We already know that our state is replete with musical talent, but whenever the first two weekends of October roll around, Austin City Limits is a reminder of just how many musicians, from the up-and-coming to the legendary, get their start in Texas. This year the locals on the lineup make country, cumbia, electronica, R&B, and genres in between. Make time in your festival schedule for our favorites—luckily there’s no overlap, so you can catch them all.
The native Texan, who graces the cover of our October issue, returned to the spotlight after a decade with her Grammy Award–winning 2019 album While I’m Livin’ and the documentary about its birth. Now, as they await Tucker’s induction this month into the Country Music Hall of Fame, longtime fans will get a chance to listen to the celebrated icon who rebelled against Nashville’s sexual mores while charting a fifty-year career. But we hope she finds some new listeners, too: before showing up, give her breakout 1972 album Delta Dawn a listen and then throw on some of her later hits, like “Texas (When I Die).” On festival day, wear your cowboy boots.
Before she was an up-and-coming artist in Austin, Grace Sorensen twirled her way across stages as a ballet and hip-hop dancer. The R&B and hip-hop tracks that floated around her during rehearsals and shows evolved to become her main focus. She released her debut single, “Tell Me,” as a junior in high school. Three years later, at a benefit concert at the Circuit of the Americas, she opened for Diana Ross.
