on the street · the control room · the red light is on
A recording studio on the street
The Live Room
Sessions played in a studio rather than at a gig, and the band on the other side of the glass.
A session is a band playing a room with nobody in it but the people making the recording — or a room with a small crowd in it, sitting down, that the band can see the faces of. A television studio, a radio station’s live room, somewhere with a desk and a sheet of glass. It is the nearest a record gets to being played in the room you are sitting in.
That is why a room of them is worth having here. No queue, no crowd to stand in, no volume that somebody else chose, and you can stop in the middle and nobody sees you leave. On the desk so far: Austin City Limits, a television studio with a crowd in it, and two radio stations’ live rooms, KEXP’s and KCRW’s. Anybody else with a live room is welcome next.
While the red light is on
- Nothing plays until you press it. Nothing reaches YouTube until you press a strip, and pressing one plays that session and no other.
- Every strip says how long before you press it, and where and when the session was taped. Where a video is not the whole session, the strip says that too, because a runtime is only honest if you know what it is the runtime of.
- The desk is not a chart. Nothing here is ranked, rated or counted. The sessions are in the order they were patched in, and the order is not an argument about which is better.
- The red lamp is steady. It does not flash at any dial setting, and nothing else in the room does either. A light that can put somebody on the floor has no business in a room anybody is meant to enjoy.
- Nobody is drawn in the live room. The only people in there are the players, in their own sessions.
Austin City Limits Austin, Texas
A television studio with a crowd in it: the longest-running music series in American television, made by KLRU in Austin for PBS since 1974. Its first thirty-six seasons were taped in Studio 6A on the University of Texas campus, in front of a painted skyline of the city; since 2011 it has been taped at ACL Live at The Moody Theater, downtown. Every strip says which of the two it was.
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Billy Strings
Billy Strings on Austin City Limits
The Moody Theater · 51:57
Bluegrass on fiddle, banjo, mandolin, bass and guitar: songs off Highway Prayers beside older tunes, with two long runs where one goes straight into the next without stopping. An interview after the last song, before the credits.
Billy Strings · on YouTube, via Austin City Limits
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Cassandra Wilson
Cassandra Wilson on Austin City Limits
The Moody Theater · Season 41 · 56:41
A set of songs Billie Holiday sang, made for her hundredth birthday and put out again by the show in 2026. It ends on an encore, and there is an interview after it.
Cassandra Wilson · on YouTube, via Austin City Limits
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Brandi Carlile
Brandi Carlile: the Hall of Fame episode
The Moody Theater · Season 52 · 53:28
The hour the show gave her when she went into its Hall of Fame. The first fourteen minutes are a tribute film, Bonnie Raitt inducting her and her own speech; the set starts after that, centred on Returning to Myself, and Raitt comes back out for one song near the end.
Brandi Carlile, with Bonnie Raitt · on YouTube, via Austin City Limits
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Tedeschi Trucks
Tedeschi Trucks Band on Austin City Limits, 2016
The Moody Theater · 2016 · 52:41
A big band on one stage: two drummers, horns, backing singers, and two guitarists who are married to each other.
Tedeschi Trucks Band · on YouTube, via Axilla
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Stevie Ray Vaughan
Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble on Austin City Limits, 1989
Studio 6A · 1989 · 33:06
Titled a full concert and not one: the uploader's own description lists six songs cut from it, so the runtime on this strip is the runtime of what is left. What is left is the band in the old studio, in front of the painted skyline, the year before Vaughan died.
Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble · on YouTube, via SRV Guitarist
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John Prine
John Prine on Austin City Limits, 2005
Studio 6A · 2005 · 1:18:53
Prine with three other players, and a set that reaches from his first record to the one he was touring then. It runs well past the broadcast hour.
John Prine · on YouTube, via gm maal
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Merle Haggard
Merle Haggard on Austin City Limits, 1978
Studio 6A · 1978 · 52:00
Four years into the show, and taped before the painted skyline went up behind the stage in 1982: the studio as it was at the start.
Merle Haggard · on YouTube, via Andy Dick
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Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen on Austin City Limits, 1988
Studio 6A · 1988 · 1:00:38
His first time on the show, taped on Halloween night 1988 on the I'm Your Man tour and first broadcast the next year.
Leonard Cohen · on YouTube, via Austin City Limits
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Steve Miller Band
Steve Miller Band on Austin City Limits, 2011
The Moody Theater · 2011 · 1:23:58
From the first year in the new theater, and well past the broadcast hour: the uploader's setlist runs through the band's hits with a stretch of blues in the middle.
Steve Miller Band · on YouTube, via jesse parker
KEXP Seattle, Washington
A listener-supported radio station in Seattle, with its studios at the Seattle Center and a live room that bands come through to play a short set on air. Every session on its channel says who played what, who hosted, and who engineered, mixed and filmed it; the strips here carry the date it was recorded and who hosted.
