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Special Guests Keb' Mo' was born Kevin Moore and was raised in South Central Los Angeles. He grew up on music of the Baptist church and the contemporary R&B and blues of the 1960s. His first professional experience was in a top 40 club band, from which he was recruited by ex-Jefferson Starship blues vocalist and violinist Papa John Creach. The three years he spent with Papa John were his entree into the Southern California blues scene. Moore's talent as a songwriter earned him a job as a contractor and arranger at A&M Studios, and in 1980, he released his first solo album, Rainmaker. In 1990, he was offered the part of a Delta bluesman in the Los Angeles Theater Center production of Rabbit Foot, which inspired him to begin serious study of country blues recordings and related guitar techniques. At about the same time, while sitting in on a variety of club dates in and around L.A., a drummer friend, Quentin Dennard, gave him his nom de bleu, Keb' Mo'. Moore has performed at some of the world's leading music festivals, including the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, the Chicago Blues Festival, and the Montreux Jazz Festival. Television appearances include The Late Show with David Letterman, The Rosie O'Donnell Show, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, Sessions at West 54th, and Touched By An Angel. His music has been featured in major motion pictures such as Tin Cup, One Fine Day, and Madeline. His second album, Just Like You, won the 1996 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album. His latest release, 1998's Slow Down, was recently nominated for a Grammy in the same category. Twin Cities audiences will recall Moore's original music for the Guthrie Theater's 1997 production of Thunder Knocking on the Door. Keb' Mo' will perform at the Guthrie Theater on Monday, March 15. Butch Thompson is well-remembered for his 12-year run as the house pianist on A Prairie Home Companion, dating back to the show's second broadcast in July 1974. In 1978, The Butch Thompson Trio was formed for the show and remained the house band until 1986. Thompson's interest in jazz began during his childhood in Marine-on-St. Croix, Minnesota, where he discovered the piano at age three. As a teenager, he led his first band (Shirt Thompson and his Sleeves), and played his first professional engagements on both piano and clarinet. In 1962, he joined the Hall Brothers New Orleans Jazz Band on clarinet and began a series of pilgrimages to New Orleans, where he studied with clarinetist George Lewis and became one of the few non-Orleanians to guest occasionally at Preservation Hall. By the early '70s, his recordings on both instruments were noticed abroad, and he toured Europe and Australia. Thompson's first recording, Butch Thompson Plays Jelly Roll Morton Piano Solos, has been re-issued as a Biograph CD, and he recently released the ninth CD in his acclaimed solo series, Thompson Plays Joplin (on Daring/Rounder Records). As a soloist, Thompson has long been regarded as a leading traditional jazz musician. More recently, he has put together an eight-piece group called the New Orleans Jazz Originals. Joining Thompson's Jazz Originals tonight are: Charlie DeVore, cornet; Bill Evans, trombone; Vince Giordano, bass saxophone; Jeff Hamilton, drums; Duke Heitger, trumpet; Orange Kellin, clarinet; and Jimmy Mazzy, banjo. Molly Sue McDonald is an actor and singer from the Twin Cities. Theatergoers in the area have seen her in shows at the Cricket Theatre, Chanhassen Dinner Theatre, Nautilus Music Theater, and others. She has done several productions with the Plymouth Music Series, Northstar Opera Company, and Ex Machina Baroque Opera Company. On the concert stage, she has performed with the Minnesota Orchestra, the Columbus Symphony, and the South Dakota Symphony, to name a few. This is Molly's first appearance on A Prairie Home Companion.
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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).
