LIVESTREAM A Prairie Home Companion

Great News! We have been asked about livestreaming upcoming American Revival shows and have come up with a package, if you cannot join us in person.

Here is an opportunity to join us for our next two shows: a two-show Livestream Bundle is available for our upcoming A PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION events on November 26 from New York City and December 15 from St. Louis, Missouri. Both livestreams will be available for 48 hours after the performance, so you have a chance to find time to sit back, watch, and enjoy. The two-stream bundle is at a discounted price of $35. (Individually available at $20 each).

In addition, you will find links to solo shows, Keillor & Company shows, a Hopeful show with Robin & Linda Williams, plus our American Revival shows on our EVENT page.

Order the LIVESTREAM >>>
VIEW full event page >>>

My thoughts after being cut down by a tree

A beautiful October of golden days and fabulous autumn colors and behind this scrim our beloved country appears to be moving toward white nationalism and putting our trust in dominant males who speak in short sentences rather than the confused and conflicted Democrats. Republicans have scored marvelously in depicting the opposition as weak on crime, flaccid on the economy, a radical elite who would imprison parents who do not affirm the gender choices of their children. An Orwellian vision of children sent to state-run indoctrination camps as the first step in a Cultural Revolution that will replace Christianity with wokeness.

Read the rest of the column>>>

Do you subscribe to our Substack page? It’s free and delivers an extra GK column weekly plus “Post to the Host.” If you opt in to the paid Subscription page, The Back Room, you will unlock a full archive of published goodies from the past year. Three thousand-plus subscribers have been treated to a weekly monologue from the early years (the 1980s), poems and lyrics from the archive, articles, photos, and show videos. We have recently uncovered a few recordings from our “Rhubarb” and “Night Out” shows, “Literary Friendships,” and “Comedy College.” Over the next few months, we will be posting these to The Back Room as well. The subscription dollars help pay for the production of the newsletters and the support of the archive.  
 

Classic A Prairie Home Companion

This week on the classic A Prairie Home Companion program, we revisit one of the earliest shows in the online archives. It’s from the Fitzgerald Theater in 1998, with Balfa Toujours, Roy Rogers, and Vern Sutton. Also with us, the Royal Academy of Radio Actors (Tim Russell, Sue Scott, and Tom Keith) and the Guy’s All-Star Shoe Band.

Highlights include talk about lutefisk and the weather, visits with a few famous celebrities, Guy Noir, Catchup, and Prestige Parents. Roy Rogers picks along to “Down Home Girl,” Balfa Toujours cranks up some Cajun heat on “Bosco Stomp,” and Vern Sutton tackles “In the Garden,” plus the latest News from Lake Wobegon.

Every Saturday, a classic broadcast from the archives is featured on our Facebook fan page and on the website for your listening pleasure. The link to the show is posted at 5 p.m. CT but can be accessed anytime using the link below.

Listen to this week’s show >>>
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Browse the PHC archive >>>

Featured on this A Prairie Home Companion show:
Balfa Toujours, meaning Balfa Always, is headed by Christine Balfa, the daughter of the great Cajun fiddler Dewey Balfa. Courtney Granger adds to the family affair with his soulful singing and fiddling. Kevin Wimmer, one of the finest fiddlers around, is a founding member of Balfa Toujours. He studied directly with Dewey for many years. When Courtney and Kevin take off on twin fiddle adventures, they can steal your breath away. Add Jean-Jacques Aucoin on accordion and Shane Guidry on bass, and you get the passion and family musical heritage that keeps dancers always on the floor. Along with Balfa Toujours’ beautiful renditions of traditional songs, the band’s original music brings lyrics that are always thoughtful, whether hilarious, or penetratingly sad.
 

Listen to “L’Anse Aux Pailles” >>>

Early on, Roy Rogers discovered his love for the blues and slide guitar and became known for making music that’s “deep and funky.” Born in Redding, California, in 1950, Roy began playing guitar at twelve years of age. A year later, at age 13, he was performing in a rock ’n’ roll band that wore gold lamé jackets and played Little Richard and Chuck Berry tunes. He discovered the great blues players early on, especially when his older brother brought home an album by Robert Johnson. Thus began his love of the blues and slide guitar, which had an immediate effect on Roy, who was indeed named after the King of the Cowboys. Through the years he developed a distinctive style of playing slide guitar — one that is instantly recognizable.

Listen to “Avalanche” >>>

.A Prairie Home Companionhas collaborated with major musical organizations as a singer, actor, director, and educator. He was a founding member of the Center Opera Company, which became the Minnesota Opera, and composers Dominick Argento, Robert Ward, Conrad Susa, Libby Larsen, and others have written for his voice. For 36 years, he taught at the University of Minnesota School of Music, and for four summers he was artistic director of Opera in the Ozarks. Vern was a guest on the very first broadcast of Vern Sutton 

Listen to “Old Shep” >>>

RETURN TO LAKE WOBEGON, 1983

 
We have raided the vault and assembled the fourth chronological look at the origin stories of Lake Wobegon! When A Prairie Home Companion went national in 1980, Garrison Keillor started turning his vignettes, updates, and letters from Lake Wobegon into a full-fledged story each week. In this vintage collection, you can hear America’s favorite storyteller hone his craft in front of a live audience, regaling them with stories about what takes place in “the little town that time forgot and decades could not improve.” This collection includes monologues from A Prairie Home Companion that aired in the year 1983.

These stories will enchant you today as much as they did four decades ago. Many haven’t been heard since about 1987, so this Lake Wobegon story collection will be new to many fans. It’s time to return to your favorite small town.

The residents complain about overly warm spring weather; the Lake Wobegon economy is running on loyalty, deism, and nepotism; and the juniors prepare the prom for the seniors — kind of like Social Security. Rumors go around about Ms. Berge’s torrid romance, and the host muses that telling lies about people is better than ignoring them completely. Lyle desperately tries to avoid needing his brother-in-law Carl’s help starting his car in winter, and the quiet people of Lake Wobegon show they’re having a good time at Christmas by humming and perhaps tapping their feet a little bit.

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Lake Wobegon Lake Life Tote Bag

Grab a towel, some water, suntan lotion, along with your tote bag and head to the beach! The lake life is so relaxing. This tote is roomy and spacious. Yes, we are what we are (Sumos Quod Sumos) is our motto and this bag is fitting.

 Get the Tote Bag >>>

A Prairie Home Companion Hat

Our new hat features one of the original wordmarks for A Prairie Home Companion — also featured prominently on the American Revival tour merchandise. Comfy, cotton, low-rise hats have an adjustable strap on the back, so one size fits most. Available in blue, khaki, and multicolored versions.

Blue Hat >>>
Khaki Hat>>>
Tricolored Hat >>>