Robert Bly

Robert Bly was just named Minnesota's poet laureate — the first to be so honored. He was born on a farm in Madison, Minnesota, in 1926, and has lived in the area for much of his life. After his graduation from Harvard, he devoted his life to poetry. In 1958, he launched a poetry magazine called The Fifties. (It was renamed as each new decade dawned.) He is the author of numerous poetry collections — including his most recent, Eating the Honey of Words: New and Selected Poems (HarperCollins) — in addition to anthologies, translations and works of nonfiction. In 1967, Bly won the National Book Award for The Light Around the Body.

The Wailin' Jennys

When The Wailin' Jennys first got together in 2002, it was supposed to be a one-time gig. But the collaboration proved such a success that within a few weeks the trio was on tour and people were calling them "a bona fide Canadian sensation." They have continued to wow audiences across North America and beyond. As one music critic wrote, "This is about as good as contemporary folk gets." The group's critically acclaimed CD 40 Days won a 2005 Juno Award for Best Roots and Traditional Album of the Year. Their latest recording, Firecracker, released in 2006 on the Red House label, has their ever-widening fan base coming back for more. The Jennys are soprano Ruth Moody, mezzo Nicky Mehta and alto Heather Masse. Jeremy Penner joins them on fiddle and mandolin.

Peter Johnson

Peter Johnson (percussion) has played klezmer music with Doc Severinsen and jazz with Dave Brubeck. He was a drummer for The Manhattan Transfer and for Gene Pitney. He has toured the world, but he always comes back to home base: Saint Paul.

The Boys of the Lough

The Irish Times described the Boys of the Lough's music as "full of guts and technical brilliance." Indeed, they have helped to keep the centuries-old music of Ireland and Scotland close to its roots since they formed in 1967. Members of the band are Dave Richardson (mandolin, cittern, English concertina, button accordion), from Northumberland; Cathal McConnell (flute, whistles), from County Fermanagh, in Northern Ireland; Kevin Henderson (fiddle), from the Shetland Islands; Brendan Begley (button accordion, melodeon), from the Dingle Peninsula, in County Kerry; and Malcolm Stitt (guitar), from Fort William, in the Scottish Highlands. In 2005, they released their 20th album — aptly titled Twenty. Their latest CD is Midwinter Live (Lough Records).

Joe Savage

Originally from Cloquet, Minnesota, pedal steel player Joe Savage made his way to Minneapolis in the 1980s. These days, he is a fixture on the Twin Cities music scene, performing with a number of artists in addition to keeping up his work as a studio musician.