A Prairie Home Companion: May 21, 2005

Special Guests
Saturday, May 21, 2005

The Wailin' Jennys

They were three solo acts brought together for a show at a shop in Winnipeg called Sled Dog Music, on a cold night in January of 2002. The collaboration was a great success, surprising everyone including themselves. The owner of the place quickly scheduled another performance, also received with much enthusiasm, and he offered that they might go on tour and call themselves the Wailin' Jennys. They did that, booked some shows, and within a month people were calling them "a bona fide Canadian sensation." They showcased at the North American Folk Alliance in February and in no time had a full summer schedule. They toured for two years and recorded an album titled 40 Days in April of 2004, which won critical praise and an Outstanding Roots Album award. From here they leave for a tour of British Columbia: The Capitol Theatre in Nelson, the K Festival in Keremeos, the Miners Hall in Rossland, the Memorial Hall in Harrison, and the Dream Cafe in Penticton.

Aly Bain

Aly Bain, MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire), holds four doctorates in Britain and is an Honorary Citizen of quite a few U.S. cities, none of which has detracted from his being regarded as Scotland's supreme traditional fiddler. He was a founding member of the Boys of the Lough, has toured the world many times over and played on dozens of albums. He is also in demand as a producer and a collaborator, and he has his own label, Whirlie Records.

Ale Möller

Ale Möller is another of the leading figures in Swedish traditional music. He was a founding member of the influential and ground-breaking band Filarfolket in the 80's, and his energy and multi-instrument virtuosity continue to mark bands and recordings in the "new Nordic folk" genre today. His current seven-piece band is a fusion of many world music influences, generated first by an early fascination with American jazz and from there into Greek folk music; then back into the varied traditional music of his own country.

Ben Sanders

He is a two-time Wisconsin State Fiddle Champion, 2003 and 2004, held at the State Fair in West Allis. He's a junior at Pius XI High School in Milwaukee, has been playing since he was four and is now the concertmaster of the Milwaukee Youth Symphony.

He is a member of the Blue Eagle Bluegrass Band and has his own Béla Fleck-style newgrass band called String 'Em Up; he also plays fiddle and guitar in a rock band called the Lobsters.

His other primary diversion is racing bicycles; road racing like Lance Armstrong, and is currently sidelined with non-career-threatening injury.

John Niemann

He got started in music at the right time and place, and for the right reasons; he was in high school and there were girls there. He began with Leo Fender's gift to the world, the electric bass, and started a rock and roll band. In college he discovered acoustic music on the West Bank in Minneapolis and learned the guitar, fiddle and mandolin, eventually finding himself playing the mandocello in Peter Ostroushko's band, the Mando Boys. He played kicking-butt fiddle for seven years in the Stoney Lonesome bluegrass band, did a number of guitar gigs with various honkytonk bands around the cities, and for three years was in "the house band at a place called Billy Bob's, or something," at Riverplace. After years spent as a road musician and working in construction, he has settled into the relatively quiet St Paul life of a finish carpenter. He keeps his music honed with jam sessions in the basement.