Show #1466

October 4, 2014

Home on the River

Fitzgerald Theater

Saint Paul, MN

This week, we’re back with a live broadcast from our home base, the Fitzgerald Theater in Saint Paul, Minnesota. With special guests, the world-class bluegrass of The Gibson Brothers, and feel-good folksinger Ellis. Also with us, the Royal Academy of Radio Actors, Tim Russell, Sue Scott, and Fred Newman; musical director Richard Dworsky and The October Boys (Richard Kriehn on mandolin and fiddle, Dean Magraw on guitar, Chris Brown on drums, and Todd Parks on bass); and the latest News from Lake Wobegon.

Audio from the show

Listen to the complete show

Listen to the show in individual segments

Audio Highlights: "They Called it Music" — The Gibson Brothers | 2015 Cruise Announcement | "I've Got a Thing for You" — Ellis

Garrison Keillor’s monologue, The News from Lake Wobegon, is available for download and as a podcast.

Music Information

Performers, Show Rundown, Music Information & Credits

Videos from the show

"Mambo Inn"

Marathon

Guy Noir

"They Called it Music" — The Gibson Brothers

"Rat Catcher"

The Lives of the Cowboys

"B'Sefer Chayim"

Garrison talks with Jeff Forester

SFX

"I've Got a Thing for You" — Ellis

Cruise

Café Boeuf

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Watch all the videos on our YouTube channel »

Photos from the show

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Scripts

Guest Information

The Gibson Brothers

In the 10 years since the Gibson Brothers, recorded their first album, siblings Eric and Leigh Gibson have been honored with the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Entertainer of the Year Award — twice! Raised on a dairy farm near Ellenburg Depot, New York, the two started playing an old banjo and guitar their father had. Soon they were performing their music in church, and these days they are tops when it comes to brother duos in bluegrass. Their latest CD is They Called It Music (Compass Records). The band: Eric Gibson (banjo), Leigh Gibson (guitar), Mike Barber (bass), Clayton Campbell (fiddle), Jesse Brock (mandolin).

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Ellis

Described by one reviewer as a “smart writer with a unique folk/rock style,” Ellis is a Texas native who moved to Minneapolis at the age of 16 and quickly built a strong local following singing at open mics. She also quickly dropped her often-mispronounced last name (Bergeron). Now, with a catalog of eight albums since the mid-1990s, word of this talented folk musician has spread nationwide. The most recent of Ellis’ recordings is her 2013 three-CD set, Wherever You Are. It’s on the Singing Crow label.

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Garrison Keillor

Garrison Keillor was born in Anoka, graduated from the University of  Minnesota (’66), and lives in St. Paul. He is the author of numerous books,   including Pilgrims: A Wobegon Romance; O, What A Luxury: Verses Lyrical, Vulgar, Pathetic & Profound (Grove Press); and The Keillor Reader (Viking). He is also the editor of the Good Poems anthologies.

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The October Boys — October 4, 2014

Richard Dworsky
Keyboardist, composer, and arranger Richard Dworsky is music director for A Prairie Home Companion, where he is often called upon to improvise on the spot — in styles ranging from classical to bluegrass and everything in between. He has accompanied Garrison Keillor on U.S. and European concert tours and has collaborated with numerous other performers, including Al Jarreau and Kristin Chenoweth.

Chris Brown
Originally from Albuquerque, drummer Chris Brown has been one of the most sought-after drummers in the South since he arrived in Nashville — via New York — more than a decade ago. He has recorded and played with numerous musicians, including jazz pianist Beegie Adair and mandolin ace Sam Bush.

Richard Kriehn
When Richard Kriehn turned 10, his mom bought him a mandolin; at 19, he’d won the Buck White International Mandolin Contest. He went on to play with the Nashville Mandolin Ensemble and bluegrass group 1946. On the classical side, he has performed with numerous orchestras and was principal second violin for the Washington/Idaho Symphony.

Dean Magraw
Guitarist Dean Magraw studied at the University of Minnesota and the Berklee School of Music in Boston. His first recording, 1994’s Broken Silence, won the NAIRD award for Best Acoustic Instrumental Album of the Year. Dean has since turned out an array of dazzling albums. For his latest, he joined forces with Hungarian guitarist Sándor Szabó to produce Reservoir (Acoustic Music Records).

Todd Parks
Bassist Todd Parks has toured and recorded with the Jerry Douglas Band, the Sam Bush Band, the Nashville Jazz Orchestra, and others. Born and raised in Atlanta, he earned his undergraduate and Master’s degrees in String Performance and Jazz Studies from the University of Tennessee (Knoxville), where he also taught as an adjunct professor.

Tim Russell

One minute he’s mild-mannered Tim Russell; the next he’s George Bush or Julia Child or Barack Obama. We’ve yet to stump this man of many voices. Says fellow APHC actor Sue Scott, “He does a better Ira Glass than Ira Glass.” A well-known Twin Cities radio personality and voice actor, Tim appeared in the Robert Altman film A Prairie Home Companion and the Coen brothers’ A Serious Man.

Tim has also been reviewing films professionally for over 10 years.

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Sue Scott

On APHC, Sue Scott plays everything from ditzy teenagers to Guy Noir stunners to leathery crones who’ve smoked one pack of Camel straights too many. The Tucson, Arizona, native is well known for her extensive commercial and voice-over work on radio and television, as well as stage and movie roles, including the part of “Donna” in Robert Altman’s A Prairie Home Companion.

Website

Fred Newman

Sound effects man Fred Newman is an actor, writer, musician, and sound designer for film and TV. Turns out, no one is more surprised than Fred that he’s made a career out of doing what he used to do behind the teacher’s back —crossing his eyes, making sounds, and doing voices. He readily admits that, growing up, he was unceremoniously removed from several classrooms, “once by my bottom lip.”

Website

Previous Show

September 27, 2014

Ridin' the River Home

Väsen, Chris Thile, Chic Gamine

Next Show

October 11, 2014

Hear the Wind Howl

Leo Kottke, Suzy Bogguss

40th Anniversary

Send a greeting — Have A Prairie Home Companion‘s host, musicians, cast and crew been a part of your Saturday nights over the years? Send us a note and we’ll share your messages online throughout our 40th Anniversary season!

Memories Through the Decades — See a timeline of the show’s memorable milestones

Join us at the Fitz! — Enter to win a travel prize package to attend a Spring 2015 show in Saint Paul

The News from Lake Wobegon on TuneIn

Now you can listen to a 24/7 stream of News from Lake Wobegon monologues on TuneIn!

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