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Special Guests Charlie Acuff and The Lantana Drifters are an old-time string band from east Tennessee. Charlie and his brother Gale got their start in 1938 in a band that played a 6:00 a.m. radio program on WROL radio in Knoxville. The two learned to play as youngsters in a household where their father made fiddles as a hobby (he made 36 during his lifetime). When Charlie was 12 years old, his grandfather taught him to play the fiddle. At the same time, his father's sister was teaching Gale to play the guitar. Five decades later, in 1989, Charlie became the fiddler for the Lantana Drifters. They won first place at the Knoxville Dogwood Arts Festival, and he's been with them ever since. The Lantana Drifters first got together in 1978, playing in the garage at the home of Edd and Audine Webb. They have since played at festivals all around Tennessee, taking first place in the old-time band competition in Smithville, Tennessee, five times. The Lantana Drifters: Gale Acuff (guitar), Audine Webb (washboard), Paul Lewis (bass), Willis Fields (banjo), and Edd Webb (flatfoot dancing). 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 in 1996 followed it with Glamour & Grits (Sugar Hill). His latest CD is Howlin' at the Moon, also on Sugar Hill. He 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. Performing with Bush tonight is Jeff Autry on guitar. Bob Douglas was born in Sequatchie College,Tennessee, in 1900. As a child, he moved around quite a bit, helping his tenant-farmer father cut and shock corn fodder, and running trap lines to catch skunks and raccoons. When he was 17, he began playing guitar with his father and a cousin, who were in high demand at square dances in the area. They played up and down the mountains, walking all the way, and sometimes being gone two or three weeks at a time. He wanted to be a fiddler like his dad, but his father discouraged him so the group wouldn't lose its guitar player. Douglas picked up his dad's fiddle whenever he set it down and learned a few tunes. In 1928, his father retired and gave Douglas his fiddle, telling him to go ahead and play. He did just that, winning his first fiddling competition in September of that year. He went on to win many more contests, and in 1928, he made a recording with the Allen Brothers on the Victor label (his next record wouldn't be released until 42 years later). Along the way, he collaborated with legendary fiddlers such as Lowe Stokes and Clayton McMichen. Then, in the early '40s, he formed the Foggy Mountain Boys, which included the Louvin Brothers-still in their teens. Douglas remained one of Chattanooga's most active country musicians for the next forty years. Now in his hundredth year, he's still winning fiddling contests. Joining Douglas tonight are Bob Fulcher on banjo and Mike DeFoshe on guitar.
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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).
