A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor

Pert' Near Sandstone

Pert' Near Sandstone has all the grit of an old-timey string band, with the high-octane approach you'd expect from bluegrassers. Since this self-proclaimed "new-timey" band formed in 2003 — taking their name from their proximity to the sandstone bluffs of the Mississippi River — the group has become a force on the Minnesota roots music scene and beyond. Pert' Near Sandstone is Nate Sipe, mandolin and fiddle; J. Lenz, guitar; Kevin Kniebel, banjo; Jeff Swanner, bass; Jed Germond, fiddle; and Andy Lambert, clogs and washboard. Their latest recording, Needle & Thread (Pert' Near Music), was released last week.

Maria Jette

In addition to her 45-plus operatic roles, soprano Maria Jette has performed pop songs, chamber music, oratorio and more. She has appeared with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, New York Chamber Symphony, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and Minnesota Orchestra, and with numerous symphony orchestras coast to coast. A frequent collaborator with VocalEssence and other choral ensembles, she is also a regular guest at the San Luis Obispo Mozart Festival and the Oregon Festival of American Music. For years, Twin Cities audiences have delighted in her Sopranorama performances with Molly Sue McDonald, Janis Hardy and Dan Chouinard.

Kristin Andreassen

She sings, she dances, she writes award-winning songs, she plays a bunch of instruments. Many know Boston-based Kristin Andreassen from the old-time string band Uncle Earl. Or from her work with "folk noir" vocal trio Sometymes Why. Or from her warp-speed clogging routines with Footworks Percussive Dance Ensemble. Now this multitalented performer — whose musical beginnings included her childhood choir and piano lessons with grandma — is branching out once more and starting to tour under her own name. Her debut solo album, Kiss Me Hello, came out in 2006. Joining her for tonight's performance are Jefferson Hamer, Emma Leahy-Good and Bryn Davies.

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. Steele Praising Hymn is her most recent CD.

Jevetta Steele

Plans change. Jevetta Steele first moved to the Twin Cities from Gary, Indiana (her childood home) to become a criminal lawyer. Instead, she and her sister Jearlyn — along with their siblings — turned to performing. In the 1980s, she toured the world (including Broadway) in the musical The Gospel at Colonus. And many remember her Academy Award-nominated performance of "Calling You," from the film Baghdad Café. She has recorded several solo albums, including My Heart.

Guy's All-Star Shoe Band

The Guy's All-Star Shoe Band is led by A Prairie Home Companion music director Richard Dworsky. A keyboard master with an arsenal of ideas, he has worked with artists from Al Jarreau to Kristin Chenoweth to the Hopeful Gospel Quartet. His latest CD is So Near and Dear to Me (Prairie Home Productions).

Chet Atkins called Pat Donohue (guitar) one of the greatest finger pickers in the world today. And he writes songs too — recorded by Suzy Bogguss, Kenny Rogers and others. Freewayman (Bluesky Records) is the most recent of Pat's nine albums.

Gary Raynor (bass) has performed with the Count Basie band, Sammy Davis Jr. — with whom he toured for several years — and the Minnesota Klezmer Band. He teaches jazz bass at the McNally Smith College of Music in St. Paul.

Peter Johnson (percussion) has played klezmer music with Doc Severinsen and jazz with Dave Brubeck. He was a drummer for The Manhattan Transfer and for Gene Pitney. He has toured the world, but he always comes back to home base: Saint Paul.

Originally from Cloquet, Minnesota, pedal steel player Joe Savage made his way to Minneapolis in the 1980s. These days, he is a fixture on the Twin Cities music scene, performing with a number of artists in addition to keeping up his work as a studio musician.

When a very young Marc Anderson (percussion) saw the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show, the die was cast. He started taking drum lessons, and before long he had his first band. Over the years, he has studied drumming styles from the far corners of the globe. In addition to performing, he is an adjunct professor in Hamline University's Anthropology Department.