A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor

Vern Sutton

Tenor Vern Sutton grew up in Oklahoma City. He remembers being applauded for the first time in first grade — for his performance in the role of Baby Bear in Goldilocks. From that day on, he was hooked on show business. Sutton first met Garrison Keillor when they both were students at the University of Minnesota. Sutton went on to spend 36 years as a faculty member at the U of M School of Music. He directed the opera program at the university, and he served as director of the School of Music. In addition to his work on campus, Sutton appeared with many major orchestras, opera companies, and musical groups and earned an international reputation for his work with the BBC, the New Opera Theatre of New York, the Wolf Trap Festival and other organizations. He has directed plays, operas and musicals all over the Midwest, including a 1993 tour of Aaron Copland's The Tender Land, which was performed on seven Midwestern working farms. Vern has made frequent appearances on A Prairie Home Companion for more than three decades. In fact, he was a guest on the very first show, in July of 1974.

Suzy Bogguss

Growing up in Aledo, Illinois, Suzy Bogguss loved music. She joined the church choir, played the 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).

VocalEssence

Founded by Philip Brunelle in 1969 under the name Plymouth Music Series, VocalEssence is recognized internationally for innovative exploration of music for voices and instruments. Each year the organization, under Brunelle's direction, presents a series of concerts featuring the 120-voice VocalEssence Chorus and the 32-voice Ensemble Singers along with soloists and instrumentalists. VocalEssence has received the ASCAP/Chorus America Award for adventurous programming of contemporary music an unprecedented five times, and was awarded the Margaret Hillis Achievement Award for Choral Excellence. Their latest recordings are Over the River & Through the Woods, a live concert celebration of Thanksgiving, and Hymn to Potatoes, a compilation of choral skits and bits from their A Prairie Home Companion appearances. On Sunday, November 27, Garrison Keillor joins the VocalEssence Chorus at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis for We Gather Together, a feast of sing-alongs, hymns, and more.

The Del McCoury Band

When Del McCoury was growing up in York County, Pennsylvania, he learned music from his mother, Hazel, a church organist. And he never missed a chance to tune in to 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, he has never looked back. The Del McCoury Band has won nearly every award Bluegrass has to offer, including a Grammy for their 2005 CD, The Company We Keep. Their latest release is an all-gospel album titled The Promised Land (McCoury Music). The band: Del McCoury, guitar; Ronnie McCoury, mandolin; Rob McCoury, banjo; Jason Carter, fiddle; Alan Bartram, bass.

Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder

At 17, Ricky Skaggs — already an accomplished singer and mandolin player — was invited to join the band of the legendary Ralph Stanley. That was in the early 1970s, and since the moment he first took the stage, Skaggs has built a reputation rarely equaled in the world of bluegrass music. In addition to his own projects, the 12-time Grammy winner has collaborated with a host of musicians, from Emmylou Harris to pianist/composer Bruce Hornsby, with whom he teamed up for the 2007 album Ricky Skaggs & Bruce Hornsby. His latest CD is Ricky Skaggs & The Whites: Salt of the Earth (Skaggs Family Music). Kentucky Thunder is Mark Fain, bass; Keith Sewell, guitar; Cody Kilby, guitar; Andy Leftwich, fiddle.

The Whites

"Mama said I could carry a tune before I could talk," Sharon White recalls. Given the family gene pool, you've got to figure it's true. Buck White started his musical career not long after the end of World War II, working Texas dance halls and radio shows. In the 1970s, he moved his family to Nashville where he and daughters Sharon and Cheryl White began their recording career. By the 1980s, they were performing as The Whites and had a string of hits produced by Ricky Skaggs, whom Sharon married in 1982. Their induction as members of the Grand Ole Opry came in 1984. After years of blending their voices — from living room to stage — Ricky Skaggs and The Whites finally joined forces for their first collaborative album, 2007's Salt of the Earth (Skaggs Family Music).

The Brothers Frantzich

The Brothers Frantzich have spent several decades writing songs and singing in close harmony. And, yes, they really are brothers — Tim and Paul Frantzich, who grew up in Minneapolis and are still based in the Twin Cities. They have performed in clubs, theaters, churches, prisons, even on center ice before hockey games in Minnesota and elsewhere, and they are founders of Feed Them With Music, an organization promoting artists and events that donate 15 percent of profits toward feeding starving people worldwide. Heart Wing is The Brothers Frantzich's latest recording.

Robin and Linda Williams

“Individually their voices can melt cheese, and in duet they can do all-purpose welding,” Garrison Keillor has said of Robin and Linda Williams. And while their fans might not put it quite that way, they'd certainly agree. Singing the music they love, be it bluegrass, folk, old-time, or acoustic country, these two have carved out a three-decade career that has taken them from Carnegie Hall to the Hollywood Bowl. Buena Vista (Red House) is Robin and Linda's latest recording.

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.