A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor

Suzy Bogguss

Growing up in Aledo, Illinois, Suzy Bogguss loved music. She joined the church choir, played the piano and drums, and bought her first 12-string with the money she earned from babysitting. She moved to Nashville in the mid-'80s and paid the bills by singing demos by day and performing three nights a week at a local rib joint. Now, more than a dozen albums later, and awards ranging from the Academy of Country Music's Top New Female Vocalist of 1989 to a Horizon Award given by the Country Music Association, Suzy has won acclaim in both country and contemporary music circles. Her latest CD is Sweet Danger (Loyal Dutchess Records).

Howard Levy

Howard Levy is perhaps best known for developing a fully chromatic harmonica style on a standard 10-hole diatonic instrument. Anyone who has ever picked up a little Hohner Marine Band can appreciate the feat. He was a founding member of Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, and he has performed with musicians from Dolly Parton to Styx, Bobby McFerrin to Paul Simon. Levy leads two Chicago bands: Chévere, a Latin Jazz-fusion ensemble, and a four-piece group called Howard Levy's Acoustic Express. His recent recordings include Cappuccino, with violinist Fox Fehling, and Secret Dream, with Chévere — both on Balkan Samba Records.

The Milroys

CJ and John Milroy — a husband-and-wife team —write and sing of cowboys and carnies, diners and dancehalls, Silvertones and shallow graves. "This is Americana as it was meant to be played and heard," wrote the Detroit Free Press. Others warn, "The duo's plaintive, sweet melodies will draw you in and linger like the cheap cologne of a traveling Bible salesman." Whatever the description, for the past decade, this Ferndale, Michigan, couple has been building a large and loyal fan base throughout the Midwest and beyond. Their current CD, The Milroys, was released in 2006. A new album is in the works.

The Guy's All-Star Shoe Band

The Guy's All-Star Shoe Band is led by A Prairie Home Companion music director Richard Dworsky (keyboard) and features Pat Donohue (guitar), Gary Raynor (bass), Joe Savage (steel guitar) and J.T. Bates (percussion).

Venue Information

The Hill Auditorium

Since it opened on the campus of the University of Michigan 95 years ago this month, the Hill Auditorium — designed by Albert Kahn and Associates — has lived up to the expectations of the man for whom it is named. Arthur Hill (class of 1865) wanted his alma mater to have a gathering place for "large occasions such as graduating exercises and musical festivals." And so he bequeathed $200,000 for that purpose. The venue has indeed accommodated numerous commencement ceremonies. Speakers from Eleanor Roosevelt to Robert Frost to Henry Kissinger have taken the stage. Enrico Caruso performed here. So did Luciano Pavarotti, Leonard Bernstein, Bob Marley, the Grateful Dead and other artists of every stripe. After nine decades, who couldn't use a little freshening up? In 2002, the Hill Auditorium underwent a $38.6 million renovation, returning it to its original grandeur.