A Prairie Home Companion from American Public Media

Special Guests
Saturday, September 12, 2009

Stephanie Davis

In a circa 1900 one-room homestead cabin—a building on her ranch in south-central Montana—Stephanie Davis composes and records songs that reflect her life in Big Sky country. Back when, she spent a couple of years in Nashville, writing songs for the likes of Garth Brooks, Roger Whittaker, Martina McBride and Shelby Lynne. But there's no place like her home state of Montana—where her family has lived for four generations—and Stephanie is the first to tell you, daily ranch life provides constant inspiration. Her albums include I'm Pulling Through, River of No Return, Crocus in the Snow and her brand-new CD, Home for the Holidays (Recluse Records), a collection of holiday favorites, old and new.

Wylie Gustafson

Wylie Gustafson is a rancher and horseman from Dusty, Washington (population 11, at best). And when he's not tending to livestock on his Cross Three Ranch, he's serving up western swing, classic country, cowboy, and folk music — all with a healthy helping of his infectious energy — to enthusiastic audiences nationwide. With his band, Wylie & the Wild West, he has performed at the Grand Old Opry, the Kennedy Center, the National Folk Festival, the Lincoln Center, MerleFest, the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering, Japan's Country Gold Festival, Euro Disney, and state fairs from Ohio to Alaska. His latest album is LIVE! at the Tractor (Cross Three Records). A new CD, Bucking Horse Moon (Dualtone/Western Jubilee), is due for release in November.

Charlie Sutton

Singer/songwriter Charlie Sutton is back in Moscow, Idaho, where he grew up. When he was 16, he moved to St. Louis. There, he spent time hanging around the music store run by his uncles, and he formed a band called Spud (what else from a guy from Idaho). After a while, he moved on to New England, where the music scene was a better fit with his skills. But the Northwest is home, so that's where he wants to be. While he claims a variety of songwriting influences - John Hartford, Mississippi John Hurt, Harry Nilsson, Elizabeth Cotton, Tom Waits — Charlie is forging his own style. His self-produced CD is titled Charlie Sutton.

Growling Old Men

John Lowell (guitar) and Ben Winship (mandolin), with Dave Thompson (bass), call themselves Growling Old Men—taking their name from the old-time fiddle tune "Growling Old Man, Grumbling Old Woman." They've been key players in the Montana/Idaho music scene for a couple of decades. Winship, who took second place in the 1989 National Mandolin Championships, was a founding member of the bluegrass band Loose Ties. Lowell is a veteran of some of the region's best bluegrass groups, including Wheel Hoss and Deep River. The three currently work together in Kane's River, listed "among the brightest of a new generation of bluegrass bands" by Vintage Guitar Magazine. Growling Old Men's latest CD is called Occupational Hazards (Snake River Records).

Peter Ostroushko

Peter Ostroushko's first recording session was an uncredited mandolin set on Bob Dylan's Blood on the Tracks. His compositions have been performed by the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Minnesota Sinfonia, the Rochester (Minnesota) Symphony Orchestra, the Des Moines Symphony and the Kremlin Chamber Orchestra. Ken Burns used music from Peter's recording Heart of the Heartland for his PBS documentary Lewis & Clark, and Twin Cities Public Television commissioned Peter to provide music for their nationally distributed programs The Dakota Conflict and Grant Wood's America. Among Peter's recent CDs is Postcards: Travels with a Great American Radio Show (Red House Records), songs he composed while traveling with A Prairie Home Companion.

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).

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.

Andy Stein (violin, saxophone) definitely has far-flung musical leanings. He collaborated with Garrison Keillor to create the opera Mr. and Mrs. Olson, and he has performed with artists such as Itzhak Perlman, Eric Clapton, Smashing Pumpkins, Billy Joel, Tony Bennett, Ray Charles and Bob Dylan.