Classic A Prairie Home Companion This week on the classic A Prairie Home Companion program, we revisit one of the earliest shows in the online archives. It’s from the Fitzgerald Theater in 1998, with Balfa Toujours, Roy Rogers, and Vern Sutton. Also with us, the Royal Academy of Radio Actors (Tim Russell, Sue Scott, and Tom Keith) and the Guy’s All-Star Shoe Band.
Highlights include talk about lutefisk and the weather, visits with a few famous celebrities, Guy Noir, Catchup, and Prestige Parents. Roy Rogers picks along to “Down Home Girl,” Balfa Toujours cranks up some Cajun heat on “Bosco Stomp,” and Vern Sutton tackles “In the Garden,” plus the latest News from Lake Wobegon.
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Balfa Toujours, meaning Balfa Always, is headed by Christine Balfa, the daughter of the great Cajun fiddler Dewey Balfa. Courtney Granger adds to the family affair with his soulful singing and fiddling. Kevin Wimmer, one of the finest fiddlers around, is a founding member of Balfa Toujours. He studied directly with Dewey for many years. When Courtney and Kevin take off on twin fiddle adventures, they can steal your breath away. Add Jean-Jacques Aucoin on accordion and Shane Guidry on bass, and you get the passion and family musical heritage that keeps dancers always on the floor. Along with Balfa Toujours’ beautiful renditions of traditional songs, the band’s original music brings lyrics that are always thoughtful, whether hilarious, or penetratingly sad.
Listen to “L’Anse Aux Pailles” >>> Early on, Roy Rogers discovered his love for the blues and slide guitar and became known for making music that’s “deep and funky.” Born in Redding, California, in 1950, Roy began playing guitar at twelve years of age. A year later, at age 13, he was performing in a rock ’n’ roll band that wore gold lamé jackets and played Little Richard and Chuck Berry tunes. He discovered the great blues players early on, especially when his older brother brought home an album by Robert Johnson. Thus began his love of the blues and slide guitar, which had an immediate effect on Roy, who was indeed named after the King of the Cowboys. Through the years he developed a distinctive style of playing slide guitar — one that is instantly recognizable. Listen to “Avalanche” >>>
.A Prairie Home Companionhas collaborated with major musical organizations as a singer, actor, director, and educator. He was a founding member of the Center Opera Company, which became the Minnesota Opera, and composers Dominick Argento, Robert Ward, Conrad Susa, Libby Larsen, and others have written for his voice. For 36 years, he taught at the University of Minnesota School of Music, and for four summers he was artistic director of Opera in the Ozarks. Vern was a guest on the very first broadcast of Vern Sutton
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