November 12, 2016 rebroadcast with Los Texmaniacs, The Carper Family, and Aoife O'Donovan

Los Texmaniacs take traditional conjunto sounds to another level, mixing in blues, R&B, and Texas rock. Max Baca, who founded the Grammy-winning group in 1997, calls it "hip music that everybody in the world can relate to." True enough; just ask audiences from San Antonio to Spain, Austin to Afghanistan. Their latest album is Texas Towns & Tex-Mex Sounds (Smithsonian Folkways). The band: Max Baca, bajo sexto; Joshua Baca, accordion and harmonica; Noel Hernandez, bass; Lorenzo Martinez, drums.

The Carper Family -- Melissa Carper (bass), Beth Chrisman (fiddle), and Jenn Miori (guitar) -- may not be blood kin, but this Austin-based trio bypasses the gene pool and creates a sister-worthy blend when applying their three-part harmony to bluegrass, old-time, country, and swing tunes. Since forming in 2010, the Carper Family has amassed fans across Texas and across the country. They've released three albums, most recently, 2013's Old-Fashioned Gal.

With her ethereal voice and substantive songwriting, Aoife O'Donovan captivates fans and critics alike. She was lead singer of the string band Crooked Still, and was a featured vocalist on The Goat Rodeo Sessions, the Grammy-winning album by Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer, and Chris Thile. Her own recordings include 2016's In the Magic Hour, follow-up to her critically acclaimed solo debut, Fossils. Her most recent release, Man In A Neon Coat: Live From Cambridge, is a collection of original songs and covers, recorded live at The Sinclair.

Raised in the Dallas area, Joy Tipping is now an arts writer and copy editor for The Dallas Morning News, where she has worked -- off and on -- since 1996. For the paper's Guide section, she reviews books and, on occasion, music, theater and movies. Her work has also appeared in many of the country's major newspapers and magazines. Joy is the author of two literary travel books -- Haunted City, about New Orleans, and Scarlett Slept Here: A Book Lover's Guide to the South.

Garrison Keillor was born in 1942 in Anoka, Minnesota. He went to work for Minnesota Public Radio in 1969, and on July 6, 1974, he hosted the first broadcast of A Prairie Home Companion in St. Paul. He is the host of The Writer's Almanac and the editor of the Good Poems series of anthologies from Viking.

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.
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.
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 drummer Erik Kamau Gravatt to produce Fire on the Nile (Red House Records).
Gary Raynor (bass) has performed with the Count Basie band and Sammy Davis Jr., with whom he toured for several years. He was first call for dozens of touring Broadway shows, including the first presentation of The Lion King. Gary teaches at the McNally Smith College of Music in St. Paul.

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.

Since 1992, Prairie Home fans have heard Sue Scott play everything from well-intentioned moms and ditzy teenagers to Guy Noir stunners and leathery crones who've smoked one pack of Camel straights too many. She recently climbed back on stage in a variety of theater roles. She is well known for her commercial and voice-over work on radio and television, as well as movie roles, including the part of "Donna" in Robert Altman's A Prairie Home Companion.

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."