A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor

Raúl Melo

Metropolitan Opera tenor Raúl Melo has sung principal roles with major opera companies worldwide. In 2005-2006, he made his Met debut as the Duke in Rigoletto. The following season found him performing the role of Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly and in a live broadcast from Symphony Space — both with the New York City Opera. This season, his performances include Cavaradossi in Tosca with the New York City Opera and as the tenor soloist in the Verdi Requiem with the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires and the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra. He is currently appearing at the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina, singing the part of the Navigator in the Anthony Davis opera Amistad. Michael Recchiuti is at the piano.

Phil Cunningham, MBE; Aly Bain, MBE

The MBE's in this case stand for Member of the Order of the British Empire and carry with them doctorate degrees. Dr. Cunningham won his in 2002 for services to Scottish music, not only as an astonishing accordionist but as a teacher, producer, music director and composer. His considerable body of work includes two suites for symphony orchestra and Celtic instruments, the most recent perfomed by the Scottish National Orchestra. Dr. Bain holds four doctorates, none of which have kept him from being regarded as Scotland's supreme traditional fiddler. He was a founding member of the Boys of the Lough and is today in demand as a producer and a collaborator; he has his own label, Whirlie Records. Together they have recorded CDs and movie soundtracks, toured a considerable part of the world, played everywhere from small pubs to concert halls and coliseums, and from all accounts have had a good time doing it.

Sally Dworsky

Sally Dworsky is a St. Paul bred singer-songwriter, now living in the L.A. area. Releases include a solo EP called Habit Trail (Merm Records), and an album with the band Uma called Farewell (MCA/Refuge Records). She has also performed and recorded as a background singer with artists including Jonatha Brooke, R.E.M., Peter Gabriel, Don Henley and Peter Himmelman. She provided the singing voices for several animated characters in films including The Lion King, The Prince of Egypt, and Shrek.

La Bottine Souriante

A nine-person group from Quebec, La Bottine Souriante has been playing traditional music of the Quèbècois area since 1976. Four of the musicians play in the horn section: Jean Frchette (saxophone), Jocelyn Lapointe (trumpet), AndrŽ Verreault (trombone), and Robert Ellis (bass trombone). The other five sing and play a variety of instruments: Yves Lambert (diatonic accordion, harmonica), Règent Archambault (acoustic/electric bass), Michel Bordeleau (foot tapping, mandolin, violin), Denis Frèchette (piano, piano accordion), and Andrè Brunet (violin, guitar). The original group that formed in 1976 was a quintet. The horn section was added in 1990. La Bottine Souriante's latest CD is the live recording En Spectacle (Mille-Pattes). This album once again earned La Bottine Souriante a Fèlix award and a nomination for a Juno Award. The Fèlix and Juno awards are Quebec's and Canada's respective equivalents to the U.S. Grammy Awards.

Karrin Allyson

Karrin Allyson was born in Great Bend, Kansas, but considers Kansas City her hometown. She studied classical piano early on, worked as a folk singer, and performed in an all-female rock band called Tomboy. After graduating from the University of Nebraska in Omaha with a degree in piano, she spent for three years in Minneapolis. Her uncle, a jazz club owner in Kansas City, sent out a call for help when he suddenly found himself suddenly without a singer and Allyson found herself in Kansas City. In 1992 she signed with Concord Records and has recorded ten CDs, including "In Blue," "Wild for You," and "From Paris to Rio," in which she sings in both French and Portuguese. In recent years, Allyson has toured extensively, playing at festivals and jazz clubs throughout the U.S. and Canada, as well as in Brazil, Paris, London, and Japan. Joining Allyson tonight are: Bob Bowman (bass), Rod Fleeman (guitar), and Gil Goldstein (accordion).

Chuck Suchy

Critics like to call him an undiscovered treasure of the northern Great Plains, and we might expect a title like that to be hung on a singer who works towns named Keister and Coon Valley. But the picture changes when we add Chicago to that, and the Smithsonian Institute and the Kennedy Center; the sort of venues that put an end to anonymity. So he's been discovered. He's a still-working farmer from the blue hills along the Missouri River south of Mandan. He's sung and played guitar and accordion most of his life, and in 1982 realized that it was a life worth writing songs about. He has five CDs out, the latest called Evening in Paris. An enticing title from a songwriter better known for dance halls, dimestore perfume and dancin' in the kitchen.

Dan Newton

Dan "Daddy Squeeze" Newton has been wowing audiences with offbeat accordion music ever since he won the Nebraska State Accordion Contest back in the 1980s. In the 20 years since he moved to Minnesota, he has become an acclaimed fixture on the music scene, both in the Twin Cities and beyond. A singer, composer and producer, he heads up a bunch of different groups, including the incomparable Café Accordion Orchestra, which specializes in vintage swing, Latin, polka, gypsy swing and French musette. Café Accordion's latest recording, Cinema, is an album of songs from the movies.