KLRU, Austin's PBS affiliate, turns 50 this year. The station is celebrating this auspicious anniversary next week with diverse activities, most of them free and open to the public. more ›

The first season at Moody Theater continues, and ACL has announced a handful of really exciting tapings coming up in 2011. Joanna Newsom, The Decemberists, Gillian Welch, Jeff Bridges and Arcade Fire are all scheduled to appear (dates after the jump). As always, they suggest staying in touch for details: "Any announcements regarding ticket availability and giveaways for the public will be posted on the ACL blog approximately one week before each taping." Follow at Twitter for breaking news. more ›

With all the crazy budget nonsense going on, wouldn't it be nice if you could just get into a room with a politician? Well, tonight you can. Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell has partnered with KLRU to host a community forum to discuss the city's “transition into a major city.” A host of former Texas mayors will be there, including former Houston mayors Bill White (!) and Henry Cisneros. The free taping starts tonight at 6:30 in the KLRU studios on the UT campus. You can RSVP here. more ›

Earlier today, a power outage threw a portion of the UT campus into darkness and KUT and KLRU off the air. The outage was caused by a small animal who got into a switch gear at the UT power plant. During the outage, one unfortunate person had to be rescued from an elevator at the ATT Conference Center. Power was restored after 1.25 hours and KUT (as well as KLRU) was back on the air at 8:30am. [KUT] more ›

This afternoon at a press conference in KLRU's historic Austin City Limits studio and through a press release to the media, Austin Music People announced their newly-formed non-profit, known as AMP. more ›

Through the bright lights of KLRU's Austin City Limits comes a fresh new view to promote lesser-known, yet still immensely talented, musicians. ACL Presents Satellite Sets is geared towards an online audience with a multimedia site promising videos, interviews, and other social networking goodies. more ›

First things first -- the band’s lovable drummer Bun E. Carlos was missing from the lineup but guitarist Rick Neilsen’s son Daxx Neilsen did a reasonably solid job in his place. The other original members were all in top form; Rick himself was especially energetic, cantering around the stage in usual fashion, switching guitars often, and tossing out guitar picks into the audience regularly. The set-list featured a host of songs off The Latest including “Miracle,” “Miss Tomorrow,” “Closer,” and “When The Lights Are Out” (a Slade cover). There was room for another cover, “In The Street,” a Big Star original previously recorded by Cheap Trick for That ‘70s Show, and a timely tribute to Alex Chilton who passed away due to a heart attack the previous day. Besides the homage to Chilton, the loudest cheers of the show were understandably reserved for Cheap Trick classics like “If You Want My Love,” “I Want You To Want Me,” “Heaven Tonight,” “Surrender,” and “Voices.” The band closed out the riveting performance with two songs off 1979’s Dream Police -- the anthemic title track and “Gonna Raise Hell.” Sure there were a handful of missing favorites but one look at the smiling, content faces all around assured us that the powerpop legends had satisfied those in attendance. more ›

United Way Capital Area and KLRU have joined forces for a three-part community strengthening film series that will feature that lovely and oft-skipped post-film activity: conversation. Beyond just building awareness around timely social issues, the Live United Film Series will bring in local guests and provide resources for taking action on the topic at hand. The series$mdash;which is free and open to the public—launches this Thursday and will zero in on Austin education with a screening of Academy Award-winning Sue Marx's It All Adds Up. more ›

Austin 360 is reporting that The Moody Foundation of Galveston has granted KLRU $2.5 million to go towards the new Austin City Limits studios build on 2nd Street downtown. Scheduled for completion in 2011, the new venue's capacity will reach 2,700 and will be called The Moody Theater. KLRU is seeking $6.5 million to complete the venue using entirely HD equipment. more ›

The other ACL—the longstanding television program from which this weekend's music festival was spawned—was officially awarded its "historic rock and roll site" status by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame yesterday, and today they're hosting an open house to give the public a glimpse behind the scenes. For those who can't make it down there, check out the live stream from the panel above. more ›

Tonight, KLRU hosts its second Community Cinema screening featuring this documentary, which explores the effects that the incredibly discriminatory "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy has had on our nation's military and its gay and lesbian service members. Held in the venerable halls of the KLRU Austin City Limits studio, the doors to the Community Cinema screening of Ask Not will open at 6:30 p.m., with the film starting promptly at 7 p.m. and will be followed by a questions and answer discussion with local veterans about the DADT policy and how it affected their experience in the military. more ›

This poll illustrates why you need to vote on Saturday (if you haven't already)!! Campaign finance complaints traded between Leffingwell and McCracken. No sunset review of the State Board of Education after the House defeats a bill that would have done so. Budget shortfall leads KLRU to lay off 12 employees, including the two Docubloggers producers. Canada's Open Text Corp. is set to buy Austin's Vignette Corp. for $310 million. Richard Garriott suing NCsoft. Dispute between spouses at an auto shop this weekend: wife drove over her husband's leg with a customer's car. more ›