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Screaming Females
Screaming Females on KEXP
The KEXP studio · 12 April 2023 · 23:07
A trio: Marissa Paternoster on guitar and vocals, Michael Abbate on bass, Jarrett Dougherty on drums. Four songs, hosted by Cheryl Waters.
Screaming Females · on YouTube, via KEXP
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The Bobby Lees
The Bobby Lees on KEXP
The KEXP studio · 22 May 2023 · 19:30
A four-piece fronted by Sam Quartin, hosted by Brian Foss. The last of the five runs one song straight into another.
The Bobby Lees · on YouTube, via KEXP
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King Gizzard 2022
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard on KEXP, 2022
The KEXP studio · 7 October 2022 · 43:47
Six of them, and three songs long enough to fill three quarters of an hour. Mixed by the band's own Stu Mackenzie, as their other visits beside it were.
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard · on YouTube, via KEXP
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King Gizzard 2019
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard on KEXP, 2019
The KEXP studio · 18 August 2019 · 37:20
Five songs, hosted by Cheryl Waters and mixed by Stu Mackenzie. The same band in the same room three years before the strip beside it, and two years after the one on the other side.
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard · on YouTube, via KEXP
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King Gizzard 2017
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard on KEXP, 2017
The KEXP studio · 10 April 2017 · 24:06
Four songs, hosted by Cheryl Waters and mixed by Stu Mackenzie: the same band in the same room five years before the first of these three strips.
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard · on YouTube, via KEXP
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Die Spitz
Die Spitz on KEXP
The KEXP studio · 9 September 2025 · 22:27
A four-piece in which two of the players swap between guitar and drums. Four songs, hosted by Cheryl Waters.
Die Spitz · on YouTube, via KEXP
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Panic Shack
Panic Shack on KEXP
The KEXP studio · 26 June 2026 · 20:35
Five of them, three on guitars and bass singing along behind Sarah Harvey. Five songs, hosted by Brian Foss.
Panic Shack · on YouTube, via KEXP
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Faetooth
Faetooth on KEXP
The KEXP studio · 13 May 2026 · 27:52
A trio, two of them singing, and four songs that take their time. Hosted by Tanner Ellison.
Faetooth · on YouTube, via KEXP
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Built To Spill
Built To Spill on KEXP
The KEXP studio · 22 July 2022 · 29:55
Doug Martsch with Teresa Esguerra on drums and Melanie Radford on bass. Four songs, hosted by Cheryl Waters.
Built To Spill · on YouTube, via KEXP
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Aurora
AURORA on KEXP
The KEXP studio · 25 November 2024 · 33:49
Aurora Aksnes with a band of four, three of them singing behind her, and her own engineers alongside the station's. Four songs, hosted by Cheryl Waters.
AURORA · on YouTube, via KEXP
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Thievery Corp
Thievery Corporation on KEXP
The KEXP studio · 5 October 2016 · 31:06
Five songs, hosted by Darek Mazzone, in the autumn of 2016.
Thievery Corporation · on YouTube, via KEXP
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Waxahatchee
Waxahatchee on KEXP
The KEXP studio · 11 August 2025 · 28:21
Katie Crutchfield with a band of five, pedal steel, dobro and banjo among them, and one cover in the four songs. Hosted by Cheryl Waters.
Waxahatchee · on YouTube, via KEXP
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Prewn
Prewn on KEXP
The KEXP studio · 4 August 2026 · 30:18
A five-piece with a cello in it, fronted by Izzy Hagerup. Five songs, hosted by Cheryl Waters.
Prewn · on YouTube, via KEXP
KCRW Santa Monica, California
A non-profit public radio station in Santa Monica. Some of its sessions are played in the performance studio at its own headquarters and some in other studios, and every strip says which; the descriptions on its channel credit the players and the whole crew by name.
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Wet Leg
Wet Leg, Live From KCRW HQ
KCRW's Annenberg Performance Studio · 19:10
A five-piece from the Isle of Wight, every one of them singing, fronted by Rhian Teasdale. Five songs.
Wet Leg · on YouTube, via KCRW
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Alabama Shakes
Alabama Shakes on KCRW, 2015
Apogee Studio · 2015 · 41:05
Brittany Howard and the band, nine songs, played for KCRW to mark the release of Sound & Color.
Alabama Shakes · on YouTube, via KCRW
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Courtney Barnett
Courtney Barnett, Live on KCRW
KCRW's Annenberg Performance Studio · 48:22
Songs off Creature of Habit, with Stella Mozgawa on drums and Zach Dawes on bass. She has played that studio before, by KCRW's own account.
