I am giving up anger, so should you
The apartment across the hall from where we’re staying in Minneapolis is undergoing extensive renovation, walls being moved, floors torn up, and every day last week the noise from there was seismic, volcanic, like they were throwing pickup trucks into a giant grinder, and when I walked out of our place and saw a workman I asked him how long this racket would continue and I used, as a modifier to “racket,” a word not seen in your family newspaper, not yet, God help us, though I’ve heard it used by small children in New York attending schools named for saints. Kids grow up faster in New York.
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Revisit a classic from 2012
This week, another winter wonder from the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul, with violin virtuoso Joshua Bell, singing sisters of Soul, Jearlyn and Jevetta Steele. Saxophonist Kenni Holmen and trumpeter Steve Strand sit in with the Guy’s All-Star Shoe (and Beer) Band. Plus, Sue Scott and Tim Russell and the latest news from finally frozen Lake Wobegon. Highlights include “Rip It Up” (Jearlyn and Jevetta Steele with GK), “Jump Jive and Wail” from Pat Donohue, and a Gershwin prelude from Joshua Bell. There are sketches — Cowboys, Ruth Harrison, and Snowmen, plus a visit to the Café Boeuf. Join us Saturday at 5 p.m. CT via our Facebook page or via the link below,
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More about this week’s featured guests:
When violinist Joshua Bell was four, his parents noticed that he had fashioned a sort of musical instrument by stretching rubber bands around the handles of a chest of drawers. And since he showed this interest in music, his folks got him a small violin and signed him up for lessons. Now Bell is regarded as one of the great violinists of our time, performing with major orchestras worldwide. Listen to “Summertime” >>>
Joshua Bell music >>>
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 also hosts Steele Talkin’, a Sunday-night radio show that originates on WCCO in Minneapolis. In the 1980s, Jevetta Steele — along with her family group, The Steeles — toured the world in the musical The Gospel at Colonus. The show had another successful run at Ordway Center for the Performing Arts in 2010. And many remember Jevetta’s Academy Award-nominated performance of “Calling You,” from the film Baghdad Café.
Listen to “Reach Out, I’ll Be There” >>>
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.
Listen to his Masterclass >>>
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Some News and a few updates Audiobooks.com has shared a special code for our listeners to get a 50% discount on the download version of GK’s memoir That Time of Year: A Minnesota Life. Listen to Garrison’s life story and some reflections about A Prairie Home Companion from the host himself. Information coming soon on the softcover version of the book, as we get ready to release it to bookstores everywhere on March 7th. Order the download >>>
Listen to a Sample >>> The Writer’s Almanac has put together a short collection of love poems that concludes with Garrison’s epic poem “The Finn Who Wouldn’t Take a Sauna,” accompanied by a tuba ensemble. It’s a short reading of some great poems you can share for Valentine’s Day, all read by Garrison. Listen to a set of Love Poems >>>
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Subscribe to The Writer’s Almanac Anniversary Newsletter>>>
Sue Scott will be presenting a very Special All-Music Edition of ISLAND OF DISCARDED WOMEN Live Show & Podcast on Sunday, March 12th! Joining host Sue Scott on stage to share powerful original songs and the stories behind them will be these amazing guest artists: Jennifer Grimm, Ann Reed, Courtney Yasmineh, Zippy Laske and the new trio, SingerHers with Thomasina Petrus, Gwen Matthews & Kathleen Johnson! Get Event Ticket Information >>>
Check out the Podcast episodes >>> Meryl Streep will join Steve Martin in the third season of Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building. Season Three teaser>>>
ON TOUR: Three of today’s Grammy Award-winning singers are heading out on tour with concerts full of good music and fun stories.
Sarah Jarosz, an A Prairie Home Companion favorite, compiled a remarkable career, winning four Grammy Awards in the Americana and Folk categories.
Shawn Colvin’s songs, including “Sunny Came Home,” are works of craft that become treasured, lifetime companions for their listeners.
After winning a Grammy for “Walking in Memphis,” Marc Cohn solidified his place as one of this generation’s most compelling singer-songwriters.
Ticket Information >>>
American music masters Sam Bush, Mike Marshall, Edgar Meyer, and George Meyer are out on the road till February 5th. Expect to hear works from the genre-bending Short Trip Home album, as well as new music written especially for this tour. Bush and Marshall are mandolin virtuosos rooted in bluegrass. The Meyers (Edgar on acoustic bass, son George on violin) come from the classical world of music. Together, they make acoustic music not to be missed. Ticket information >>> Aoife O’Donovan has been busy on tour with her new album, Age of Apathy. Recent appearances include Jimmy Kimmel Live and The Kelly Clarkson Show, as well as CBS Saturday Morning. Watch “Phoenix” >>>
Check out Aoife’s tour dates >>>
Purchase Age of Apathy >>> |
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Garrison Keillor & Company on Tour Keillor & Company starring Garrison Keillor and featuring pianist Dan Chouinard and vocalist Prudence Johnson is an evening of stand-up, storytelling, audience song, and poetry.
There are sonnets (sung), limericks, and musical jokes. And the thread that runs through the show is the beauty of growing old. Despite the inconvenience, old age brings the contentment of LESS IS MORE. Your mistakes and big ambitions are behind you, nothing left to prove, and small things give you great pleasure because that’s what’s left. (“I was unhappy in college because it was a requirement for an intellectual, but then I went into show business and discovered that people won’t pay to be made unhappy, their kids will do it for free.”)
And there is always News from Lake Wobegon — recently a town booming with new entrepreneurs, makers of artisanal firewood and gourmet meatloaf, breeders of composting worms, and dogs trained to do childcare. But some things endure, such as the formation of the Living Flag on Main Street, citizens in tight formation wearing red, white, or blue caps, and Mr. Keillor among them, standing close to old neighbors, Myrtle Krebsbach (“Truckstop”), Julie Christensen (“Bruno, the Fishing Dog”), and Clint Bunsen. And an a cappella sing-along with the audience joining in an odd medley of patriotic songs, pop standards, and hymns, and ending with the national anthem.
This February, the troupe travels to Ohio, Kansas, Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Florida. We hope you join us for a few laughs along the way. Get Ticket information >>> |
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Gospel Birds and Other Stories Three hours of Lake Wobegon stories including “Bruno, the Fishing Dog,” “Pastor Ingqvist’s Trip to Orlando,” “A Day at the Circus with Mazumbo,” plus 6 other stories. Gospel Birds is Garrison Keillor at his very best — endearing insights, gentle humor, and warm affection for the human foibles we all share. Includes musical interludes by Chet Atkins. Over 3 hours on 3 CDs. This is many fans’ favorite collection of stories.
Purchase the CDs >>>
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A Year in Lake Wobegon Our staff and volunteers worked on this collection for about a year, picking the very best newer stories to represent each month. Despite what Keillor often says about its being a quiet week in Lake Wobegon, a lot happens in “the little town that time forgot and the decades cannot improve.”
These 12 stories capture family gatherings and holiday celebrations, both humorous and touching, that happen during one calendar year. Material includes more than 3 hours of monologues culled from live broadcasts of A Prairie Home Companion that aired between 2014 and 2016. Also included: a poem by Garrison for each month of the calendar year, plus music by Peter Ostroushko. Get the CDs >>> Read our interview with Peter Ostroushko >>>
Note: Peter provided all the music heard on A Year in Lake Wobegon and was with the show since its first year. Before Peter’s passing, he was working his way through the A Prairie Home Companion archives and was creating podcasts through his appearances. If you ever wondered what the very early shows sounded like, these podcasts are for you! The Podcasts >>> |
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