The Promised Land Calling
hosted by Garrison Keillor
Show #1396June 8, 2013
From Greek Theatre | Los Angeles, California
0:00 | 01:58:59
Colin Hay
Jearlyn Steele
Jearlyn Steele
07
This week on A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor, we head West and visit the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, California. With special guests, singer and songwriter Colin Hay, humorist Paula Poundstone, America's "Acting President" Martin Sheen, comedienne Lily Tomlin, and singing sisters Jearlyn and Jevetta Steele. Plus, the Royal Academy of Radio Actors, Tim Russell, Sue Scott, and Fred Newman, Kenni Holmen and Steve Strand join The Guy's All-Star Shoe Band, and the latest News from Lake Wobegon.
Colin Hay
Many know Colin Hay as the lead singer of the chart-topping, Grammy-winning Australian group Men at Work. With anthems like "Down Under," "Overkill," and "Who Can It Be Now?" the Melbourne-based band staked out a secure place in pop history. Since moving to California in 1989, Colin has continued to write songs and record his music, in addition to taking acting roles in movies and on television. He has released 11 solo albums. The most recent is 2011's Gathering Mercury (Compass Records) — 10 songs that may just be his best collection yet.Paula Poundstone
Paula Poundstone was still in her teens when she began performing at open-mic nights around Boston. Now one of the great humorists of our time, she has amassed a slew of honors, including two CableACE Awards. Public radio listeners tune in to hear her onWait Wait ... Don't Tell Me. Her book There's Nothing in This Book That I Meant to Say (Crown Publishing) is packed with quirky observations ("I need to know exactly what day I'm going to die so that I don't bother putting away leftovers the night before"), with lots more on her new comedy CD, I Heart Jokes: Paula Tells Them in Boston (Lipstick Nancy).Martin Sheen
In 1959, a young Martin Sheen borrowed a few bucks from a local priest, left his Ohio home, and headed for New York. Since then, he has piled up Emmys, Golden Globes, and other accolades for his performances in movies such as Badlands, The Subject Was Roses, Apocalypse Now, and The Way, and on television forKennedy, Blind Ambition, and his seven seasons in the role of President Josiah Bartlet on NBC's The West Wing. For his work as a tireless activist for social and environmental causes, he has received numerous honors, including the Cesar E. Chavez Spirit Award.Lily Tomlin
Early on, Lily Tomlin enthralled us with Laugh-in characters like Ernestine and Edith Ann; then came one-woman shows like The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe and movie and television roles in Nashville, The West Wing, and others. Since her 1966 TV debut on The Garry Moore Show, she has built a career that has garnered Tonys, Emmys, Peabodys, the Grammy, and more. When she was honored with the 2003 Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, Kennedy Center President Michael Kaiser noted that "Lily Tomlin, like Mark Twain, offers her genius wholeheartedly, as she levels the playing field all across society and evokes the most healing of all responses: laughter."Jearlyn Steele
Growing up in Indiana, Jearlyn Steele sang with her siblings as The Steele Children. One by one, they moved to Minnesota and started singing together again. Now music is the family business. Jearlyn has recorded and performed with Prince, George Clinton, Mavis Staples, and others. She also hosts Steele Talkin', a Sunday-night radio show that originates on WCCO in Minneapolis. Her most recent solo CD is Jearlyn Steele Sings Songs from A Prairie Home Companion.Jevetta Steele
Growing up in Indiana, Jearlyn and Jevetta Steele sang with their siblings as The Steele Children. One by one, they moved to Minnesota and started singing together again. Now music is the family business. Jevetta's performance of "Calling You," from the film Baghdad Cafe, was nominated for an Academy Award. Her solo albums include 2006's My Heart.The Guy's All-Star Shoe Band - June 8, 2013
The Guy's All-Star Shoe Band is led by A Prairie Home Companionmusic director Richard Dworsky. Keyboard player, composer and improviser in any style, he also writes all the script themes and underscores. His latest CD is So Near and Dear to Me. Chet Atkins called Pat Donohue (guitar) one of the greatest fingerpickers in the world today. And he writes songs too - recorded by Suzy Bogguss, Kenny Rogers, and others. Nobody's Fault and Vicksburg Blues (a collaboration with Butch Thompson) are the most recent of Pat's albums. Gary Raynor (bass) has performed with the Count Basie band and Sammy Davis Jr., with whom he toured for several years. He was first call for dozens of touring Broadway shows, including the first presentation of The Lion King. Gary teaches at the McNally Smith College of Music in St. Paul. Peter Johnson (percussion) has played klezmer music with Doc Severinsen and jazz with Dave Brubeck. He was a drummer for The Manhattan Transfer and for Gene Pitney. He has toured the world, but he always comes back to home base: Saint Paul. Richard Kriehn is principal second violin for the Washington/Idaho Symphony. But it's not all classical all the time; he is equally at home playing bluegrass fiddle and mandolin. He was a member of the Nashville Mandolin Ensemble and the bluegrass group 1946. Saxophonist Kenni Holmen is a member of The Hornheads, a Twin Cities horn ensemble, and one of the area's most active recording and touring musicians. He has performed or recorded with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Glen Miller Orchestra, Gladys Knight, and the Reverend Billy Graham, to name a few. Trumpeter Steve Strand has done commercial jingles for the Minnesota Twins, Macy's, ESPN, and the Minnesota Wild. More visibly, he is a member of Twin Cities horn ensemble The Hornheads. He has toured and/or recorded with Prince, Chaka Kahn, and many others.