Austin City Limits

For decades, Austin City Limits was a charming, well-kept PBS secret mostly among fiercely loyal Texans who loved seeing no-commercials, no-frills performances from musicians who usually looked thrilled to be a part of the ACL performers club started by Willie Nelson about 30 years ago. The inspiration for the popular live-music festival in Austin every fall, ACL received probably its greatest attention a few years ago for hosting Coldplay (check out its Guest Appearances page and you too will wonder what in the heck a megapopular British band was doing in the small, casual Austin City Limits performance studio), but it hasn't meant a permanent turn away from the usual blues, country, folk, and rock acts for whom this hour-long show is a really big deal. Tune in when you get a chance -- as Coldplay's Chris Martin said while talking to a kid sitting in the front row of the audience, "This is a pretty cool place to be when you're 11, isn't it?" Actually, whether you're in the studio or watching the broadcast, it's a pretty good place to be at any age.

Austin City Limits is one of the most charming music shows ever. Full of good, honest and homemade music, organizers who value the same and an atmosphere that is rarely found these days. A treasure trove of visual, but above all acoustic, sonorous, musical entertainment. Just great.