ACL 2016.

 It's the most wonderful time of the year y'all, it's ACL!!!! This past weekend was the first weekend of the Austin City Limits Music Festival and it was absolutely amazing! The weather was almost perfect, musical performances were top-notch, ACL got flushable toilets AND I GOT TO MEET KACEY MUSGRAVES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Like I said, it was GREAT weekend! 

On Friday and Saturday, I spent most of my day camped out at one stage at the front rows watching amazing performance after amazing performance. The highlights from those two days were the Cold War Kids, M83, LL Cool J, and Kendrick Lamar. I waited in the same spot for over six hours to see Kendrick Lamar and, BOY oh BOY, was it worth it!! That man, his music, his energy. I love it, I love it all. It was an absolutely killer show.

On Sunday, my dad, the man responsible for my deep love and appreciation of music festivals, came to spend the last day of ACL with me. I absolutely loved having him up here with me and we saw some incredible performances together.

One of the most notable performances was St. Paul and the Broken Bones. My dad and I saw them a few years ago in Nashville, before they had a big following, and they were pretty remarkable back then. But at ACL, they were definitely the standout performers. The lead singer gave himself up to the music almost completely, performing as if his life depended on it. It was definitely something special to behold.

Kacey's performance on Sunday was quit magical as well; she is a one-of-a-kind country queen and put on one hell of a good show. She was funny, real and, most of all, she was herself. It was amazing (did I mention it was amazing?). And meeting her after the show was just the icing on the cake of an already amazing (AMAZING!) weekend. My signed LP of Pageant Queen is by far my most prized possession now.

All in all, I had an incredible weekend. Even when I'm standing in the middle of thousand person crowd, pressed up against sweaty strangers, I hardly ever feel more at home than when dancing and singing along with some of my favorite musicians at Austin City Limits. It's always a much-needed getaway from reality.

I love ya, ACL. Until next time, H