Courtney Barnett · on YouTube, via KCRW
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Tears for Fears
Tears for Fears, Live from The Village Studios
The Village Studios · 23:57
Songs off The Tipping Point beside older ones, in a recording studio rather than the station's own.
Tears for Fears · on YouTube, via KCRW
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Silvana Estrada
Silvana Estrada, Live From KCRW HQ
KCRW's Annenberg Performance Studio · 51:54
Songs off Vendrán Suaves Lluvias, sung in Spanish, with Estrada on the four-string Venezuelan cuatro and strings, piano and woodwinds around her.
Silvana Estrada · on YouTube, via KCRW
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Kokoroko
Kokoroko, Live From KCRW HQ
KCRW's Annenberg Performance Studio · 21:22
Seven of them, led by Sheila Maurice-Grey on trumpet and Onome Edgeworth on percussion, playing four songs off Tuff Times Never Last. Hosted by Novena Carmel.
Kokoroko · on YouTube, via KCRW
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Norah Jones
Norah Jones on KCRW, 2016
Apogee Studio · 2016 · 36:07
Eight songs, several of them off Day Breaks.
Norah Jones · on YouTube, via KCRW
The desk takes suggestions: a whole session played in a studio, filmed — more from KEXP or KCRW, or anybody else’s live room — best of all posted by the studio or the band themselves. Send it through the Stimpunks contact page or in our community. It is checked first to see that it plays, that it can be shown here, how long it runs and that it was played indoors, because a set played outside belongs at Looming Rocks.
Whose this all is
Austin City Limits is KLRU’s, the public television station in Austin, and it is broadcast on PBS. It is the longest-running music series in American television: its pilot was shot on 17 October 1974 with Willie Nelson, it was taped in Studio 6A on the University of Texas campus for its first thirty-six seasons, and it has been taped at ACL Live at The Moody Theater since February 2011. Read off Wikipedia’s article on it on 2026-09-25. The Live Room is neither of those rooms, and Stimpunks has no connection to the show, KLRU or PBS and is not endorsed by any of them.
KEXP is a listener-supported radio station in Seattle, run by the non-profit Friends of KEXP, with its studios at the Seattle Center; read off Wikipedia’s article on it on 2026-09-25. Every KEXP session here is on the station’s own channel, and each video’s own description names the players, the host and everybody who engineered, mixed and filmed it — follow a strip through to YouTube for the full credits. Stimpunks has no connection to KEXP and is not endorsed by it.
KCRW is a non-profit public radio station in Santa Monica, by its own account in every one of its videos. Its sessions here are all on its own channel; most were played in the performance studio at its headquarters, two at Apogee Studio and one at The Village Studios, each strip saying which, and each video’s description credits the players and the crew. Stimpunks has no connection to KCRW and is not endorsed by it.
Every strip names the channel its video is on. Some are the show’s own; the others are on channels that collect recordings, and two of those say in their own descriptions that the recording is not theirs. None of these artists, labels or channels is affiliated with Stimpunks, and none of them endorses us. The full list, with links, is in the liner notes.
The room’s name is written on masking tape in Just Another Hand, by Astigmatic, under the Apache License 2.0; everything else is B612, by Nicolas Chauveau, Thomas Paillot, Jonathan Favre-Lamarine and Jean-Luc Vinot, under the SIL Open Font License — a face drawn for the displays in an aircraft’s cockpit, which is the nearest thing to the legend on a desk.
HOW LOUD DO YOU WANT IT?
Starts wherever your device says. Nothing moves, flashes, or plays until you say so — and in here nothing moves at any setting. The red lamp stays lit and stays still, and the loudest thing in the room is whichever session you put on.
Job marker — a roll of masking tape dropped under the desk, with a marker beside it
You have found a job marker. The Adventurer’s Guild is a shopfront on the street, and it posts jobs that send you round these rooms. Take the code below to its board and that job is done. Nothing here is scored, nothing expires, and one is a perfectly good number of jobs to do.
The job: What night was it?
Before the code: One session on the desk was taped on a night most people know by name. Which night?
Hint 1
It is on the Leonard Cohen strip.
Hint 2
The strip gives the tour and the year as well as the night.
Last hint
The last night of October.
Give me the answer
The answer is Halloween. Leonard Cohen's first time on Austin City Limits was taped on Halloween night 1988, on the I'm Your Man tour, and first broadcast the next year. Every strip on the desk says where and when its session was taped before you press it.
Taking the answer is a real way through this, not a lesser one. Nothing is watching and nothing is written down.
Quest code: TALKBACK
That is the one.
Leonard Cohen's first time on Austin City Limits was taped on Halloween night 1988, on the I'm Your Man tour, and first broadcast the next year. Every strip on the desk says where and when its session was taped before you press it.
Quest code: TALKBACK