April 7, 2012 broadcast with Sharon Isbin, Ellie Dehn, and Lake Street Drive
This week on A Prairie Home Companion, it's a live broadcast performance from the historic Town Hall in New York City. With special guests, the Monet of the classical guitar, Sharon Isbin, soprano Ellie Dehn, and exuberant jazz-infused pop band Lake Street Dive. Also with us, the Royal Academy of Radio Actors; Tim Russell, Sue Scott, and SFX man Mr. Fred Newman, Richard Dworsky and Pat Donohue, and the latest News from Lake Wobegon.
March 31, 2012 broadcast with Paul Cebar Tomorrow Sound, Count This Penny, The Krause Family Band, and Dan Newton
Coming to you this week from the Milwaukee Theatre, it's a live broadcast performance of A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor. With special guests, historians of myriad musical forms Paul Cebar Tomorrow Sound, Wisconsin-based Appalachian pop band Count This Penny, and the close harmonies of The Krause Family Band. Plus, two-fisted accordionist Dan Newton sits in with The Guy's All-Star Shoe Band, the Royal Academy of Radio Actors; Tim Russell, Sue Scott, and Fred Newman, and the latest News from Lake Wobegon.
March 24, 2012 rebroadcast with Wynton Marsalis and His Quintet, Heather Masse, Elvis Costello, and Tom Rush
This week on A Prairie Home Companion it's a mix of shows from the Town Hall in New York City back in April 2009. Wynton Marsalis and his Quintet perform "Powdermilk Bisquit," he appears as a subway busker in an episode of Guy Noir, and he joins Heather Masse as she sings Dave Frishberg's "Peel Me a Grape." Elvis Costello sings "Changing Partners" and "Down Among the Wine and Spirits," and appears as the great singing cowboy Roy Costello. Plus, Tom Rush sings "Drift Away," and the story of a mysterious white Panama hat that used to belong to Mr. Turnblad and its appearance at the Lake Wobegon High School prom.
March 17, 2012 rebroadcast with Frank McCourt, Billy Collins, Karan Casey, Martin Sheen, Sean O'Driscoll, and Altan
This weekend on A Prairie Home Companion, an Irish Stew for all the fair haired Emerald Islanders in celebration of the feast of St. Patrick. The late Frank McCourt reads from "Angela's Ashes," Billy Collins reads "Afternoon with Irish Cows," and Karan Casey sings a song she learned from Frank Harte called "The Brown and Yellow Ale." Martin Sheen appears in The Lives of the Cowboys as James Joyce, Sean O'Driscoll sings "Farewell to Ballyshanny," and Altan performs "I Wish My Love Was a Red Red Rose." Plus, what "Irishness" means to Lake Wobegoners and grab the hankie for dear old "Danny Boy."
March 10, 2012 rebroadcast with Emmylou Harris, Sara Watkins, Sam Bush, Stuart Duncan, Civil Wars, and The Dave Rawlings Machine
This week on A Prairie Home Companion a colorful mix of two shows we did from the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee with Emmylou Harris and Sara Watkins as diner waitresses in an episode of The Lives of the Cowboys, Fred Newman as teenage heartthrob Justin LaFever, dueling fiddlers Sam Bush and Stuart Duncan, and the now (newly) Grammy-award winning Civil Wars sing "Barton Hollow." Plus, The Dave Rawlings Machine, and signs of spring in Lake Wobegon.
March 3, 2012 rebroadcast with VocalEssence
This week on A Prairie Home Companion, a lawyer, a blonde, a nun and a trombone player walk into a bar for a special joke-a-thon compilation show. Along with the slurry of jokes, VocalEssence sings the "The Ying Tong Song" from the BBC's "Goon Show," we'll pay tribute to the Marx Brothers and Tom Keith's utterly perfect chicken sounds take center stage for "The Sound of Chickens." Plus, Andy Stein's "Knock Knock" song, a visit from Sven and Ole, and a rather unfortunate school lunch was served at Lake Wobegon Elementary School.
February 25, 2012 broadcast with Trampled by Turtles and the Grand Rapids High School Jazz Ensemble
This week on A Prairie Home Companion, we're heading north to Duluth, Minnesota for a live broadcast from the DECC Auditorium, and hoping for a blast of real winter weather. With special guests, rocking acoustic pickers Trampled By Turtles, and the magnificent Grand Rapids High School Jazz Ensemble. Also with us, the Royal Academy of Radio Actors; Tim Russell, Sue Scott, and Fred Newman, The Guy's All-Star Shoe Band, and the latest News from Lake Wobegon.
February 18, 2012 broadcast with Adam Granger and Heather Masse
This week on A Prairie Home Companion, we're live from The Fitzgerald Theater for our final broadcast there this season. With special guests, flatpicker of fiddle tunes and alumnus of the Powdermilk Biscuit Band, Adam Granger, and vocalist Heather Masse. Plus, the Royal Academy of Radio Actors; Sue Scott and Tim Russell, Kenni Holmen, Steve Strand, and Dan Newton sit in with The Guy's All-Star Shoe Band, and the latest News from Lake Wobegon.
February 11, 2012 broadcast with Ann Reed, My Brightest Diamond, and Heather Masse
Coming to you this week from The Fitzgerald Theater in downtown Saint Paul, Minnesota, it's a live broadcast of A Prairie Home Companion. With special guests, dazzling Minnesota-based folksinger Ann Reed, otherworldly chamber-pop chanteuse My Brightest Diamond, and vocalist Heather Masse. Plus, the Royal Academy of Radio Actors; Tim Russell and Sue Scott, The Guy's All-Star Shoe Band, and the latest News from Lake Wobegon.
February 4, 2012 broadcast with Heather Masse, Jearlyn and Jevetta Steele, and Butch Thompson
This week on A Prairie Home Companion, it's a live broadcast from The Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul, Minnesota. With special guests, honey-voiced vocalist Heather Masse, and versatile singing sisters Jearlyn and Jevetta Steele. Plus, Butch Thompson on piano and clarinet, the Royal Academy of Radio Actors; Tim Russell and Sue Scott, Kenni Holmen and Steve Strand sit in with The Guy's All-Star Shoe Band, and the latest news from an unusual winter in Lake Wobegon.