“I'd sit there with my guitar and that was my education. This show gave me purpose, it gave me hope”: Gary Clark Jr. dons a Strat to cover Stevie Ray Vaughan classics at Austin City Limits' 50th Anniversary televised special

Gary Clark Jr. has delivered a blazing take on Stevie Ray Vaughan's Pride and Joy and Dirty Pool alongside Eve Monsees on vocals and guitar – for Austin City Limits' 50th Anniversary PBS special, which will be premiering today (April 4) at 9 pm ET.

For Clark Jr., the performance was a full-circle moment, as he has often mentioned how, growing up, he watched his heroes – including Stevie Ray Vaughan – on old episodes of the series. Now, he's payed it forward with a stellar, blues-through-and-through tribute to SRV, via a two-song knockout of tunes by the Texas legend.

“I used to miss out on hanging out with my friends on Saturday nights to sit in front of the television and watch Austin City Limits,” comments Clark Jr. “I'd sit there with my guitar and that was my education. This show gave me purpose, it gave me hope.”

Another full-circle moment comes by way of the song choice – specifically SRV's Pride and Joy, from his 1983 debut Texas Flood – as Clark Jr. notes how the last time he played this track was back in 1998 at his eight-grade middle school talent show in Austin, where he also performed alongside his childhood friend, Monsees.

Gary Clark Jr. with Eve Monsees "Pride and Joy" | Austin City Limits Celebrates 50 Years - YouTube

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Fittingly for the occasion, GCJ and Monsees both brandish Strats – an Olympic White and a black one, respectively – a surefire nod to SRV's penchant for the model.

In a 2012 Guitar World interview, Clark Jr. waxed lyrical about SRV's impact on his trajectory, recalling how receiving Vaughan’s Texas Flood (along with the Jimi Hendrix compilation The Ultimate Experience) “just set it off for me.”

He continued, “Through Stevie Ray Vaughan I learned about Jimmie Vaughan and other Austin guitarists, like Denny Freeman and Derek O’Brien. When Clifford Antone brought Hubert Sumlin and Buddy Guy to his club [Austin’s famed nightclub, Antone’s], I’d go see them. I soaked it all up. That was my foundation.”

Beyond this special tribute to Vaughan, Austin City Limits' 50th-anniversary two-hour broadcast will also feature performances by the likes of Chris Stapleton, Billy Strings, Leon Bridges, Indigo Girls, and Ángela Aguilar.