A Nashville classic from March 2011

With Emmylou Harris, Sam Bush, Stuart Duncan, Sara Watkins and The Civil Wars

Additional 50th Anniversary Show dates

THE PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION 50TH ANNIVERSARY SHOW is a two-hour performance celebrating the upcoming half-century milestone of Garrison Keillor’s one-of-a-kind radio broadcast, which first hit the airways in July of 1974.

Expect a look back at the show’s origins in Minnesota and a sampling of Keillor’s droll stand-up on the beauty of being 80. Comedy sketches might include favorites like “Guy Noir, Private Eye,” “The Lives of the Cowboys,” “Duane’s Mom,” or “Ruth Harrison, Reference Librarian,” or word or two from the American Duct Tape Council, Coffee, Guy’s Shoes, or the Catchup Advisory Board. And perhaps a commercial for Powdermilk Biscuits on this subject: Cheerfulness Is a Choice. The Royal Academy of Actors (with sound-effects wizard Fred Newman) will be there, along with music director/keyboardist Richard Dworsky leading the band. Count on songs, jokes, the grand audience sing-along intermission, and of course, the latest News from Lake Wobegon (where the women are strong, the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average).

Bottom line: expect tons of fun.

Town Hall Theater in Brooklyn, New York on December 9th at 8:00pm

McCain Auditorium in Manhattan, Kansas on January 13, 2024 at 7:30pm

This show is part of our upcoming series of EVENTS — Garrison performing solo or in concert with others in addition to a few shows gathering our PHC troupe back together to celebrate the upcoming 50th Anniversary of the first Prairie Home Companion show. VIEW ALL EVENTS here.

This weeks Nashville classic

This week, we return to a venue that seems to be intertwined with our own very long history. In fact, without the venue, A Prairie Home Companion would not exist. Garrison traveled to Nashville in early 1974 to write a feature about the Grand Ole Opry’s final show at the historic Ryman Auditorium and returned home with an idea for a Midwestern version of the radio show. This classic show from 2011 features a bevy of stars who regularly graced the Prairie Home stage.

Highlights include Emmylou Harris singing a tribute to her friend Kate McGarrigle, called “Darlin’ Kate.” The Civil Wars perform “Poison and Wine.” Sam Bush and Stuart Duncan play “Diamond Joe.” And Sara Watkins joins Garrison on “Tomorrow is Forever.” Along the way, you will enjoy a few tunes from our fine house band, scripts for Guy Noir and The Lives of the Cowboys. Plus, in Lake Wobegon, town constables Gary and Leroy respond to a dispute at the Magendanz home. Join us online or listen now via this link.

Emmylou Harris

Emmylou Harris’s albums are mainstays in any music fan’s collection: Wrecking Ball, Luxury Liner, Roses in the Snow, The Ballad of Sally Rose, Trio, Red Dirt Girl. The list goes on and on. Born in Birmingham, Alabama, and raised in North Carolina and Virginia, Harris began playing the guitar at 16 and eventually left college to pursue a career in music. In the early 1970s, she moved to Los Angeles and joined forces with Gram Parsons, with whom she made two albums. After Parsons’ death in 1973, Harris made her major label debut, Pieces of the Sky. Now, after more than 50 years of performing and countless awards, including 14 Grammy Awards plus induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame, Emmylou maintains a widespread and loyal following, whether she’s singing folk, country, pop or traditional tunes.

Sam Bush

Sam Bush made his recording debut, Poor Richard's Almanac, when he was 17, after holding title as the National Junior Fiddle Champion for three consecutive years. When he was 19, he founded New Grass Revival (NGR), a band that combined a variety of music styles like rock, pop, reggae, jazz, country, and bluegrass for 18 years. NGR released 10 albums and disbanded on New Year’s Eve in 1989 by opening for the Grateful Dead. After NGR, Bush led Emmylou Harris’ Grammy-winning Nash Ramblers for five years. Bush, who plays mandolin, fiddle, and guitar, has recorded on albums by Lyle Lovett, Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood, Leftover Salmon, and many others, and he has released over a dozen solo records, winning three Grammy Awards and being inducted into the International Bluegrass Hall of Fame. Bush’s latest release is Radio John: The Songs of John Hartford.

Stuart Duncan

Multi-instrumentalist Stuart Duncan took up fiddle at age seven. Since then, he has chalked up a career that includes two Grammys, a slew of Academy of Country Music Awards, and being named the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Fiddle Player of the Year nine times. He was a founding member of the Nashville Bluegrass Band and is perennially one of Nashville’s most sought-after session musicians, performing on thousands of recordings.

Sara Watkins

Singer, songwriter, fiddle player Sara Watkins was only eight when she, her brother Sean, and Chris Thile started the genre-bending, Grammy-winning trio Nickel Creek. Two decades later — with Nickel Creek on indefinite hiatus — she struck out on her own with recordings including 2021’s Under the Pepper Tree. Her latest album is a return to her roots: Nickel Creek recently released Celebrants, the band’s first new album in nine years.

The Civil Wars

They met quite by accident: John Paul White, who grew up in Alabama, and native Californian Joy Williams were called into a Nashville songwriting session in 2008, with the idea of penning hits for other artists. The two combined their talents as the roots-music duo The Civil Wars. After Live at Eddie’s Attic, a free digital album of their second-ever concert, was released on their website, legions of fans were hooked. The Civil Wars topped the charts with their own hits and won four Grammy Awards before ending the collaboration in 2014.

Here is a humorous song from the show, comparing the difficulties of eating spaghetti neatly — along with a few lessons about life. Tune in and hear the entire song written by our host.

A Prairie Home Companion in Bayfield Shirt

A Prairie Home Companion is bringing a few of Garrison’s friends to Bayfield for a show on August 27th. We sure hope you can join us under the big top for a great show featuring Heather Masse, Fred Newman and the band led by Rich Dworsky. And if that’s not enough, we have this exclusive design for the event. Get tickets here. Get the shirt

A Prairie Home Companion Scroll Shirt

This has quickly become our most popular shirt design at the LIVE A Prairie Home Companion shows. The design pays homage to a scroll design featured on a Grand Ole Opry shirt, which harkens back to our show's history. Garrison got the idea for A Prairie Home Companion while writing an article about the Grand Ole Opry back in 1974. And after the Ryman Auditorium's extensive remodel, a live national broadcast of A Prairie Home Companion was the first show staged when the theater reopened in 1994. Get the lightweight T-shirt or sweatshirt.

The 50th Anniversary Commemorative Mug

Handcrafted by artisans from Deneen Pottery to mark Garrison Keillor’s final year as host of A Prairie Home Companion, these stoneware mugs are stunningly beautiful and one of a kind. Each mug is molded in pieces and then assembled and fired. The medallion features the house that sits at the back of the stage during most live performances. Each mug holds 14 ounces. Get the mug.

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