Legendary country music artist Garth Brooks came to Austin, Texas, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the iconic concert series, Austin City Limits. But the superstar left the Capital City with a new title: Hall of Famer.

The “Callin’ Baton Rouge” singer’s presence was felt in more ways than one during his filmed induction into the Austin City Limits Hall of Fame, which took place at the show’s studio home of ACL Live at the Moody Theater on the night of Thursday, Sept. 5.

Amongst the sea of Wrangler jeans, cowboy boots and various shades of Stetson hats was an undeniable feeling of adoration for the man of the hour, a feeling that quadrupled once Brooks took the stage to accept his Hall of Fame award alongside the longtime producer of Austin City Limits, Terry Lickona.

The roars of the crowd were deafening in the best way, and it was clear that this was a monumental moment to witness, not only for Brooks but for everyone at ACL Live on Thursday night. But what was even more palpable was Brooks’ passion not just for music, but for what Austin City Limits represents: the “real deal,” as Brooks put it.

With the induction in the books, Brooks then kicked off the performance part of the night with unrivaled energy, welcoming the crowd at ACL Live to “the most fun I’m ever gonna have in one night.”

Throughout his nearly two-hour performance that will later air on PBS, Brooks played a slew of songs from his extensive catalog including fan favorites like “The Dance,” “The Thunder Rolls” and “Two Pina Coladas,” while also taking a few requests from members of the audience.

One request was for Brooks’ wife and country music legend, Trisha Yearwood, to join the newest Hall of Fame inductee onstage — and he obliged. Like Brooks, Yearwood received a standing ovation from the overjoyed crowd when she walked out (and nearly stole the show) to join her hubby for a tear-jerking acoustic version of the husband-and-wife duo’s 1997 bit, “In Another’s Eyes.”

Yearwood was inducted into ACL’s Hall of Fame in 2023.

Though the vibes at ACL Live were top-tier throughout the night, the crowd at ACL Live turned up the electricity for Brooks’ performance of his sing-along song, “Friends in Low Places.”

There wasn’t a single person seated when Brooks called for the crowd to sing many Austinites’ favorite lyric, “think I’ll slip on doThink the oasis” — further proving Brooks’ point that Austin City Limits is not just about the music — it’s about the people.

Celebrating 50 years of Austin City Limits

The star-studded evening also served as the kickoff event for Austin City Limits’ record-breaking 50th season, premiering on PBS on Sept. 28. Austin City Limits’ 50th anniversary officially occurs on Oct. 17, 2024, marking 50 years from the day that country music icon and Texas native Willie Nelson first graced the Austin City Limits stage in 1974 to record the show’s pilot episode.

Highlights from Brooks’ Hall of Fame induction ceremony will air as an hourlong Austin City Limits broadcast to celebrate the program’s milestone. And you can trust this is a special you won’t want to miss.

Brooks is no stranger to Austin City Limits, having first appeared on the show in 1990 during the beginning of his career. He returned to celebrate the show’s 25th anniversary and played again in 2021 to help close out the show’s longtime home of studio 6A on the University of Texas at Austin’s campus. Austin City Limits was filmed at Studio 6A from 1974 to 2010 before moving to ACL Live at the Moody Theater.

The country music singer now joins ACL Hall of Famers like his wife, Nelson, Stevie Ray Vaughan, B.B. King, Bonnie Raitt, Sheryl Crow, Ray Charles, Flaco Jiménez and Guy Clark.

The Austin City Limits Hall of Fame was established in 2014 as a way to honor iconic musicians and those who helped make the series, which is said to the the longest-running popular music show on television, into the institution it is today.

AUSTIN, Texas – Travis County Judge Andy Brown is trying to get a passenger rail plan for Central Texas back on track. He sent a message to federal officials after a multi-million dollar grant was awarded to a high speed rail project in East Texas.

Amtrak provides passenger service through Austin from San Antonio to Dallas, but it’s far from efficient. It’s not uncommon, a three-hour trip by car to the metroplex can take four to six hours by train. 

The slow roll for riders is because Amtrak uses rails owned by Union Pacific, which makes delivering freight, not people, a priority. Efforts to streamline the route have not been successful. 

But to the east, things are moving for a plan to build a high-speed bullet train between Dallas and Houston. The Federal Railroad Administration awarded the project a $64 million grant, which keeps the plan alive. 

In a social media post, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg included the new east Texas route on a national map of other rail projects. That map identified Central Texas as already having passenger service. 

Travis County Judge Andy Brown responded to that post, telling the transportation secretary, Austin and San Antonio are fast-growing metro areas and would love to be included in future passenger rail plans. 

Judge Brown spoke to FOX 7 about the message he sent and the projects in the works.

“The fact that we don’t have great passenger rail between us and our neighbor 70 miles to the south, Bexar County is pretty wild and pretty unique in the world,” said Judge Brown.

Passenger rail connecting Austin and San Antonio proposed

Judge Brown is working with Bexar County Judge Sakai on building a Central Texas Rail Coalition that includes Republicans and Democrats.

“To fight for increased passenger rail service in Texas, because we’re realizing that even though I-35 is being rebuilt in Austin and in San Antonio, even after that, we’re going to need better ways and additional ways to get around between Austin and San Antonio in particular, but really around the whole state. We’re growing so fast. We need more passenger rail,” said Brown.

The team up is an effort to get the current federal administration to understand that the rail service between San Antonio, Austin, and Dallas is not efficient and actually needs to be ramped up.

“I don’t fault the Biden administration. I don’t fault TxDOT, because there’s been lots of reasons in history of why we don’t have great passenger rail along this route, but we need to all come together and figure it out,” said Brown. 

“I’m getting a different sense of a from people who are Republicans and Democrats about the need for this and the desire to do this,” said Brown.

The rail coalition is called the “Texas Passenger Rail Advisory Committee.” Brown believes the group can deliver. 

A big push is expected to come in January when state lawmakers return to Austin.

“So really, it’s just up to the Texas legislature to take advantage of the money that the Biden administration is offering. My understanding is it’s about an 80/20 match. So, if we come up with 20% of the funding, the feds will match 80% of that. And so, this is a great opportunity for us to move forward. And we’re going to be taking this issue to the legislature this session to try to get, you know, about $300 million put into the Texas Rail Fund so that we can help match those federal funds,” said Brown.

There are three options in play, according to Judge Brown:

• Teaming up with a private company out of Florida that’s considering a rail line along I-35.
• Spur off the Houston to Dallas bullet train route, looping west from College Station.
• Idea of cutting a deal with Union Pacific, adding additional track for Amtrak and or re-routing freight.