A Prairie Home Companion: October 18, 2003

Special Guests
Saturday, October 18, 2003

Although TOMMY EMMANUEL's following in the United States is still growing, he is a household name in his home country of Australia. He has been described by the late Chet Atkins as "one of the greatest players on the planet." In 1999 he was presented with the award of Certified Guitar Player (CPG) by Mr. Atkins. The following year, he performed at the Closing Ceremonies of the Olympic Games in Sydney. He has recorded four platinum and three gold albums, and his compositions have also been recorded by such artists as Olivia Newton-John, Al Jarreau, and Sheena Easton. The Very Best of Tony Emmanuel was released by Sony Music in 2001, and his most recent CD is the solo acoustic album ONLY.

Storyteller/Folksinger UTAH PHILLIPS has been described as the "Golden Voice of the Great Southwest." He came by his vocation honestly: by running away from home as a teenager and riding the rails. He taught himself to play the ukulele and guitar, wrote songs about his experiences, and collected a vast stockpile of tales and stories. He has been a member and fierce supporter of Industrial Workers of the World union for over forty years. He is a Grand Duke of Hobos, a veteran of the Korean War, and a perennial United State Presidential candidate on the Sloth & Indolence ticket. In recent years, he has remained active as a performer, and has worked with such artists as Spider John Koerner and Ani DiFranco.

AL FRANKEN was a member of Saturday Night Live's writing staff when the show premiered in 1975, and he frequently appeared onscreen as a "Weekend Update" correspondent. He left the show in 1980 and returned in 1985 for 10 more years, during which he created the one-man satellite uplink and the character Stuart Smalley. He left the show again in 1995 after winning five Emmys. He is the author of several satirical works of fiction and non-fiction, including Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot and Other Observations; a book of advice called Oh, the Things I Know!; the screenplay for the movie Stuart Saves his Family; and, with Ron Bass, the screenplay for When a Man Loves a Woman. He grew up in St. Louis Park and is a graduate of Harvard College; currently, he lives with his wife and two children in New York City. His latest book is the number one New York Times bestseller Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right.