austin’s premiere
Britt Daniel
Spoon has been busy bringing their latest, Lucifer on the Sofa, to audiences across the country. The Spoon frontman takes a few minutes to reveal some of his unerring musical instincts, including why he thought a Prince/Black Francis pairing would have been awesome.
MUNA
Newly signed to Phoebe Bridgers’ Saddest Factory label, LA queer trio MUNA released their third album, MUNA, in May. Their glossy synth-pop has helped expand their fan base, but so has their sharp social consciousness. Their lyrics take on politics, sexual assault, LBGTQ rights, and much more, but their aim is to keep it all fun. As they reveal here in their backstage interview, their best gigs feel like summer camp.
Adam Granduciel of The War On Drugs
The War On Drugs kicked off a tour supporting the band’s new album, I Don’t Live Here Anymore, with a taping of ACL LIVE in January of this year. Now, Adam Granduciel and band are back in Austin for the Austin City Limits music festival and the final shows of their tour. We caught up with Adam backstage where he told us about the band’s first festival experience in the U.K. (muddy and cold) and discovering Phil Collins as a nine year old growing up in Massachusetts.
Cory Henry
Since branching off of grammy winning funk-jam group Snarky Puppy, Cory Henry’s solo career has only become more decorated every year- & touring with Roots, Kirk Franklin, & Kenny Garrett only touch the surface. His new solo project Operation Funk jumps directly into the groundwork of the rhythms, lyrics, & soul of what makes Cory Henry. Back in the KUTX media tent, we were given the opportunity to hear more about that groundwork & its origins.
Phoenix
Well into their third decade of making buoyant pop earworms, these Versailles rockers were back at ACL Fest on the heels of their new album, Alpha Zulu. Brothers Laurent Brancowitz and Christian Mazzalai field backstage questions of great import.
