Special Guests

Special Guests
Saturday, March 29, 1997

Greg Brown's mother played electric guitar, his grandfather played banjo, and his father was a Holy Roller preacher in the Hacklebarney section of Iowa where the Gospel and music are a way of life. Brown's first professional singing job came at age 18 in New York City, running hootenannies (folksinger get-togethers) at the legendary Gerdes Folk City. After a year, Brown moved west to Los Angeles and Las Vegas, where he was a ghostwriter for Buck Ram, founder of the Platters. Tired of the fast-paced life, Brown traveled with a band for a few years, and even quit playing for awhile before he moved back to Iowa and began writing songs and playing in midwestern clubs and coffeehouses. Brown's songwriting has been lauded by many, and his songs have been performed by Willie Nelson, Carlos Santana, Michael Johnson, Shawn Colvin and Mary Chapin Carpenter. He has also recorded nearly a dozen albums, including his 1986 release, Songs of Innocence and of Experience, when he put aside his own songwriting to set poems of William Blake to music. Brown's most current recording is Further In, on Red House Records.

The New York Times says that Diana Krall "promises to become one of the most significant voices carrying on a classic vocal tradition." Krall grew up in a musical family in Nanaimo, British Columbia. A great-great-aunt of hers played the New York vaudeville circuit, and her father is a record and sheet-music collector. From her dad's collection, young Diana heard music from the earliest days of recording-via wax cylinders and 78s of opera, classical, and jazz galore-the Paul Whiteman Orchestra, Thelonious Monk, and lots of Fats Waller, who was the family's favorite musician. At age four, Krall began studying classical piano, but turned toward jazz during high school after being in a jazz band led by her high-school band teacher, a former professional bass-player. In the early '80s, Krall earned a music scholarship to the prestigious Berklee College of Music, where she studied for a year and a half. She came back to Nanaimo, where she kept up with the local jazz scene and ended up meeting and becoming friends with drummer Jeff Hamilton and bass great Ray Brown as they came through town. Brown, who's done much to further Krall's career, encouraged her to move to Los Angeles. A Canadian Arts Council grant allowed her to go to L.A., where she studied with pianist Jimmy Rowles and others. After three years in L.A., Krall moved to her current home base, New York City. She's made three recordings, the most recent of which is All For You (Impulse Records), a dedication to the Nat King Cole Trio. Performing with Krall tonight are Russell Malone (guitar) and Neal Caine (bass).

Kate MacKenzie has been a favorite guest of A Prairie Home Companion since 1981. For many years, she was lead singer of Stoney Lonesome, with whom she recorded six bluegrass albums, toured Japan and North America, and was featured in the public television series, Showcase. With the Hopeful Gospel Quartet, MacKenzie has recorded a live album from Carnegie Hall, performed at folk festivals in Scotland and Denmark, and performed on PBS' Austin City Limits. Her work with A Prairie Home Companion has included coast-to-coast tours, farewell and reunion shows, 20 Disney Channel television broadcasts, the 1993 Book of Guys tour, and a recurring dramatic role as Sheila, the Christian Jungle girl (wild, yet pure). Her first solo album, Let Them Talk (Red House Records), was on the National Bluegrass Charts for 10 months. A new album, Age of Innocence (Red House), was released last fall. MacKenzie's success was noted in The New York Times, which grouped MacKenzie in "the new wave of strong female voices."

Robin and Linda Williams have been frequent guests on A Prairie Home Companion since 1976. They performed on the second and third Prairie Home Companion Reunion Tours and on A Prairie Home Companion's broadcasts from Carnegie Hall, Radio City Music Hall, and the Universal Amphitheater. Beyond A Prairie Home Companion, the Williamses have made numerous television appearances: on the Nashville Network's Fire on the Mountain, Nashville Now, and Music City Tonight. And the duo has been heard on other nationwide radio programs: the Grand Ole Opry has welcomed Robin and Linda Williams as guests, as have Mountain Stage and NPR's All Things Considered. With 12 recordings and three musicals to their credit, they are considered to be among the finest songwriters in the folk-country tradition. Their most recent albums include: Sugar for Sugar, on the Sugar Hill label; and Robin and Linda Williams and Their Fine Group-Live, Sugar Hill's re-release of Strictly Country Records' recording, Live in Holland. Last year, Robin and Linda Williams released a new gospel album, Good News (Sugar Hill). The pair's harmonies can be also heard on Mary Chapin Carpenter's album, Stones in the Road, and on Iris DeMent's Warner Bros. recording, My Life. As part of the Hopeful Gospel Quartet, the duo recorded a live album from Carnegie Hall (produced by Chet Atkins, on Sony Records), toured across the United States and Europe, and been featured on PBS' Austin City Limits.