A Prairie Home Companion from American Public Media

Special Guests
Saturday, September 10, 2005

Frigg

Frigg, a seven-piece group with heritage from Finland and Norway, combines elements of their respective folk traditions with touches of Appalachian and C&W. Some are members of the best-known fiddle family in Finland, founders of the celebrated group JPP; others are part of a comparable Norwegian Hardanger fiddle clan. Frigg is Alina Järvelä (fiddle), Esko Järvelä (fiddle), Antti Järvelä (double bass, fiddle), Einar Olav Larsen (fiddle, Hardanger fiddle), Petri Prauda (cittern, mandolin), Tuomas Logren (guitar, dobro), and Tommi Asplund (fiddle). Their latest recording is Oasis (Northside Records). After dazzling Scandinavian audiences with their innovative arrangements, this exciting young band is now out to win followers in North America. No problem.

Peter Ostroushko

Mandolinist Peter Ostroushko is an ace instrumentalist and accomplished composer. He's played with everyone under the sun, from the Kremlin Chamber Orchestra and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra to Bob Dylan and Chet Atkins, and he's released a dozen CDs. The latest is Minnesota: A history of the land (Red House), Peter's original score for a public television special. As Jethro Burns once said, "Go out of your way to see Pete."

Prudence Johnson

Her 25-year career in music has taken her from nightclubs and honky-tonks to Carnegie Hall, from the theater stage to the Silver Screen (Robert Redford's A River Runs Through It), from the Midwest to the Middle East. She is a regularly featured guest on Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion, heard across the country on public radio stations. Her ten album releases include Little Dreamer, a collection of international lullabies, Moon Country, which features the music of Hoagy Carmichael, and S'Gershwin, a collaboration with pianist Dan Chouinard. She recently collaborated with four Minnesota composers to create A Girl Named Vincent, a presentation of the poetry of Edna St. Vincent Millay set to music, to be released on CD this year. She is a 2001 recipient of the McKnight Artists Fellowship for Performing Musicians and enjoys a steady schedule of concert appearances across the country.