A New Year, a NEW Lake Wobegon collection From the Archives is a deep dive into the PHC archive, unearthing stories season by season. And here is the collection featuring the stories from 1982. Lake Wobegon experiences extreme cold and shuts people in their homes to feuds, frustrations, plumbing issues, and other crazy antics. There are memories of romance with Donna Bunsen at the laundromat and the Diener boy’s first drag on a cigarette, landing his car in the pond. In fall, we hear about the demise of Irene Anderson’s 20 oz. tomato and the avalanche of squash from the attic. Christmas is nearly perfect with the exception of Einer’s reading of the Gospel. 3 CDs. Get the CDs >>>
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Meditation while waiting for coffee I was in Clearwater Beach, Florida, the morning of the 31st, listening to coffee drip, looking out the picture window at a parking lot, and saw a squirrel sitting on top of a telephone pole at eye level fifteen feet away, looking at me. On the beach, men with metal detectors searched for lost diamond rings and gold ingots. The squirrel had no good reason to be on top of a pole and I had no reason to be in Florida and the men on the beach kept moving along and not finding anything, we were all just spending time, and eventually the squirrel went racing along a cable to a nearby roof and I flew back home and I assume the men found something else to do, maybe watch football and drink Harvey Wallbangers. Go to Garrison Keillor and Friends on Substack to read the rest of THE COLUMN >>>
Become a member of THE BACK ROOM on our Substack page for exclusive access to News from Lake Wobegon stories, archived goodies, excerpts from unpublished works, previews of other works, a second weekly column, and on occasion, a full-length video stream of a show from 2015 to 2016.
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This week on "A Prairie Home Companion" This week on A Prairie Home Companion, we’re back home at the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul, Minnesota, with our favorite Doris Day gumdrop, Nellie McKay, plus a tune for four (count ’em four!) fiddles for the new year with Deena and Sedra Bistodeau, Catie Jo Pidel, and Richard Kriehn. With the Royal Academy of Radio Acting (Tim Russell, Sue Scott, Tom Keith) and Rich Dworsky and the Guy’s All-Star Shoe Band. Plus, the ice fishing has begun in Lake Wobegon and our favorite cranky gumshoe is back on the slippery streets of good ol’ St. Paul. Join us Saturday for a listen via our Facebook page at 5 p.m. CT (or click the link below). Listen to the Show >>>
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More about this week’s featured guests
She started out wanting to be a jazz musician. Now when singer, songwriter, actor, and activist Nellie McKay sits down at the piano or picks up the ukulele, you’re likely hear some blend of jazz, pop, hip-hop, cabaret, or vaudeville. The London-born, New York-based performer has amassed quite a following with her quirky musical approach. She’s nothing if not outspoken, and the causes she holds dear — animal rights, for instance — are apt to turn up in her unpredictable song lyrics. “Don’t Let the Sun Catch You Crying” >>>
Available Music >>>
Since they were little girls, sisters Deena and Sedra Bistodeau wowed audiences and contest judges with their fiddle chops — both classical and bluegrass styles — and they’ve got trophies aplenty to show for it, including Minnesota State Fiddle Champion honors for both. The two often teamed up with their parents as the Bistodeau Family Band. “Orange Blossom Special” >>>
Catie Jo Pidel began violin lessons at school when she was in the third grade. But her mom thought it might be a good idea to add bluegrass and old-time fiddling to her skills. She was a Minnesota State Fair Teen Fiddle Champion and member of the Minnesota-based groups Whistlepigs String Band and Ruby Magpie. Catie Jo earned a master’s degree from Zürich (Switzerland) University of Applied Sciences, and her latest musical venture is with the Swiss trio caludo. “I Don’t Love Nobody” >>>
Texas-born Bob Douglas has lived in Minnesota for decades — since his college days. In the early years of A Prairie Home Companion, he did mandolin duties and played spoons in the show’s house bands, the Powdermilk Biscuit Band and the New Prairie Ramblers. More recently, he lent his musical talents to string bands such as Tune Jerks and Show’d Up Band, and contributed articles to Minnesota Bluegrass magazine. A gathering of fiddles playing the “St. Anne’s Reel” >>>
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Leaving Home Here are new lyrics to the song “Leaving Home,” featured in this week’s classic show: Here it is January and we are stuck at home
Snowstorm knocked out the power, we got no heat or phone
I’m leaving you
When the plow comes through. Never cared for winter, hate to shovel snow
And I get depressed when the sun is low
Soon as I can get out
I’m heading south “Oh I’m going away, I’m going to stay, never coming home
Gonna miss me, honey, in the days to come
When the winter wind begins to blow, the ground is covered up
You’re gonna think of me, and miss me your sweetheart
I’m leaving you, darling, if the car will start.” Now Frankie done said to her Johnny,
“Don’t go near that door.”
Underneath her silk kimono
She drew a forty-four
“You sit right there
On that kitchen chair.” Now Johnny fled down the stairway
He’s cryin’, “Frankie, don’t shoot.”
Wearing his great big parka
And a size thirteen boot
Out in the snow
Twenty-six below “Oh I’m going away, I’m going to stay, never coming home
Gonna miss me, honey, in the days to come
When the winter wind begins to blow, the ground is covered up
You’re gonna think of me, and miss me your sweetheart
I’m leaving you, darling, if the car will start.” Johnny jumped in his car
Johnny turned the key
Nothing happened ’cause Frankie
Had taken the battery
Out of the car
Into her boudoir Now send for your rubber-tired tow truck
Call for Triple A
Call up the auto graveyard
Tow that car away
That engine’s dead
Since Johnny said “Oh I’m going away, I’m going to stay, never coming home
Gonna miss me, honey, in the days to come
When the winter wind begins to blow, the ground is covered up
You’re gonna think of me, and miss me your sweetheart
I’m leaving you, darling, if the car will start.” |
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| A NEW "Winter" Quotation Shirt “Winter: It’s not just a season, it’s who we are.” A perfect Garrison Keillor quotation to summarize why Minnesotans are so STRONG. Celebrate the season with this 100% cotton navy shirt. Available in sizes S–XXL Get the Shirt >>> |
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| Good Enough Mugs If your friends in warmer climates wonder how you survive northern winters, and why the heck you don't move, give your reply by showing them this coffee mug. The words by Garrison Keillor are a testament to the hardy, unshakable, and generally unfathomable resolve of Midwesterners to withstand abominably cold temperatures. To help keep you warmer, we have included 2 mugs so you don't drink alone. The 15-ounce ceramic mug is microwave-safe. We recommend hand-washing due to differing dishwasher temperatures . Get the Mugs >>> |
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| The Lake Wobegon Virus Softcover Now in paperback. Bestselling author and humorist Garrison Keillor returns to one of America’s most beloved mythical towns — a town beset by a contagion of alarming candor.
A mysterious virus has infiltrated the good people of Lake Wobegon, transmitted via unpasteurized cheese made by a Norwegian bachelor farmer, the effect of which is episodic loss of social inhibition. Mayor Alice, Father Wilmer, Pastor Liz, the Bunsens and Krebsbachs, formerly taciturn elders, burst into political rants, inappropriate confessions, and rhapsodic proclamations, while their teenagers watch in amazement. Meanwhile, a wealthy outsider is buying up farmland for a Keep America Truckin’ motorway and amusement park, estimated to draw 2.2 million visitors a year. Clint Bunsen and Elena the hometown epidemiologist to the rescue, with a Fourth of July Living Flag and sweet corn feast for a finale. Get the BOOK >>> |
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