Communiqué
Enjoy fresh perspectives in song from Olivia Rodrigo and Phoebe Bridgers on AUSTIN CITY LIMITS – Sept. 23 at 10 pm
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“Olivia Rodrigo and Phoebe Bridgers”
Saturday, September 23 at 10pm
The must-see episode, a fan-favorite from the current ACL season, is back by popular demand, and music lovers will have the opportunity to revisit this instant classic or catch it for the first time. Despite the challenges facing live music during the past year, ACL is proud to have delivered a full season of performances for viewers, all recorded at ACL’s studio home in Austin, Texas in 2021, in front of limited live audiences. The Peabody Award-winning program continues its extraordinary run as the longest-running music television show in history, providing viewers a front-row seat to the best in live performance for a remarkable 47 years. ACL airs weekly on PBS stations nationwide and full episodes are made available to stream online at pbs.org/austincitylimits.
Eighteen-year-old singer-songwriter Olivia Rodrigo dominated the charts and smashed streaming records in a breakout year, earning multiple No. 1 hits with her self-penned, record-breaking, platinum debut album SOUR, nominated for seven 2022 Grammy Awards, including the coveted “Big Four” categories: Best New Artist, Album Of The Year, Record Of The Year and Song Of The Year. The L.A. based rising star has struck a chord with insightful songs about relationships and heartbreak that resonate with her legions of fans. Rodrigo makes her first full-set performance in front of a live audience in this appearance on the ACL stage. The celebrated album SOUR is the centerpiece of her irresistible, eight-song set as the stoked crowd sings-along to every word of her lyrics. Backed by an all-female band, Rodrigo bounds onto the stage barefoot to the spiky pop-punk of “brutal,” a song that rages against the pressures of public scrutiny and social media shame. Set highlights include the piano ballad “drivers license,” the breakup anthem and debut single that skyrocketed her to fame in early 2021, now nominated for three Grammy Awards, and the bitter stomp of another No. 1 megahit, “good 4 u.”
Phoebe Bridgers’ celebrated album Punisher was one of 2020’s best-loved records, earning four 2021 Grammy nominations, including Best New Artist. The Pasadena, California-born and raised singer-songwriter doesn’t write love songs as much as songs about the impact love can have on our lives, personalities, and priorities. Bridgers has emerged as a defining musical force for a generation beset by doom and open about its mental health journeys. To say Bridgers writes about heartbreak is to undersell her blue wisdom; to say she writes about pain erases all the strange joy her music emanates. Joined by her skeleton-costumed six-piece band, Bridgers performs Punisher highlights, including the sparkling power pop gutpunch “Kyoto,” a 2021 double-Grammy nominated track. She stuns with the title track, a haunting rock heartbreaker detailing a relationship’s slow disintegration. She and her band close the set fittingly with the introspective “I Know The End,” amplified by trumpet fills and violin, ablaze in a hail of freeform noise and distortion, with Bridgers erupting in a primal scream. Bridgers makes an epic exit as she kisses her guitarist, kicks the mic stand over, and drops her guitar to the ground.
“In so many ways, Phoebe and Olivia are cut from the same musical cloth,” said ACL executive producer Terry Lickona. “Phoebe’s songs are edgy, mixing pain with joy in a weird but clever way. Olivia’s songs are much the same – bold, but sensitive at the same time. They are two of the most inspiring young singers to cross the ACL stage in years.”