Puttin' on the Style

From possums to pico de gallo, Western swing to Whataburger, singer-songwriter Stephanie Davis finds much to love about her new home in the Texas Hill Country. After happily donating her snow shovel to Goodwill, the former Montanan now spends her days in shorts and flip-flops, often strumming a guitar and scribbling song ideas beneath her very own fig tree. Her recordings include Crocus in the Snow and Western Bling, both on Recluse Records.

Mandolinist, composer, arranger Peter Ostroushko, who made his first Prairie Home Companion appearance in 1974, grew up listening to tunes played at family get-togethers in the Ukrainian community of northeast Minneapolis. It's the music that provides the basis for many of his compositions - works that have been performed by the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and the Kremlin Chamber Orchestra, among others. Peter won an Emmy for the score of Minnesota: A History of the Land (Twin Cities Public Television). His recent recordings include The Mando Chronicles (Red House).

Mike Dowling was raised in central Wisconsin and began his professional musical career in high school. He had spent a lot of time playing along with his parents' records; he recruited a couple of friends into an electric guitar band, never expecting that it would lead someday to playing with the likes of Joe Venuti and Vassar Clements. He worked at it, ultimately moving to Nashville and becoming a sideman, a session player, band leader, a solo act and a composer. He had a string of song-writing successes in his ten years in the Music City, tunes recorded by Emmylou Harris, the Nashville Bluegrass Band, Tim O'Brien, Kathy Mattea, Claire Lynch and Del McCoury; he and his wife Jan wrote a #1 hit for Canadian country artist George Fox. And he's recorded three instructional videos on the Homespun label. His fourth CD album, String Crazy, was released in 2000. The Dowlings moved to DuBois, Wyoming, in the fall of 1996, where he set up Wind River Guitar in their home, a school for master instruction in fingerstyle, flatpicking and slide guitar. He is still composing music and still touring; he'll be in England for most of the month of April. He has received high praise from a lot of places: Vassar Clements said "Mike's one of the finest guitar players there is, anywhere," and Jethro Burns said: "I don't play guitar when Mike's in the band. You don't take the game warden fishing."