Temperate Seasons

In her teens, singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile sang backup for an Elvis impersonator, but when she got her first guitar - a broken and abandoned Harmony Sovereign - she was soon playing coffeehouses, parties, and restaurants in the Seattle area. Since she released her first album more than a decade ago, her fan base has mushroomed. Her latest recording is The Firewatcher's Daughter (ATO Records). Brandi is joined by Phil Hanseroth and Tim Hanseroth.

When The Wailin' Jennys first got together in 2002, it was supposed to be a one-time gig. But the collaboration proved a huge success, and this Juno Award-winning trio continues to wow audiences across North America and beyond. "This is about as good as contemporary folk gets," one music critic wrote. It has been 11 years since they released 40 Days, their first full-length recording. The latest CD from Ruth Moody, Nicky Mehta, and Heather Masse is 2011's Bright Morning Stars (Red House Records).

The Guy's All-Star Shoe Band is led by A Prairie Home Companion music director Richard Dworsky. A masterful keyboard player, composer, and improviser in any style, he writes all the script themes and underscores, and he has accompanied guests from James Taylor to Renee Fleming. His latest CD is So Near and Dear to Me. Chet Atkins called Pat Donohue (guitar) one of the greatest finger pickers in the world today. And he writes songs too - recorded by Suzy Bogguss, Kenny Rogers and others. Freewayman (Bluesky Records) is the most recent of Pat's nine albums. Gary Raynor (bass) has performed with the Count Basie band, Sammy Davis Jr. - with whom he toured for several years - and the Minnesota Klezmer Band. He teaches jazz bass at the McNally Smith College of Music in St. Paul. J.T. Bates started playing drums when he was seven. By the time he was 15, he was sitting in with his dad's big band. Since then, he has backed up countless musicians, as well as working with his own bands - Fat Kid Wednesdays and Poor Line Condition. Andy Stein (violin, saxophone) definitely has far-flung musical leanings. He collaborated with Garrison Keillor to create the opera Mr. and Mrs. Olson, and he has performed with artists such as Itzhak Perlman, Eric Clapton, Smashing Pumpkins, Billy Joel, Tony Bennett, Ray Charles, and Bob Dylan.