Austin City Limits

I really don't watch very much television. Last night, however, I tuned in to catch Austin City Limits on the local PBS affiliate in Houston. For anyone interested in watching some great concert footage from a variety of different musicians this is a truly wonderful program. It has actually been around for 30 seasons already and will begin airing its 31st in October.

Last night's program featured the Blind Boys of Alabama and Robert Randolph and the Family Band in separate performances. The Blind Boys of Alabama led spirited renditions of several southern gospel influenced pieces that had the crowd up out of their seats almost all of the time. Their set featured one of their signature pieces Amazing Grace sung to the tune of House of the Rising Sun! Their set must also have set some kind of record for the number of times the word "Jesus" has ever been used on a PBS program. : )

Robert Randolph and the Family Band's set also featured songs influenced by southern gospel music. Their music is much more instrumental driven and Randolph is a true master of the pedal steel guitar. Once again the crowd was out of their seats and dancing as Robert Randolph launched into some amazingly intense solos.