ACL Presents: Americana Music Festival 2017
A Celebration of the Best in Americana Music

Performers include Old Crow Medicine Show, John Prine, Iris DeMent, Rhiannon Giddens, Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives, Amanda Shires, The Lumineers, Drive-By Truckers, Graham Nash, The Milk Carton Kids, Margo Price, Jason Isbell, Van Morrison and Robert Cray & Hi Rhythm

Special Episode of Austin City Limits Premieres November 18 on PBS - Check local listings here

Nashville, TN and Austin, TX (Nov. 14, 2017) - Austin City Limits (ACL) returns to Nashville for a special broadcast featuring performance highlights from this year’s Americana Honors & Awards.ACL Presents: Americana Music Festival 2017 premieres November 18 on PBS and delivers dazzling performances that represent the genre’s diversity and excellence. The music-filled hour features many of the night's award-winners and honorees, including trailblazing newcomers and legendary icons who helped define the genre; among them (in order of appearance): Old Crow Medicine Show, John Prine, Iris DeMent, Rhiannon Giddens, Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives, Amanda Shires, The Lumineers, Drive-By Truckers, Graham Nash, The Milk Carton Kids, Margo Price, Jason Isbell, Van Morrison and Robert Cray & Hi Rhythm. The special airs Saturday, November 18 on PBS - check local listings here for times. ACL airs weekly on PBS stations nationwide and full episodes are made available online for a limited time immediately following the initial broadcast. The show's official hashtag is #acltv.

Recorded live at Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium on September 13, The Americana Music Association's℠ 16^th Annual Honors & Awards ceremony is a celebration of music that is authentic, diverse and original from many genres, both traditional and contemporary.

"Each year this show blows my mind. If there was an infra-red device tracking creativity, Nashville would be the brightest light on the planet,” says Jed Hilly, Executive Director of the Americana Music Association℠. "I'm so grateful and truly humbled by the incredible artists and musicians who grace our stage."

This year's show opens with Americana staples Old Crow Medicine Show leading a marching drumline to the famed stage for a jovial rendition of Bob Dylan's "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35."

In true Americana style, the broadcast is chock-full of once-in-a-lifetime musical moments and collaborations. This year's Artist of the Year winner John Prine joins Iris DeMent, recipient of the Americana Trailblazer Award, for a heartwarming performance of their famous duet "In Spite of Ourselves." Banjo virtuoso and Album of the Year nominee Rhiannon Giddens delivers a rollicking "Julie," accompanied by producer Dirk Powell on the fiddle. Mainstays Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives, awarded Duo/Group of the Year, perform a sweltering “Time Don't Wait.”

The highlights continue with the iconic Graham Nash, this year's recipient of the Americana Free Speech in Music Award, joining the harmony-laced duo The Milk Carton Kids for a pin-dropping take on The Everly Brothers' "So Sad." Chart-toppers The Lumineers take the stage for a stomping "Cleopatra," the title-track of their latest release. This is immediately followed by the Duo/Group-nominated Drive-By Truckers rocking out a searing performance of "What It Means." 

The melting pot genre’s breakout newcomers also roll out show-stopping performances: Emerging Artist of the Year winner Amanda Shires slows down time with a delicate rendition of “Harmless,” and later accompanies her husband and Artist of the Year nominee Jason Isbell for an equally captivating performance of "If We Were Vampires." Nashville rebel and Artist of the Year nominee Margo Price performs her bluesy new song "Do Right By Me" with gospel greats The McCrary Sisters on backing vocals.

Americana's biggest night culminates with legends like Van Morrison, this year's Lifetime Achievement Honoree for Songwriting, bringing down the house with his soul-stirring "Transformation" alongside his daughter Shana Morrison on backup vocals. Blues Hall of Famer and the night's Lifetime Achievement Honoree for Performance Robert Cray teams up with Lifetime Achievement Honorees for Instrumentalist the Hi Rhythm Section and prolific drummer Steve Jordan for an electrifying, horn-filled "You Must Believe in Yourself."

Hosting the show for a 15th consecutive year, Americana stalwart Jim Lauderdale invites an array of special guests onstage including Price, Emmylou Harris, Shannon McNally, Danny Flowers, Jack Ingram and Elizabeth Cook for the no-holds-barred closing number "Tulsa Time," a Don Williams classic penned by Flowers. The hour-long broadcast is hosted by Lauderdale, and performers are backed by a first-class house band led by Larry Campbell featuring Robbie Crowell, Jim Hoke, Jerry Pentecost, Chris Wood and The McCrary Sisters. 

The show was co-produced by Two Talented Cats Entertainment's Martin Fischer and Edie Hoback, Michelle Aquilato and ACL Executive Producer Terry Lickona.

Episode Setlist:
Old Crow Medicine Show - “Rainy Day Women #12 & 35”
John Prine & Iris DeMent - “In Spite of Ourselves”
Rhiannon Giddens - “Julie”
Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives - “Time Don't Wait”
Amanda Shires - “Harmless”
The Lumineers - “Cleopatra”
Drive-By Truckers - “What It Means”
Graham Nash & The Milk Carton Kids - "So Sad”
Margo Price - “Do Right By Me”
Jason Isbell & Amanda Shires - “If We Were Vampires”
Van Morrison - “Transformation"
Robert Cray & Hi Rhythm - “You Must Believe in Yourself”
Jim Lauderdale, Margo Price, Shannon McNally, Emmylou Harris, Danny Flowers, Jack Ingram and Elizabeth Cook - “Tulsa Time”

Viewers can visit acltv.com for news regarding future tapings, episode schedules, and live stream updates.

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About The Americana Music Association℠
The Americana Music Association℠ is a professional not-for-profit trade organization whose mission is to advocate for the authentic voice of American roots music around the world. The association produces events throughout the year; including AMERICANAFEST℠: The Americana Music Festival & Conference, and the critically acclaimed Americana Honors & Awards program. The Americana Music Association℠ receives enormous support from the Tennessee Department of Tourism, Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp, Lagunitas Brewing Company, RAM, Music City Networks, ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC.

For more information on the Americana Music Association℠ and to become a member, please visit AmericanaMusic.org, or follow on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

About ACL Presents
ACL Presents is music programming created by, or in association with, KLRU, the producers of Austin City Limits (ACL). ACL Presents programming includes television specials, live events, web series and recorded music presentations and is made in the spirit and standards of the legendary PBS series Austin City Limits, the longest-running live music series in television history. ACL Presents collaborations have included: Hardly Strictly Bluegrass with KQED and Americana Music Festival with Nashville Public Television (NPT). 

About Austin City Limits
ACL offers viewers unparalleled access to featured acts in an intimate setting that provides a platform for artists to deliver inspired, memorable, full-length performances. The program is taped live before a concert audience from The Moody Theater in downtown Austin. ACL is the longest-running music series in American television history and remains the only TV series to ever be awarded the National Medal of Arts. Since its inception in 1974, the groundbreaking music series has become an institution that's helped secure Austin's reputation as the Live Music Capital of the World. The historic KLRU Studio 6A, home to 36 years of ACL concerts, has been designated an official Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Landmark. In 2011, ACL moved to the new venue ACL Live at The Moody Theater in downtown Austin. ACL received a rare institutional Peabody Award for excellence and outstanding achievement in 2012.

Austin City Limits is produced by KLRU-TV and funding is provided in part by Dell, the Austin Convention Center Department, Shiner Beers and HomeAway.com. Additional funding is provided by the Friends of Austin City Limits. Learn more about Austin City Limits, programming and history at acltv.com.