September, the finest month, is on its way
We got good weather in August, good for a city guy with no lawn, and then a typhoon came to town and a torrent fell last Saturday during a star-studded concert in Central Park where my wife sent me a video of Barry Manilow on stage, whose facelift had destroyed his voice, singing his brains out as lightning flashed to the south which shut down the show, but now the rain has ended and the world feels like September with the smell of apples and possibility in the air and I feel young and indomitable, crossing the street in front of eight beefcakes on Harleys and I feel like saying, “Which one of you cream puffs wants to take on a retired radio announcer?” Read the COLUMN >>>
Note: Garrison's weekly column is available weekly on our website and his substack page. Garrison's substack page also features a second weekly column along with The Back Room where you can help shape the direction and plot lines of a Guy Noir story, read exclusive essays and poems, receive shop discounts, and hear audio from the early years. |
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This week on A Prairie Home Companion Time for some sweet corn, Pronto Pups, and mini donuts as we revisit a classic show from the Minnesota State Fair grandstand. We’ve got 4-H Ambassadors, carny barkers, and cloggers in addition to our guests Patty Griffin and Jearlyn Steele. It’s a blue-ribbon-winning show from 2007.
Highlights include Pat Donohue doing the “Grandstand Shuffle” with help from the full Guy’s All-Star Shoe Band, Jearlyn’s take on “You Make Me Feel Like a Minnesotan,” Garrison duets with Becky Schlegel on “Shenandoah,” Patty Griffin tackles “Top of the World,” a few words from Garrison sprinkled throughout where you see his love of state fairs, plus Guy Noir, Rhubarb, a little Sunshine, and let’s not forget the latest news from Lake Wobegon. The link is posted on Saturdays at 5 p.m. CT each week on our Facebook page. Listen to the Show >>>
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More about this week’s featured guests:
Patty Griffin is among the most consequential singer-songwriters of her generation, a quintessentially American artist whose wide-ranging canon incisively explores the intimate moments and universal emotions that bind us together. Over the course of several decades, the Grammy Award winner has crafted 10 classic studio albums and three live collections, a remarkable body of work in progress that prompted the New York Times to hail her for “[writing] cameo-carved songs that create complete emotional portraits of specific people. (Her) songs have independent lives that continue in your head when the music ends.” Watch “Heavenly Day” >>>
Browse available music >>>
When a college friend gave Becky Schlegel a couple of Reno and Smiley albums, the die was cast: She got hooked on bluegrass. She left her South Dakota home, moved to Minnesota, and became a favorite on the Upper Midwest music scene — named Bluegrass/Old-Time Artist of the Year at the Minnesota Music Awards four years running. After living in Nashville for several years, she moved back to Minnesota. Becky is a 2016 inductee into the Legends of South Dakota Country Music Association. Her recordings include Opry Lullaby and For All the World to See.
“Early” with Garrison Keillor >>>
Get the 40th Anniversary Collection feat. “Early” >>>
A native of Indiana, Jearlyn Steele first sang with her siblings as The Steele Children in churches, concert halls, and on radio and television. Music is still the family business. Jearlyn has voiced many local and national commercials, and she has recorded with top acts including George Clinton and Prince. She also appeared in the film A Prairie Home Companion, directed by Robert Altman. Her solo recordings include Steele Praising Him and Jearlyn Steele Sings the Songs from A Prairie Home Companion. She is the entertainment reporter for Twin Cities Public Television’s public-affairs program Almanac, and she hosts Steele Talkin’, a Sunday-night radio show that originates on WCCO in Minneapolis and is heard in some 30 states nationwide and across Canada. “Yes, God is Real” >>>
Jearlyn Steeles’s available CDs >>>
View our guest interview >>> |
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Prairie Home Companion Remembers This past week saw two legendary artists who performed on A Prairie Home Companion pass away. We celebrate their craft and thank them for appearing on the show.
Nanci Griffith: Nanci Griffith’s beautiful, Texas-tinged voice won her a large and loyal following. She was also a top-flight writer, who started crafting songs before she reached her teens. It was Buddy Holly and the Crickets who first sparked that interest. “They made me want to have my name in parentheses below the song,” she said. And she got her wish with memorable compositions like “Love at the Five and Dime,” “There’s a Light Beyond These Woods (Mary Margaret)” and “It’s a Hard Life.” That said, Griffith won a Grammy Award for an album that was strictly covers — 1993’s Other Voices, Other Rooms. She passed away earlier this month at the age of 68. Here is a show from 1995 >>> Don Everly: With those seamless sibling harmonies, The Everly Brothers went from a childhood in Iowa — where they sang on the radio as “Little Donnie and Baby Boy Phil” — to the top of the charts with 1957’s “Bye Bye Love.” It was the first of a long string of hits for Don and Phil: “Bird Dog,” “Devoted to You,” “Let It Be Me,” “Cathy’s Clown” among them. And in 1986, the Everlys were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Don Everly passed away this past Saturday at the age of 84. Here is a show from 1994 >>> |
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FALL EVENTS We are just starting to add dates to the fall calendar and we will continue to update as more dates come in. Whether you live close or plan to travel, we would love to see you again.
Garrison Keillor with Prudence Johnson and Dan Chouinard
Friday, September 10 Ladysmith, WI
Saturday, September 11 Menomonie, WI
Garrison Keillor Solo
Saturday, October 2 Sellersville, PA
Sunday, October 3 Jim Thorpe, PA
Thursday, November 4 Carrollton, GA
Garrison Keillor and the Hopefuls (Robin and Linda Williams)
Friday, November 5 Carrollton, GA
Friday, November 12 High Point, NC For Performance Details>>> |
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A Prairie Home Companion Trucker's Hat |
Two-tone trucker’s-style hat featuring a mesh back that will help keep you a bit cooler. The Prairie Home Companion microphone logo is displayed on the front. The hat is adjustable so one size fits most. Get the hat >>>
View all A Prairie Home Companion merchandise >>> |
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| The Writer's Almanac Paperweight A great addition to any desk to serve as a reminder to “keep in touch” with your favorite podcast! Glass paperweight features Garrison’s signature sign-off, “Be well, do good work, and keep in touch,” with a decorative beveled border with the words etched on glass. Arrives gift-boxed. Measures 2 1/2” X 4”.
Get the paperweight >>>
View all Writer’s Almanac products >>> |
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