Women and ACL

Susan Caldwell, ACL producer from 1981 to 2002, remembers one of her all-time favorite shows, the tribute to the late great lead guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan. Working on the show with Stevie’s brother Jimmie Vaughan was all the more poignant as Caldwell’s own brother had recently died. Caldwell was the only female staff member in a key position at ACL during her two-decade long tenure. While studying TV production at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, she became an ardent fan of artists who later become part of the Austin music scene – including Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Butch Hancock and Joe Ely. The 51-year-old, fifth-generation Austinite teaches Pilates – exercises that strengthen torso alignment and relieve back pain -- out of the Northwest Austin home she shares with her dogs, Sugar Bear and Wally.

Susan Caldwell on the Stevie Ray Vaughn tribute