All about this week's classic show! This week’s compilation comes from memorable moments from our St. Louis broadcasts, with Jearlyn Steele singing the “St. Louis Blues,” Del McCoury and his band playing “Quicksburg Rendezvous,” and the legendary guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli performing Prince with pianist and singer Tony DeSare. Guy Noir chases around after a nefarious baseball player named Louie Spitui, the pastor’s daughter, Erin Bode, sings “Be Still My Soul,” and the story of one naive 13-year-old Wobegonian’s eye-opening train trip to the Gateway City. The link posts to our Garrison Keillor Facebook page at 5 p.m. CT. But if you simply cannot wait until then, use the link below. Listen to the show >>>
Follow our Facebook page>>> When Del McCoury was growing up in York County, Pennsylvania, he learned music from his mother, Hazel, a church organist who also played guitar, piano and harmonica. And he never missed a chance to tune in to the Grand Ole Opry. But when his older brother bought a 78-rpm record of Flatt and Scruggs, that sealed the deal. Del started playing bluegrass and, a half-century later, has never looked back. In 1963, Bill Monroe asked McCoury to join his band, The Blue Grass Boys. Del played guitar and sang lead vocals with Monroe and traveled with him for a year before quitting the band and getting married. After a brief stint in California with the Golden State Boys, McCoury ended up back in Pennsylvania, working at a sawmill and playing music on weekends. As his boys got older, they began playing with their dad in his band, the Dixie Pals. Ronnie joined the band in 1981 and Rob followed in 1988. The Del McCoury Band formed in the early 1990s. The group has won numerous honors from the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA), including being named Entertainer of the Year. His most recent album, Almost Proud, is a collection of songs sent to him over the decades from songwriters around the world — and assembled during his COVID lockdown. Listen to “All Aboard” >>> Singer and pianist Tony DeSare and guitar legend Bucky Pizzarelli were born 50 years apart, but in 2002, when the two met at a performance at the historic Apollo Theater, they hit it off and continued to worked together off and on for many years. DeSare's career began while he was still in college. He has played major jazz rooms from Birdland to the Blue Note to the Café Carlyle, and concert halls across the U.S., Australia, and Asia. His most recent project is a series of albums called Song Diaries. At 17, Bucky Pizzarelli joined the Vaughn Monroe dance band. He went on to be a staff musician for NBC and later ABC. In addition to his solo career, he toured with Benny Goodman and played with the biggest names in popular music. Listen to “Memories of You” >>> Erin Bode remembers the day her dad, a Lutheran minister, came home and asked if she wanted to join the church's cherub choir. “At five years old, it was one of the biggest thrills of my life,” she says. All through her school years in the Minneapolis suburb of Wayzata, Erin was a self-described “music geek.” “I was the only one,” she recalls, “who was excited when we took field trips to Orchestra Hall!” The family moved to St. Louis when Erin was 15. In high school, she discovered jazz and big-band music and studied trumpet. She took a degree in music from Webster University, and continued to live in the St. Louis area. These days, she appears in clubs and at festivals across the country and beyond. Her most recent album is YourSong, Vol. 1. Listen to “Time after Time” >>> | 