KLRU created the Austin City Limits Stage Left Program as a means to capture moments and stories of the “very best, most unique, passionate music artists” in order to create life-long fans. That seems like a pretty good goal to us so we’re pleased to announce an upcoming event for KLRU -- a free ACL show and taping of the rock band Brazos. It’s all going down this Friday at KLRU’s Studio 6A. more ›

In two weeks, KLRU will premiere Independent Lens' stunning new documentary, Crips & Bloods: Made in America, which explores the decades-long feud between rival LA gangs the Bloods and the Crips that's left some 15,000 dead and rages on even today. The film is narrated by Forest Whitaker and directed by Stacy Peralta, the director of Dogtown and Z Boys, Riding Giants, and, interestingly, an episode of Mr. Show with Bob and David. more ›

Although most local stations (KXAN, KVUE, and even FOX7), are sticking with analog past February, the Washington Post reports today that about 500 stations nationwide are going ahead with the digital transition on the originally scheduled date of February 17. Given this tweet posted yesterday saying "KEYE will stop broadcasting its analog feed on the original planned digital conversion date, Feb. 17," KEYE looks to be one of them. Also: KLRU CEO on the delayed switch. more ›

This week's free tapings at KLRU's Studio 6A more ›

KLRU's Studio 6A is keeping busy next week with two more tapings before the end of January. more ›

After Thursday's taping with former Texas Comptroller John Sharp, KLRU will continue its Texas Monthly Talks series by interviewing Joe Straus, the new Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives. Straus, who replaced ousted Midland representative and fellow Republican Tom Craddick after a protracted and very public power struggle, serves Bexar county and is generally regarded as being more moderate than his predecessor. The taping will take place at 10 a.m. on Friday morning in KLRU's Studio 6A. It's free with RSVP, but you must register online. more ›

As part of KUT's 50th anniversary celebration, BBC has been in town since Monday doing their live show, . Yesterday they were on the air from UT's Communications Courtyard, discussing capital punishment, when KLRU's Docubloggers found them. They will be in town through Friday - their show is airing throughout the week at noon on KUT. more ›

Produced by the Downtown Austin Alliance, Action Figure, and KLRU-TV, Lonestar Emmy award-winning show DOWNTOWN offers insightful glimpses into urban life here in Austin. Focusing on the inevitable vignettes that make up our experience here in this special community, Downtown has become one of the most-watched programs here in Austin and beyond. more ›

There's something in the water affecting documentary filmmakers lately, because this week marks the third time this month a high-profile doc has been freely released to the public. Maybe it's the election, or maybe it's the recession, but it's starting to look like a sea-change in distribution patterns. Tonight KLRU screens The Choice 2008, a new film co-written and co-produced by Peabody-winning filmmaker and UT professor Paul Stekler, who'll be there tonight. more ›

U.K. songstress Duffy comes to Austin tomorrow for a special taping of KLRU's Austin City Limits television show. If you'd like a chance to catch this immensely talented singer/songwriter—who's drawn comparisons to Amy Winehouse sans pickled liver or (complaints welcome in the comments section) Aretha herself—while she's in town, enter our giveaway contest below. more ›

KLRU-TV and Conspirare are bringing the latter's Grammy-nominated vocal ensemble to the small screen in a one-hour concert to air nationally on PBS next March. The contemporary-meets-classical performance will be taped at the Long Center for the Performing Arts on Sunday, October 12, at 7 p.m. The taping is free — but you'll need a ticket if you'd like to attend. Free tickets will be distributed to the public at noon on Tuesday, Oct. 7, at KLRU's offices (2504-B Whitis Ave., at the corner of Dean Keeton and Guadalupe). Tickets will be distributed two-per-person on a first come, first served basis until they are gone. [More Info] more ›

If you'd like a shot at these coveted tickets, you'll need to fill out our contest form on the ACL page when it launches tomorrow morning. The contest will be up for a few hours; we'll be randomly selecting 50 or so winners from the entrants. Each winner will receive two space-available tickets to the taping. (Disclaimer: as always, these tickets are "space available" and do not guarantee admission to the taping. Doors open at 7 p.m., space available line opens at 5 p.m., and early arrival is strongly recommended.) more ›

If you've never seen KLRU's brilliant documentary program "Downtown", you're in luck--the first three seasons of the locally-produced show are now available for viewing online. And for your convenience, they're separated into bite-sized segments and organized by category (which makes them perfect for lunchtime or study-break viewing). more ›

In an effort to improve their online video content, KLRU would appreciate your feedback. They've put together a quick 15-question that takes just a few minutes to complete—as a thank you for your time, anyone who submits his or her email address at the end of the survey will be entered for a chance to win two guaranteed-admission tickets to a future Austin City Limits taping. [survey] more ›

Here's your third and final chance to score two space-available tickets to tomorrow evening's Thievery Corporation taping at KLRU's Austin City Limits Studios. more ›

Be one of the first twenty five folks to fill out the form below and you'll score two space-available tickets to tomorrow evening's Thievery Corporation taping at KLRU's Austin City Limits Studios: more ›

Be one of the first twenty five folks to fill out the form below and you'll score two space-available tickets to tomorrow evening's Thievery Corporation taping at KLRU's Austin City Limits Studios: more ›