'Austin City Limits' adds Sheryl Crow, Joe Ely to its Hall of Fame; here's what you missed

For all the praised heaped upon "Austin City Limits" Hall of Fame inductee Sheryl Crow on Thursday night at ACL Live from big-name guests such as Brandi Carlile and Jason Isbell, perhaps the most poignant story came from rising star Brittney Spencer. Speaking to the crowd before she performed Crow's song "My Favorite Mistake," Spencer shared how she first met Crow at an airport coffee shop.

Spencer was working at the coffee shop at the time. Crow was taking some time to greet fans at baggage claim, and one of the fans came over to Spencer's work station. Spencer jokingly asked the fan to drag Crow over to the coffee shop so she could meet her, too. She was shocked when Crow indeed came over, never imagining that the woman behind the counter would someday be singing one of Crow's songs on the "Austin City Limits" stage.

Crow and legendary Austin troubadour Joe Ely joined an elite group of around two dozen inductees into the long-running PBS TV program's Hall of Fame, which was established in 2014 with an inaugural class that included Willie Nelson and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Most years have featured at least three inductees, but this year's event was streamlined a bit, apparently to help keep the presentation shorter. The usual intermission between inductees was eliminated, in favor of a 10-minute stage reset.

Related:Our review of the 2021 Austin City Limits Hall of Fame induction ceremony

Ely was inducted first. Renowned author Lawrence Wright provided a 10-minute induction speech in which he shared insightful and sometimes hilarious memories about joining Ely on a trip to Lubbock, where Ely was raised and first started playing music more than 50 years ago. In response to the Texas Panhandle's flat desolation, Wright recalled, Ely told him that "I think all the emptiness made me want to fill it up."

Helping him with that on this night were his longtime Flatlanders bandmates Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock, who joined an expanded house band that included longtime Joe Ely Band members Lloyd Maines, David Grissom, Davis McLarty and Jimmy Pettit on the rockin' "I Had My Hopes Up High" — the first song on Ely's very first record in 1977 — and the exquisite acoustic number "Because of the Wind."

The segment also included Austin pianist Marcia Ball playing Ely's song "Fingernails," a rollicking Jerry Lee Lewis-style number that Ball said "he wrote just for me, whether he knew it or not." Rodney Crowell joined the house band — which also included keyboardist Chris Gage, bassist/acoustic guitarist Bill Whitbeck and drummer/percussionist Tom Van Schaik — for a revved-up "Cool Rockin' Loretta." Ely then stepped out front for "All Just to Get to You" before Gilmore and Hancock joined him.

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The finale was, at Ely's request, a Woody Guthrie song the Flatlanders have often performed. Crowell and Ball joined them for "Goin' Down the Road (Ain't Gonna Be Treated This Way)," with everybody taking a verse.

After a quick break, "Austin City Limits" executive producer Terry Lickona introduced Brandi Carlile, whose induction speech for Crow touched on the artist's humanity, as well as her artistry. Noting that Crow tended to reject being described as a legend because of the word's monolithic connotation, Carlile suggested that "Sheryl isn't a stone; she's a river." Accepting the skyline trophy given to inductees, Crow told the crowd that "you have no idea how important this show has been to me."

Jason Isbell's subsequent performance of Crow's "Run Baby Run" was arguably the night's musical high point, as his sweet tenor vocals and stellar guitar skills proved a perfect match for the soulful pop tune. After Spencer sang "My Favorite Mistake," Crow turned up as a surprise duet partner on "Strong Enough" with Jess Wolfe of Lucius, who almost tearfully explained that her bandmate Holly Laessig was "very sick" and unable to perform. (The group, which taped "Austin City Limits" in July, is currently scheduled to play in Austin next Friday at Scoot Inn.)

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Carlile followed with a passionate rendition of Crow's "If It Makes You Happy" before Crow — whose longtime guitarist Peter Stroud joined the house band for the latter half of the night — joined her on "Every Day Is a Winding Road," which got most everyone in the audience grooving. A finale that featured Crow seated center stage on organ for the gospel-tinged "I Shall Believe" was more farewell-lullaby than burn-the-house-down closer, with Carlile, Spencer, Wolfe and Isbell all joining in.

An hour of highlights from Thursday's concert will air later this year on Austin PBS and other public-television affiliates nationwide.

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This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Sheryl Crow, Joe Ely join Austin City Limits Hall of Fame at concert