A Prairie Home Companion from American Public Media

Special Guests
Saturday, October 21, 2006

Phil Heywood

Acoustic Guitar magazine once said Phil Heywood "may be the Midwest's best-kept secret," and clearly no one will ever accuse Phil of tooting his own horn. He really doesn't need to. When this unassuming fingerstyle player picks up a guitar, his quiet virtuosity is absolutely stunning. He has attracted fans coast to coast, and fellow guitarists hold him in high esteem. Originally from Mount Vernon, Iowa, Heywood has been based in Minneapolis-St. Paul since the mid-'80s. In 1986, he won the National Fingerpicking Championship, and the following year, he took first place in the American Fingerstyle Guitar Festival Competition. In addition to his solo gigs, he has played with Leo Kottke, Pat Donohue, Tim Sparks, and others. He has recorded four solo albums; the most recent is titled Banks of the River (Arabica).

John Koerner

Entertainment Weekly once wrote that "Spider" John Koerner "skipped stardom on his way to becoming a hero." Hero he is. John Koerner's folk and country blues style has influenced musicians from Bonnie Raitt to Bob Dylan, not to mention thousands of traditional music buffs who've been drawn to his singing, his guitar playing, and his humor for more than four decades. With Dave Ray and Tony Glover, Koerner was at the forefront of the 1960's folk-blues scene. Albums the trio did back then (Blues, Rags and Hollers, The Return of Koerner, Ray & Glover, etc.) are still favorites in the record collections of countless fans. John continues to put his distinctive spin on folk and blues songs -- familiar and obscure. His many solo albums include StarGeezer and Raised By Humans (Red House).

Dave Moore

One year, Iowa City native Dave Moore got a harmonica for Christmas. It turned out to be his ticket to a life in music. He's had other jobs -- after a couple of years of college, he traveled around and found employment as a fruit-picker, a plumber's assistant, a lumberyard worker and oil-rig worker -- but music is his calling. He reclaimed Iowa as home base, and for more than 20 years now, he has entertained audiences coast to coast with his singing, songwriting, button accordion, guitar, and harmonica. He made his first album, Juke Joints and Cantinas, after he won a folk festival singing contest. The prize was 12 hours in a Chicago recording studio. His latest CD is called Breaking Down to 3 (Red House).

Dan Neale

Dan Neale is a guitarist who moves easily from blues and country to pop, jazz, and rock. Fingerpicking, flatpicking -- he's got it covered. Back when he was a high school kid in Chattanooga, he began to think about a career in music. He played in the school band and in a group formed by his brother. That led to work with a slew of bar bands and a full-time stint in country rock group called Rawhide. In 1986, he left Tennessee for Minnesota ("I married a woman who hates hot weather," he says). As a studio player and sideman, he has worked with Martin Zellar, Bobby Vee, and a host of others. Recently, he teamed up with singer/songwriter Rex Haberman to do a CD aptly called Neale & Haberman (Reissner Records). A solo album in the works, due for release in December.

John Niemann

After playing electric bass in a high school rock 'n' roll band, fiddler and mandolinist John Niemann took up guitar, fiddle, mandolin, and mandocello. He was a member of Peter Ostroushko's quartet The Mando Boys, and he spent seven years with the bluegrass group Stoney Lonesome.

Jearlyn Steele

A native of Indiana, Jearlyn Steele first sang with her siblings (as The Steele Children) in churches, concert halls and on radio and television. After Jearlyn left home and moved to Minnesota, one by one the rest of the Steele kids followed, and they started singing together again as The Steeles. Now music is the family business. Fans still remember their participation in The Gospel at Colonus at the Guthrie Theater and on Broadway. Jearlyn has voiced many local and national commercials, and she has recorded with top acts including George Clinton and Prince. Her most recent CD is titled Steele Praising Him. She is the entertainment reporter for Twin Cities Public Television's public-affairs program, Almanac, and she hosts Steele Talkin', a Sunday-night radio show that originates on WCCO in Minneapolis and is heard in some 30 states nationwide.

Richard Troxell with Roderick Kettlewell

Tenor Richard Troxell started singing when he was barely old enough to go to school. His family sang together in their Maryland home, and later young Richard sang Broadway tunes at Lions Club benefits and hymns in the church choir. He studied at the Academy of Vocal Arts (AVA) in Philadelphia, and in 1993 he made his professional debut with the Cleveland Opera. In 1995, he won critical acclaim in the role of Pinkerton in the film version of Madame Butterfly, presented by Martin Scorsese. Other roles include Macduff in the Portland Opera's staging of Macbeth, Christian in Cyrano de Bergerac for the Opéra National de Montpellier, the Prince in Prokofiev's The Love for Three Oranges with the New York City Opera, and Piquillo in La Périchole for the Opera Company of Philadelphia. This month, he makes his Minnesota Opera debut, singing the title role in The Tales of Hoffmann.

Pianist Roderick Kettlewell was born in England and studied at the Guildhall School of Music and the Britten-Pears School, and in New York at the Juilliard School. He now makes his home in St. Paul, Minnesota, and has been a featured artist with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and the Minnesota Orchestra.