Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival to be featured on Austin City Limits

The signature concert series of PBS takes a trip outside Austin's city limits this February with a special presentation of a unique San Francisco music festival. Co-produced by KQED Public Television and LickonaVision, producers of Austin City Limits, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival is a one-hour production that captures the music, spirit and community of this treasured annual event. Austin City Limits Presents: Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival will air nationally on PBS this February as part of Austin City Limits' extended season (premieres Friday, February 1 at 10pm on KQED; and on most public television stations on Saturday, February 2; check local listings for details).
The festival celebrates the current resurgence of bluegrass music with fans of all ages. Yet as its name suggests, the festival includes music and performers that go far beyond bluegrass. Every summer since 2001, the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival, which is free to the public, draws hundreds of thousands of music-lovers to the meadows of San Francisco's Golden Gate Park to hear music that includes traditional bluegrass, alternative country, and many performers who cross the standard genre lines.
The 2007 festival drew an estimated 500,000 fans. Shot entirely in high definition, the production features 20 acts on multiple stages, from musical legends to a whole new generation of bluegrass performers and more. Earl Scruggs' "Foggy Mountain Breakdown," of Bonnie and Clyde fame, opens the show and is followed by Doc Watson, the renowned guitar player from North Carolina. Highlights of the production also include the innovative banjo styling of Bela Fleck, the infectious singing of Ricky Skaggs and Bruce Hornsby, and the searing vocals of Gillian Welch and Emmylou Harris.

Austin City Limits Presents: Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival features performances by:
• Earl Scruggs with Family & Friends
• Doc Watson
• David Grisman Bluegrass Experience
• Alison Brown Quartet
• Bela Fleck & The Flecktones
• Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder with Bruce Hornsby
• Guy Clark
• Chris Smither
• Teddy Thompson
• Gillian Welch
• Del McCoury Band
• Hazel Dickens
• Charlie Louvin
• Jim Lauderdale
• Jorma Kaukonen
• The Subdudes
• Dave Alvin & The Guilty Men
• Robert Earl Keen
• Steve Earle & Allison Moorer
• Emmylou Harris

Leading up to the premiere, a web page devoted to the program will be available on the recently redesigned Austin City Limits website at www.austincitylimits.org . The site will host video clips of two show performances, general information about the episode and festival, and images from the program as well as a link to photos from festival-goers on the photo-sharing website Flickr.
About KQED Public Television
KQED Public Television 9 (www.kqed.org ), a service of Northern California Public Broadcasting, Inc. (NCPB), is one of the nation's most-watched public television stations during primetime. KQED produces local weekly series in high definition and available on Comcast On Demand: The Josh Kornbluth Show; QUEST; Spark; Check, Please! Bay Area and This Week in Northern California; and national series: Jacques Pepin: Fast Food My Way and Jean-Michel Cousteau: Ocean Adventures. KQED's digital television channels include KQED HD, KQED Encore, KQED World, KQED Life and KQED Kids, and are available 24/7 on Comcast. Download programs for viewing and video podcasts at www.kqed.org , featuring unique content on one of the most-visited station sites in public broadcasting.

About Austin City Limits
When it comes to presenting live music, AUSTIN CITY LIMITS embodies its motto of "Great Music. No Limits." For 33 years, America's longest running televised concert series has presented an eclectic array of original and innovative artists of every stripe, setting the standard for the series' lasting appeal and integrity. The show continues to stay on the cusp of technology as well, broadcasting for the first time in dynamic high-definition on PBS HD channels (where available). In 2003, ACL was awarded the National Medal of Arts, the nation's highest honor for artistic excellence, by the President of the United States in an Oval Office ceremony. AUSTIN CITY LIMITS is a co-production of KLRU-TV and C3 Presents.