A pleasant night with nice people in L.A.

I left the snowy paradise of Minnesota Saturday and flew to sodden L.A. where heavy rains are making hillsides slide into the canyons and arroyos, which is not a problem on the prairie thanks to our canyonlessness. The land does not slide on the plains unless you are very very drunk and then you go to a Unitarian church basement every Tuesday night and talk with your fellow AA members about your emotionally distant father who drove you to drink.

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Revisit a Classic Show from 2006

This week, we travel to the very heart of Minnesota, revisiting a broadcast from the Ted Mann Concert Hall at the University of Minnesota. Luckily, that failing grade in organic chemistry did not disqualify us from performing a live radio show on campus. Featured guests include rising Nashville star Adrienne Young, Bulgarian violin prodigy Bella Hristova, jazz singer Prudence Johnson, and sitting in with the Guy’s All-Star Shoe Band, the maestro, Andy Stein. Also with us, the Royal Academy of Radio Actors: Tim Russell, Sue Scott, and Tom Keith. Join us Saturday at 5 p.m. via our Facebook page or via the link below. There’s bound to be something you’ll go-pher. Highlights include a duet version of “In My Life,” some Dylan, a gopher tale or two, plus some poetry.

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More about this week’s featured guests:

Violinist Bella Hristova was born in Pleven, Bulgaria, to musical parents — her mother was a school choral conductor and piano teacher, her father a composer — and began playing violin when she was six. She came to the United States in 1999, at age 13, and started her studies with Stephen Shipps at the Meadowmount School of Music in New York. That year, she won First Prize at the International Enesco Competition in Bucharest, Romania. One month later, she won the Grand Prize in the Michigan American String Teachers Competition. She continued musical studies with Shipps at the University of Michigan School of Music while completing high school in Ann Arbor. At the International Kocian Competition in the Czech Republic, judges awarded her First Prize in 2000 and the sweep of Grand Prize, European Union Prize, and Barenreiter Prize in 2001. Her repertoire stretches from Bach to the latest contemporary compositions. Favorites include 19th- and 20th-century Russian works.

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Adrienne Young was raised in Clearwater, Florida, in a musical family — her grandfather had a bluegrass band; her grandmother played mandolin and banjo, and her mother pursued a career as a country singer. In the late 1990s, she made the move to Nashville to attend Belmont University, then worked temp jobs on Music Row while trying to find her place in the music business. Her career took hold in 2003 when she won first place in MerleFest’s bluegrass songwriting contest. The following year, she released her first album, Plow to the End of the Row.
 

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Prudence Johnson’s long career in music has taken her from honky-tonks to Carnegie Hall, from the theater stage to the Silver Screen (Robert Redford’s A River Runs Through It), from the Midwest to the Middle East. Her dozen-plus album releases include Little Dreamer, a collection of international lullabies, Moon Country, which features the music of Hoagy Carmichael, and S’Gershwin, a collaboration with pianist Dan Chouinard.
 

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The Backroom on SUBSTACK

Subscribe and unlock some archive treasures. $6 per month or $65 per year.


With this subscription you will have access to over 200 past posts, including more than 60 monologue downloads from the 1980s, full-show videos for 10 shows, as well as many APHC clips. Going forward, we are just starting to uncover some radio productions and we will be posting them as well, including Literary Friendships, Garrison Keillor — A Conversation with John Lithgow, and the fabulous Comedy College episodes. Check it out. Click the Paid Subscription choice.
 

(The free version includes two columns and one Post to the Host; the paid version includes videos, audio, new works, archive publications, and a few Prairie Home Productions radio episodes.)

 

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40th Anniversary Collection

In the span of 40-plus years, some 10,000 artists graced the stage of A Prairie Home Companion where Garrison welcomed them and introduced them to his audience of 4 million weekly listeners. This collection represents the most comprehensive treasure trove of songs (and a few sketches) from APHC’s archives.

From early favorites like the Everly Brothers and Chet Atkins to Los Texmaniacs’ performance in 2014, we’ve chosen more than 87 memorable acts. The collection also includes one CD of highlights from the weekend-long 40th Anniversary Celebration live from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota.

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Old Sweet Songs

Another dive into the archives of A Prairie Home Companion. Many of the early shows were recorded on older equipment and in outdoor venues. And when our current staff went back to review the recording quality, they were surprised to find that the songs from the earliest of shows were actually in great shape! So, here are a few of the performances by many of the artists who truly stayed with the show from its inception to its final show in 2016 and the many great performances in between.

This collection looks back at the early days, in particular early music, with pianist Butch Thompson, mandolin maestro Peter Ostroushko, Dakota Dave Hull, and the first Powdermilk Biscuit Band: Adam Granger, Bob Douglas, and Mary DuShane. A real treat for longtime fans who love the show’s music.

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