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Special Guests Saturday, May 30, 2009 The Del McCoury Band When Del McCoury was growing up in Pennsylvania, he learned music from his mother, a church organist. And he never missed a chance to tune in the Grand Ole Opry. But when his older brother bought a 78-rpm record of Flatt and Scruggs, that sealed the deal. Del started playing bluegrass, and a half-century later, the Del McCoury Band has won nearly every honor the genre has to offer, including a Grammy and three dozen IBMA awards. Their latest release is Celebrating 50 Years of Del McCoury (McCoury Music), a retrospective five-disc box set. The band: Del McCoury, guitar; Ronnie McCoury, mandolin; Rob McCoury, banjo; Jason Carter, fiddle; Alan Bartram, bass. Jearlyn Steele Jearlyn Steele grew up in Indiana and first sang with her siblings (as The Steele Children). After she left home and moved to Minnesota, one by one the rest of the Steele kids followed. They started singing together again as The Steeles, and now music is the family business. Jearlyn also hosts Steele Talkin', a Sunday-night radio show that originates on WCCO in Minneapolis and is heard in some 30 states nationwide. Jearlyn Steele Sings Songs from A Prairie Home Companion is her most recent CD. The Guy's All-Star Shoe Band
Richard Dworsky, who week in and week out leads A Prairie Home Companion's Guy's All-Star Shoe Band, is a classically trained pianist and composer who rocks, swings, plays great blues and gospel, tears it up on Hammond B3 organ, and keeps up with world-class pickers playing his unique "bluegrass piano” style. He writes all APHC's script themes and underscores, and during his 16-year stint, he has accompanied guests from James Taylor to Renée Fleming. His latest CD is So Near and Dear to Me (Prairie Home Productions).
The Fox Theater They call it the Fabulous Fox. Little wonder. Saint Louis's Fox Theatre has been an eye-popper since the movie palace opened in January of 1929. It was built by motion picture pioneer William Fox, who had a nationwide circuit of theaters, and designed in the so-called Siamese-Byzantine style by C. Howard Crane, one of the most distinguished theater architects of the era. The cost? More than $5 million — a pretty penny 80 years ago. Eventually, the theater fell into disrepair. Kung Fu movies and the occasional concert barely kept the no-longer-so-fabulous Fox going. And finally, in 1978, the building closed. Then, in the early 1980s, a $2 million-plus restoration project was started to bring the Fox back to its 1929 grandeur. Today, the Fox Theatre is again a spectacular and popular performance venue, offering concerts, plays and other events. |
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An Interview with Heather Masse
In a 2009 interview, Heather Masse tells us about her earliest influences, auditioning in a women's bathroom, and a few memorable moments from A Prairie Home Companion.
Old Sweet Songs: A Prairie Home Companion 1974-1976
Lovingly selected from the earliest archives of A Prairie Home Companion, this heirloom collection represents the music from earliest years of the now legendary show: 1974–1976. With songs and tunes from jazz pianist Butch Thompson, mandolin maestro Peter Ostroushko, Dakota Dave Hull and the first house band, The Powdermilk Biscuit Band (Adam Granger, Bob Douglas and Mary DuShane).

