The Roots of Studio 6A

By Jocelyn Ehnstrom

The Austin City Limits television program has enjoyed its home at the University of Texas' Communication School for over 30 years. There on the 6th floor in studio 6A countless musical legends have taken the show's wooden stage and performed intimate sets that have been broadcast around the world. To fully understand the concept of the show however, you must first understand the studio's history.

The actual television studio where ACL is taped was designed with the intention to broadcast a variety of standard television productions, including the possibility of Sesame Street-style children's bilingual series. None of the people involved thought it would become the successful television show and live music venue it has turned into today. The stage the performances are taped on is not the original stage because of this uncertainty, said Terry Lickona, the show's producer since its second season in 1976.

"When we first started we weren't sure if the show would last or not, so it was a very temporary stage. The fourth year, which was my first year as producer, was when the set was rebuilt."

However, as the popularity of the show has increased through the years, it has out grown Studio 6A. To address this problem ACL will be entirely uprooted from the comfortable familiarity of its current location and moved to a brand-new studio in downtown Austin.

"That is a problem we are facing right now," Lickona said, "Figuring out how to take the atmosphere of this room, the vibe, the history, and transplant it to a new facility in a new building that we've made from scratch."

Moving has become a problem as the history of the show has become intertwined with two of the show's more unique traits that have become synonyms with the program, one of which will regrettably not survive the relocation.

The famous backdrop, a model of the Austin city skyline, will be one casualty of the move and came about after the show experimented with different backgrounds for the first few seasons. Lickona suggested to the set designer Augie Kymmel to try and come up with a look resembling twinkling city lights.

Terry Lickona on Studio 6A

"She took that very literally" Lickona said, "Designing the skyline we have now, and that's the backdrop we've used ever since."

The new studio may not use the actual original model, but Lickona realizes this backdrop has become a prominent part of the show and is thinking of alternative ways to include it in the new studio. Using a projected image to recreate a similar backdrop is one possibility that has been seriously considered.

The other prominent trait of studio 6A, whose roots run too deep to be left behind, is its wooden stage. It has been a part of ACL since its fourth season in 1981 and has been the platform for such legendary performers as Ray Charles, Roy Orbison and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Its transfer to the new studio on block 21 is completely nonnegotiable and many of the show's crew members, including Lickona, consider it the heart of the show.

"Because of the history of who has stood and performed on this stage…I think it would almost be a crime to tear it up or leave it, so we're going to take it with us," Lickona said. "We'll probably add to it, but the original stage is going to be a part of the new studio."

Three years until the move and debate for studio 6A's final performance has already begun. Willie Nelson is an obvious choice as he was the show's pilot performance so many years ago in 1974. Whoever is chosen to signify the closing of an era though, the evening will undoubtedly be bittersweet for those involved. "It'll definitely be an emotional night," Lickona said. "The last song, the last round of applause when the lights go down and so forth, it'll be a night to remember and I'm sure we'll capture it all."