February 15, 2003 rebroadcast with Old Crow Medicine Show, Suzy Bogguss, Tommy Emmanuel, and Sam Bush

Breathing new life into "old-timey" music, Old Crow Medicine Show is made up of six artists from all over the country, with musical influences steeped in many different cultures. They bring it all together to play songs from some of the earliest folk traditions of American music, tunes from Jug bands and traveling shows, back porches and dance halls, from the southern Appalachians to the Tejano sounds of South Texas. The band's style, described as "rollicking" and "punkified," turns music that is decades, even centuries old, and turns it into something that has never before been heard on this earth. Old Crow Medicine Show was born in the summer of 1998 when its six members met in upstate New York and decided to travel westward in the spirit of old time traveling medicine shows and minstrel acts. They traveled ten thousand miles in three months, playing in countless theaters, schools, and honkytonks, and ended up on the western shores of Canada. The band then packed up the instruments and took its music to the Southern Appalachians, the birthplace of old time string music. In the mountains they had a truly "hands-on" experience--learning old ways of farming and music making, playing with some of the finest old-time musicians still around, making their own instruments, and raising a sheep named Daisy, and a pig named Jasmine. They have since moved to Nashville, Tennessee and perform frequently at Opryland. The band opened for Dolly Parton at the Ryman Auditorium for the taping of a CBS special, and has appeared in several documentaries including PBS's American Roots Music series; In the Valley Where Time Stands Still, a film about the history of the Renfro Valley Barndance; and Bluegrass Journey--a portrait of the contemporary Bluegrass scene. Old Crow Medicine Show is Ketch Secor (vocals, fiddle, harmonica), Willie Watson (vocals, guitar), Critter Fuqua (banjo, slide guitar, vocals) Kevin Hayes (guitjo) and Morgan Jahnig (doghouse bass).

Suzy Bogguss never sneaks up on a note, according to her friend and mentor, the late Chet Atkins. But she'll sneak up on you. She joined the church choir at age five and began to play the piano at the urging of her musical mother. When her older siblings began playing the drums, Suzy followed suit and continued through high school. As a teenager, she also started playing guitar and bought her first 12-string with the money she earned from babysitting. When she was starting out, Bogguss toured in a camper with her dog, striking deals with tavern owners. During the day, she would advertise for the tavern with posters she had made if she would be allowed to play there that night. Her strategy worked and she performed often. Suzy moved to Nashville in 1985 and paid the bills by singing demos by day and performing three nights a week at a local rib joint. Bogguss now has an impressive body of work to show for her efforts, including an album for nearly every year of her career. She was named Top New Female Vocalist 1989 by the Academy of Country music and, in 1992, she won the Horizon Award given by the Country Music Association. She has attended the Grammys as a nominee (for "Hopelessly Yours," a vocal collaboration with Lee Greenwood, and "Teach Your Children" with Kathy Mattea and Alison Krauss), has appeared on the Tonight Show and has even hosted The TNN/Music City News Awards show. Bogguss formed her own record company in 2001 as well as realizing her long-time ambition of making a Christmas album, Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas (Loyal Dutchess Records). She has recently begun work on another dream of hers, a swing album produced by Ray Benson, frontman for western swing icons Asleep At The Wheel. It is tentatively scheduled for release in the spring of 2003.

Growing up as child prodigy in Australia during the 1960s, Tommy Emmanuel and his brother Phil formed their own bands like The Emmanuel Quartet, The Midget Safaries and The railblazers. He started his session career during the 70s and some of his most notable appearances were on the Air Supply hit singles "Lost in Love," All Out of Love," "Every Woman in the World" and "Now and Forever." His presence was felt in the United States with his album Midnight Drive (Higher Octave Music) was in the top five for sixteen weeks. This made him the "most added artist" on the NAC radio charts in 1997. In Nashville in 1999, he received the Certified Guitar Player award for his contribution to finger style guitar and his versatility has taken him from international jazz festivals to special events at the Sydney Opera House and The Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. His talent has even led him to perform for the King of Thailand and the Australian Prime Minister. Since discovering the guitar as a child, he has steadily achieved every one of his ambitions including recording his own compositions, playing drums in a band, playing concert halls and jamming with his idol Chet Atkins. Emmanuel sees his career as a journey of discovery, eschews being pinned down and thrives on doing things simply because he has never done them before. The Very Best of Tommy Emmanuel was released by Sony Music in 2001.

Sam Bush made his recording debut in 1969 at the age of 17 with Poor Richard's Almanac. He had already held the title of National Junior Fiddle Champion for three consecutive years. Two years later, Bush founded New Grass Revival, a band that spent 18 years challenging preconceived notions of traditional bluegrass instruments by fusing a wide range of styles that included gospel, rock, pop, reggae, jazz, country, and bluegrass. In 1989, after releasing ten albums, NGR disbanded. Bush went on to lead Emmylou Harris' Nash Ramblers for five years, and has since toured with Bela Fleck & The Flecktones and Lyle Lovett. He released his first solo project, Late As Usual (Rounder Records), in 1987, and has since recorded Glamour & Grits and Howlin' at the Moon, both on Sugar Hill Records. Bush has also played mandolin, fiddle, and guitar on recordings with Leon Russell, Doc Watson, Steve Earle, Garth Brooks, Steve Wariner, Trisha Yearwood, and Pam Tillis, among others. He is also featured on Short Trip Home (Sony Classics) with classical artists Joshua Bell and Edgar Meyer. The recording of compositions by Meyer received a Grammy nomination for Best Classical Crossover Album. He is the only artist who has performed in 26 of the 27 Telluride Bluegrass Festivals and has become the "cosmic glue" that has defined the festival's maverick spirit from the very start. Culled from performances through the 1990s, his latest CD, Ice Caps: Peaks of Telluride (Sugar Hill, 2000), makes it abundantly clear why he is regarded so highly at the festival. He joins the Shoe Band this evening.

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, arranger, and longtime Prairie Home Companion music director Richard Dworsky has collaborated with such diverse musicians as Yo-Yo Ma, James Taylor, Brad Paisley, Kristin Chenoweth, and Sheryl Crow. He has provided music for documentaries on HBO and PBS, and has released many recordings of original material, including his latest, All In Due Time.
Chet Atkins called Pat Donohue (guitar) one of the greatest fingerpickers in the world today. And he writes songs too -- recorded by Suzy Bogguss, Kenny Rogers, and others. Blue Yonder and Vicksburg Blues (a collaboration with Butch Thompson) are the most recent of Pat's albums.
Gary Raynor (bass) has performed with the Count Basie band, Sammy Davis Jr. -- with whom he toured for several years -- and the Minnesota Klezmer Band. He teaches jazz bass at the McNally Smith College of Music in St. Paul.
Arnie Kinsella hails from Staten Island, and holds a B.A. in percussion performance from Brooklyn College. In addition to his tenure on A Prairie Home Companion, he has performed with Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks, and has recorded and performed with The Manhattan Rhythm Kings, and Leon Redbone.

Mild-mannered Tim Russell one minute -- Obama, Trump, or myriad others the next. It's almost impossible to stump this man of many voices. Says fellow Prairie Home Companion 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."