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Special Guests EMMYLOU HARRIS was born in Birmingham, Alabama, and grew up in North Carolina and Virginia. She began playing the guitar at sixteen, and eventually left college to pursue a career in music. After recording her first album in 1969, Harris joined forces with Gram Parsons. They made two albums together, GP and Grievous Angel. After Parsons' death in 1973, Harris formed her own band, signed with Warner Bros. Records, and began making albums that encompassed her own vision of what country music ought to be. Her first Warner album, Pieces of the Sky, contained "Boulder to Birmingham," a lament for Parsons. The success of Pieces enabled Harris to continue writing songs that stood apart from much of the music coming out of Nashville in the late 1970s. By the mid-'80s, Harris had formed her famous Hot Band and made several albums, including Elite Hotel, but a serious bronchial infection led to an abrupt change in the direction of her career: No longer willing to sing over electric instruments, she broke up the Hot Band and created an acoustic unit, the Nash Ramblers. Their first album, the Grammy Award-winning At the Ryman, was recorded at the auditorium that used to house the Grand Ole Opry. Its mix of rock, country, traditional, and bluegrass elements is typical of Harris' eclecticism. Her latest album, Spyboy, was recorded live during her 1997 tour and presents works from her many albums, with an Afro-Celtic overlay. Harris is a member of the Grand Ole Opry, and she has served as President of the Country Music Foundation. She is joined tonight by Spyboy producer Buddy Miller (guitar/vocals) and Julie Miller (percussion/vocals). Since 1986, THE KLEZMATICS have played soul-stirring Jewish roots music, concocting klezmer in arrangements and compositions that combine Jewish identity and mysticism with a contemporary zeitgeist and a post-modern aesthetic. Their first recording, Shvagyn=Toyt (Yiddish for "Silence=Death") was released on Piranha Records in 1989. Since then, they have recorded Rhythm and Jews (Flying Fish/Rounder Records), Jews with Horns (Xenophile/Green Linnet Records), and most recently, Possessed (Xenophile), which features music excerpted from their score for Tony Kushner's adaptation of The Dybbuk. The band has appeared on television on Great Performances, Late Night with David Letterman, CBS Nightwatch, Fox TV's After Breakfast, and MTV News. Judith Helfand's documentary, A Healthy Baby Girl, which premiered on PBS in June, features an original Klezmatics score. The band's members are Alicia Svigals (violin), Lorin Sklamberg (accordion/vocals/keyboards), Paul Morrissett (bass/tsimbl), Frank London (trumpet/keyboards), David Licht (drums), and Matt Darriau (clarinet/saxophone). They are joined tonight by vocalist CHAVA ALBERSTEIN. Born in Poland, Alberstein moved to Israel when she was four years old. She is now recognized as one of that country's most important musicians. She has recorded nearly 50 albums, most in Hebrew, but also six in Yiddish, and an English album of standards ranging from Gershwin to Lennon and McCartney. Her most recent release, Crazy Flower: A Collection, is a greatest-hits album and her first U.S. release ever. Chava Alberstein and The Klezmatics' new album, The Well (Xenophile Records), features 20th-century Yiddish poetry set to music composed by Alberstein, with arrangements by The Klezmatics. The Klezmatics and Chava Alberstein will appear at the Lisner Auditorium in Washington, D.C. on December 20. |
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An Interview with Heather Masse
In a 2009 interview, Heather Masse tells us about her earliest influences, auditioning in a women's bathroom, and a few memorable moments from A Prairie Home Companion.
Old Sweet Songs: A Prairie Home Companion 1974-1976
Lovingly selected from the earliest archives of A Prairie Home Companion, this heirloom collection represents the music from earliest years of the now legendary show: 1974–1976. With songs and tunes from jazz pianist Butch Thompson, mandolin maestro Peter Ostroushko, Dakota Dave Hull and the first house band, The Powdermilk Biscuit Band (Adam Granger, Bob Douglas and Mary DuShane).
