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Savor the return of legendary singer/songwriter Jackson Browne to the AUSTIN CITY LIMITS stage – January 6 at 10 pm
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“Jackson Browne”
Saturday, January 6 at 10:00 pm
Austin City Limits is proud to present a season highlight: the return of Jackson Browne for the first time in nearly 20 years. The singer-songwriter showcases a chart-topping collection, Downhill From Everywhere, alongside highlights from his five decade career in an exquisite hour recorded as part of the series Season 47. Despite the challenges facing live music during that time, ACL was thrilled to deliver a new season of performances for viewers, all recorded at ACL’s studio home in Austin, Texas in 2021, in front of limited live audiences. The 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 WOUB Saturdays at 10:00 pm and full episodes are made available to stream online at pbs.org/austincitylimits immediately following the initial broadcast.
“It’s like Valhalla for us, getting to play Austin City Limits,” says Jackson Browne in his first appearance on the ACL stage since 2002. Backed by an ace eight-piece band, Browne delivers a career-spanning set including time-worn favorites and more recent gems from the acclaimed Downhill From Everywhere, his fifteenth studio album. A Rock Hall inductee, Browne is an archetype of the singer-songwriter, Americana genre, and started blazing a trail in the 1970s with his personal, introspective lyrics. He opens the hour with the searching “I’m Alive,” a mid-career highlight about moving on from past sorrows. Browne showcases new material tailor-made for these times, including the roots rocker “My Cleveland Heart,” about trading in a fragile human heart for a resilient, artificial replacement (gamely introducing it as a “cheerful song”). The veteran social justice advocate performs “The Dreamer” a powerful bilingual song that eloquently addresses the struggles facing a generation of children of immigrants. Browne duets with singer-songwriter Leslie Mendelson for the stunning collaboration “A Human Touch” and brings backing vocalist Chavonne Stewart out for the folk-rocker social commentary “The Long Way Around.” He dazzles with early-career classics including the radio staple “Doctor My Eyes” and “These Days,” written when Browne was just sixteen-years-old.
“You wanna sing this one?” calls out Browne before closing with a pair of songs from 1973’s For Everyman: fan favorite “Take It Easy,” the Eagles 1972 smash that he co-wrote with Glenn Frey, poignantly calling for the crowd to “Sing it so Glenn Frey can hear you!” Browne allows the entire band to shine, segueing seamlessly into the wistful “Our Lady of the Well,” with round robin solos all-around for an unforgettable close.
“In so many ways, Jackson Browne epitomizes the return of live music in the post-pandemic 21st century,” says ACL executive producer Terry Lickona. “He’s a bridge to the best music of the last 40 years, but his new songs are spot-on relevant to the world we live in today. There aren’t that many artists who can pull that off.”