Hors d'oeuvres! Hors d'oeuvres in the house!

The beauty of Brexit for an American is that it gives us a glance at the debate in the House of Commons, an actual spirited debate, something unknown in our Congress, Conservative and Labor facing each other, two sword lengths apart, speaking in bursts of argument and rebuttal, no lengthy droning allowed, members free to jeer and laugh, the Honorable Speaker of the House John Bercow crying out, “Order!” which to an American sounds like he is referring to ordure or ordering hors d’oeuvres.

Nancy Pelosi never shouts “Order” in our House because hardly anyone is present. They’re all in their offices, on the phone, raising money. As for the Senate, it is a hospice. And this is why journalists focus on White House twittering. If the Chief Twit tweets, “Boogers on you, dum-dum. Talk to the hand,” it will be front-page for at least half an hour, and we’ll learn that no president in history ever used the “boogers on you” insult. How interesting. This is the current state of our democracy.

No wonder then that our government is unable to do a simple obvious sensible thing such as restore the ban on assault weapons. Men routinely give up their right to carry an AR-15 when they go through security at the airport. The Second Amendment ends at the metal detector. Air travel is crucial to the economy, and the American people won’t fly on a plane with NRA members wearing bandoliers, holding rifles with enormous magazines, carrying Glocks and Berettas. It’s not the result of a Supreme Court decision: it’s called “common sense.”

The majority of Americans would, if they were to see a civilian cross a parking lot with a semi-automatic weapon, think “lunatic” and make a mental note to avoid that shopping center in the future. These weapons are instruments of terror, their only purpose is to fulfill the violent fantasies of weird men. So why are they legal? The regular occurrence of mass shootings in public places is doing an enormous favor for Amazon and other mail-order houses. Thus, Walmart took a small sensible step last week and stopped selling ammunition for assault rifles so that killers who come blasting into the store and run out of ammo can’t restock on the spot, they have to go to Costco.

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Heather Masse joins Prairie Home Christmas

There will be several opportunities to catch Heather Masse with Garrison Keillor over the next few months. She will join Garrison for three 'Beautiful Dreamer' duet performances and then join the Prairie Home Christmas Shows featuring the full "A Prairie Home Companion" cast on stage together for the first time in 3 years (tickets are now on sale for the general public!). 

Heather has been busy lately––she has a new baby girl, she recorded a solo project with Jed Wilson, and she's added several shows over the next few months in addition to her role on the "A Prairie Home Companion" cruise to Jamaica in spring. Recently, she made some updates to our guest interview with her, talking about each of these projects plus her musical influences and a few PHC memories.

Read our guest interview >>>

Here are the dates and times for each of the duet performances with Heather Masse, Garrison Keillor & Richard Dworsky:

September 23, 2019 at 7:00pm
Bethesda, MD at Bethesda Jazz & Blues Supper Club

Get Tickets >>>

October 11, 2019 at 7:00pm
New York, NY at Birdland Jazz Club

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October 12, 2019 at 7:00pm
New York, NY at Birdland Jazz Club

Get Tickets >>>

Below are the dates and times of each Prairie Home Christmas show:

November 30, 2019 at 7:30pm
Minneapolis, MN at the Pantages Theater (SOLD OUT)

December 14, 2019 at 7:30pm
San Francisco, CA at the Sydney Goldstein Theater (fka the Nourse)

Get Tickets >>>

December 18, 2019 at 8:00pm
New York, NY at Town Hall

Get Tickets >>>

December 21, 2019 at 2:00pm & 7:30pm
Atlanta, GA at Center Stage 

Get Tickets for 2:00 matinee >>>
Get Tickets for 7:30 evening show >>>

A Year in Lake Wobegon

A brand-new collection of "above average" Lake Wobegon stories!! Our staff and volunteers have been working on this collection for about a year, picking the very best newer stories to represent each month of the calendar year. Despite what Keillor often says about it being a quiet week in Lake Wobegon, a lot happens in "the little town that time forgot and decades could not improve."

Material includes more than 3 hours of monologues culled from live broadcasts of A Prairie Home Companion that aired between 2014 and 2016. Also included: a poem by Garrison for each month of the calendar year, plus music by Peter Ostroushko, a consummate musician who was with us since the early-early days and who unfortunately suffered a heart attack and a stroke recently (details and a way to help him in link below).

                                   Get the CD set >>>
Contribute to Peter Ostroushko's GoFundMe >>>

Beautiful Dreamer

"We chose some of our favorites songs we sang as duets on the show and revamped them.  It was a really fun project." - Heather Masse

With "Beautiful Dreamer," their first official duet CD, the pair reimagines fan-favorites they have performed over the years. This is a ShopGarrisonKeillor exclusive!

Track Listing:
Tomorrow is a Long Time
I Wanna be Loved by You
I'll Be Your Baby Tonight
Sweet is the Melody
Pu'uanahulu
Beautiful Dreamer
When We're Gone, Long Gone
In the Gloaming
Mozambique
I Just Wish That She Were Here
If You Were Mine
Red is the Rose
Love in Vain
What'll I Do
If Not for You
If I Could only Win your Love
Wild Horses
Ripple

Get the CD >>>
Listen to 'Wild Horses' >>>