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Special Guests Saturday, May 8, 2004 Guitarist Adam Granger was a member of A Prairie Home Companion's original Powdermilk Biscuit Band from 1976-1979. He makes his home in St. Paul, but travels during the summer, teaching at music caps in the United States and Canada. His album Mr. and Mrs. Jones was released in 2003, its title tune recorded on A Prairie Home Companion. Originally from Boise, Idaho, where he performed at monthly open-mic nights, stand-up comedian Nate Ford traveled to Minneapolis in August 2003 with one suitcase to launch his comedy career. Last year he appeared as Sancho Panza in the Eugene and Idaho Ballet Company's production of Don Quixote. Instrumental electronic group Tiki Obmar is comprised of three friends who met while attending high school in Edina, Minnesota. Graham Chapman, Chris Smalley, and Brett Bullion combine traditional instruments with laptop computers to create "Intelligent Dance Music." Their new album is called High School Confidential. Originally from Minneapolis, Toki Wright has been performing hip-hop since 1996. He also runs a youth non-profit called Yo! The Movement. In addition to his work as a solo artist, Toki is also a member of The CORE, a hip-hop group that has twice been nominated for Minnesota Music Awards and named City Pages' Best Hip-Hop Artist in 2002. Ben Connelly is a folk singer and songwriter, as well as a fingerpicking guitarist. Formerly a member of the band Steeplejack, he has released two CDs: Big Red Throbbing Heart and You Burn Hotter. Mike Rossetto is a solo entertainer performing under the assumed name of Spaghetti Western. Mike is 24 years old and a first-generation American. His goal is to fuse European folk songs with American bluegrass. His parents came over from Italy—his father from a small town near Turino, and his mother, a Sicilian, from the town of Portocello in Salerno. Mike graduated from the University of Minnesota a couple of years ago with an American Studies degree. He wrote his thesis on the music in Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood. He got to work with Mr. Rogers and his staff while writing the thesis. Mr. Rogers had a live improvised jazz ensemble during the show, and Mike's argument was that the music acted as another character in the show. He's lately been playing as a one-man band and uses a sampling device to loop instrument over instrument to build a massive soundscape. For the Rhubarb Show, he wanted to fill his sound out with live performers. Tonight he is joined by Nicholas Lemme, Travis Even, and Denise Guelker. Jeff Horwich plays sax in the '60s and '70s cover band Love Train, and is also a business and economics reporter for Minnesota Public Radio. John Koerner was born in Rochester, New York, and enrolled in the University of Minnesota's engineering program in 1956. However, two years later he decided he would rather be a student of the folk scene, so with a borrowed guitar and a Burl Ives songbook, he began what has become a 40-year journey through American country blues and folk music. Koerner's musical career has taken him to stages all over Europe and North America as a solo artist and with a variety of partners. He has released several albums, his most recent being Raised by Humans in 1992, and has contributed to many artistic projects like the Redhouse tribute recording, A Nod to Bob, released in April 2001 for Bob Dylan's 60th birthday. Koerner has also made appearances on National Public Radio's Morning Edition and Weekend Edition, and he was featured in the PBS Educational Series River of Song, in Part 1 (of 4) in 1999. | | | |
  On July 4th, help us celebrate the 35th Anniversary of A Prairie Home Companion and the Fourth of July with a free live nationally broadcast show from Avon, MN.
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