A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor

Suzy Bogguss

Growing up in Aledo, Illinois, Suzy Bogguss loved music. She joined the church choir, played 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 new CD is Sweet Danger (Loyal Dutchess Records).

Sam Bush

Sam Bush was just 11 when he got his first mandolin. By the time he was 17, he had won the title of National Junior Fiddle Champion for three years in a row and had made his recording debut, Poor Richard's Almanac. Two years later, in 1971, he founded New Grass Revival, a band that pushed bluegrass into new territory by incorporating styles like rock, pop, reggae and jazz. In the late '80s, he formed the supergroup Strength in Numbers with Jerry Douglas, Bela Fleck, Mark O'Connor and Edgar Meyer, and he went on to lead Emmylou Harris' Grammy-winning Nash Ramblers for five years. In addition to contributing to dozens of other musicians' projects, Sam Bush has recorded a number of solo albums. His latest is Laps In Seven (Sugar Hill Records).

Butch Thompson

For 12 years of his four-decade career, Butch Thompson was the house pianist on A Prairie Home Companion, dating back to the show's second broadcast in July 1974. As a soloist, he has earned a worldwide reputation as a master of ragtime, stride and classic jazz piano. Described by Jazz Journal International as "the premier player in traditional jazz today," Thompson also performs with his trio, his eight-piece New Orleans Jazz Originals, and with symphony orchestras from Minnesota to Cairo, Egypt. Thompson recent recordings include Butch Thompson's Big Three: 'Tain't Nobody's Business (Jazzology Records) and At First Light (Turnagain Music), a collaboration with the Miami Philharmonic and conductor Gordon Wright.

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.

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).