As a college student I constantly find myself at battle with my bank account.   I want to go out and have fun, it wants me to stay at home and check under couch cushions for pennies and quarters.

Lucky for those of us who don’t have burlap bags full of money (think Monopoly man) there are plenty of things to do in Austin that won’t cost us a thing.

The Austin City Limits program is a main staple in Austin’s music community and a great way to have fun for free in the city.  If you want to win tickets the steps are as easy as going to the ACL blog, signing up for the ticket giveaway of your choice and then waiting and anticipating to see if you have been chosen as a lucky winner.

My luck is no good, the last thing I won was a book on leadership, but somehow, someway the stars aligned and awarded me two free tickets to an ACL Live taping of the artist T this past Friday, Nov. 4.

Lykke Li is an eccentric, soulful and beautiful artist with a unique electro-pop sound that is all her own.  This was her first time performing at the ACL Live studio and her performance was also the first live stream for the program, now in its 37th season. 

Though she has only released two albums to date, her music is incredibly heartfelt and real and her popularity only continues to grow.

Her stage set was dark and ominous.  The band dressed in all black as they slowly descended on the stage.  Lykke Li doesn’t speak much and is extremely coy but when the music started, her hips began to sway and her voice shook the small studio. 

Her songs range from passionate and goose-bump inducing ballads like “Silent My Song” to songs that you can’t help but move to like “I Follow