A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor

Randy Newman

"I Love L.A.," "Short People," "You've Got A Friend In Me," "Louisiana 1927," "Every Time It Rains" ... In a career spanning more than 40 years, Randy Newman has written dozens of unforgettable songs and composed a slew of movie scores – for Toy Story, A Bug's Life, The Natural and Awakenings, to name a few. In 2002 – after a very long streak of Oscar nominations - he won an Academy Award for "If I Didn't Have You" from the film Monsters, Inc. Born into a musical family – his uncles Alfred, Lionel and Emil were film composers and conductors – Randy Newman was already a professional songwriter at the age of 17. "His body of work is so deep and so rich," an LA Times reviewer recently wrote, "that his performances never shortchange listeners, even when they consist solely of songs several years or decades old."

Paula Poundstone

Paula Poundstone began performing at open–mic nights back in 1979. These days, she's one of the most enduring stand–up comics around. She has been honored with two Cable ACE Awards, an Emmy, and an American Comedy Award. Her latest comedy special, "Look What the Cat Dragged In," hit the BRAVO network last fall. Public radio listeners tune in each week to hear her on NPR's news quiz show, Wait Wait Don't Tell Me. In her new book, There's Nothing in This Book That I Meant to Say (Harmony Books), Paula comments on her life – its successes, failures and quirks. Among her quips: "I need to know exactly what day I'm going to die so that I don't bother putting away leftovers the night before."

Erica Rhodes

Just a tiny kid when she first appeared on A Prairie Home Companion, Erica Rhodes is now a seasoned actor. She studied at Boston University's College of Fine Arts, and she is a recent graduate of the Atlantic Theater Conservatory in New York. With some colleagues, she started The Group B Project, a New York theater ensemble based in Manhattan's West Village. Her acting credits with Group B include "White Russian" and "All in the Timing," an evening of comedic short plays written by David Ives. She appeared Off-Broadway in "Right as Ron," and she toured with TheatreWorksUSA's production of "Ramona Quimby."

Bonnie Raitt

At age 14, L.A. native Bonnie Raitt heard the album Blues at Newport 1963. "That one record changed my life," she says. By the late '60s, as a Harvard/Radcliffe student, she was making the rounds of Cambridge coffeehouses. Soon she was opening for the likes of Mississippi Fred McDowell, Sippie Wallace, Muddy Waters and John Lee Hooker. These days, Raitt can claim legions of fans, stacks of recordings and a host of awards, including nine Grammys. In 2000, she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the following year she was welcomed into the Hollywood Bowl Hall of Fame, along with her father, celebrated Broadway singer John Raitt. Her 18th studio album, Souls Alike, and the live DVD/CD Bonnie Raitt and Friends are her latest offerings in a legendary body of work.

Jearlyn Steele

Jearlyn Steele grew up in Indiana and first sang with her siblings (as The Steele Children) in churches, concert halls and on radio and TV. 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. Now music is the family business. Jearlyn is the entertainment reporter for Twin Cities Public Television's public-affairs program, Almanac, and she hosts Steele Talkin', a Sunday-night radio show that originates on WCCO in Minneapolis and is heard in some 30 states nationwide. Steele Praising Hymn is her most recent CD.