Executive producer, 'Austin City Limits'

Terry Lickona says he may have one of the best jobs in Austin, if not the world. As the executive producer of "Austin City Limits" since 1978, Lickona has worked with many of the music industry's most popular artists, including Johnny Cash, Ray Charles, Coldplay, Foo Fighters, Willie Nelson, Pearl Jam, Radiohead and Jack White. Produced by local PBS affiliate KLRU, in 2014 "ACL" is celebrating its 40th season, which will feature an anniversary show debuting Oct. 3 hosted by Jeff Bridges, Sheryl Crow and Matthew McConaughey. The show's regular programing begins Oct. 4 with a performance by Beck.

What are the origins of the "Austin City Limits" television show?

[In] 1974 the Austin music scene was really just beginning to explode. Back in those days Willie Nelson had just arrived in town, and the music scene was more of a ... 'progressive country,' for lack of a better term. At this point, 1974, public television ... had only existed for about maybe seven or eight years. So the people at [KLRU] were trying to think, 'Well, what can we do? We could do different types of programing, not just educational, classroom-type program material.'

The idea for the first two to three years was to basically focus the show on Austin and Texas regional music because that's what would make it special and different from any other music show on television.

And how did it evolve from that?

After two or three years they were kind of running out of ideas in terms of music and talent and what they should do with the show if it was going to continue. So when I became the producer, which was Season 4, I decided that it was time to stretch the limits of the show musically. We still consider Austin and Texas artists to be an important part of the show, but, I mean, one of the first that I booked as producer was Tom Waits. That was about as big a departure from Willie Nelson or from those early days as you could get back then. It was something the show needed if it was going to have the freshness and vitality to continue to grow and evolve over time. I think that's been the secret of the show's success ... the fact that the show is not afraid to experiment, to showcase all different kinds of music and a really eclectic mix.

How related is "Austin City Limits" to Austin's reputation as the Live Music Capital of the World?

That's something I think people have asked for years. Would there be an "Austin City Limits" if it wasn't for Austin, or would the Austin music scene exist if it wasn't for "Austin City Limits?" Obviously, it's a two-way street. There's no doubt that having an hourlong weekly music show on national TV ... is like a window for the rest of the world on Austin, Texas. But that being said, "Austin City Limits," it might have existed, but it probably wouldn't have lasted for 40 years if we didn't have Austin as the breeding ground or the incubator for so much great music that has defined Austin over the years.

What are you doing to fit in with today's musical landscape?

If you look at what "Austin City Limits" is today, at least in terms of conventional television, it's a one-hour music concert program. We do a little bit of interview, but mostly it's all about the music. When MTV came along [people] said, 'Nobody's going to sit and watch a concert on television or watch somebody just getting up and singing or playing music; they want to see more than that.' The truth of the matter is that people really do like to watch somebody pour their heart and soul into their music.

I think one of the most important leaps into ... the present is the fact that we have tried to build up a stronger presence online through our own website and also through the overall PBS website. Just a couple of years ago we started a new trend of trying to stream as many of our tapings as possible so that people can actually watch them live while they're happening.

When you think about 40 years of content, we are still in the process of digitizing our library. We have these incredible full-length performances of somebody like Ray Charles or Johnny Cash or Roy Orbison or Stevie Ray Vaughan. ... If we can find a way to make them available online ... that's our collective dream-vision, which is a work in progress still, and it's a big job.

You tape 13 shows a year—are artists lining up to perform? Or are you still out there seeking them?

It's a lot easier now than it was in the early days. We've had some amazing luck, though, with getting some major stars and artists who have gone out of their way to come and do the show. Nobody does it for the money; it is public television, so everybody gets paid the same PBS musician scale. When Willie Nelson did the show in 1974, it seems to me that we paid him something like $175 to do that show. I'm happy to say our musician scale has gone up to about $500 after 40 years, so it's a little more worthwhile for them to come and do the show.