Tale of the Cursed Football Field from 2010

50th Anniversary Tour

Join us as we gather together the troupe to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the radio show. On July 6, 1974, the first A Prairie Home Companion broadcast was performed before a live audience of 12 people at the Janet Wallace Auditorium at Macalester College. We are getting the gang back together, those who were featured on the weekly radio show, including a band led by Richard Dworsky plus our acting company, including Fred Newman, Sue Scott, and Tim Russell, plus a few guest performers who appeared on the show. We hope you can join us for a song or two to mark APHC’s upcoming 50th Anniversary. Ticket information and cities can be found on our website (and keep checking back — more dates are being added).

Listen to the Nov. 6, 2010, compilation

This week, we feature a compilation of shows from 2009, featuring Old Crow Medicine Show, Neko Case, and Robin and Linda Williams. Plus, newsman Harry Smith stars in an episode of The Lives of the Cowboys; Guy Noir investigates a plagiarizing author; and in Lake Wobegon, the review of a 100-year-old football game reveals the long-held belief that the ground upon which it was played is cursed.

Highlights include Garrison being “Unfriended,” Pat Donohue crooning about having the “Gambling Blues,” Neko Case and the “Middle Cyclone,” a script and a song from Harry Smith, plus “Wagon Wheel” from Old Crow Medicine Show and a Guy Noir script with Heather Masse. Listen now or visit our website or social media sites.

Old Crow Medicine Show

With a little luck and a whole lot of talent, Old Crow Medicine Show went from playing their slash-and-burn brand of old-time music on the streets of Boone, North Carolina, to bringing down the house at the Grand Ole Opry. Now based in Nashville, these Grammy winners and Grand Ole Opry inductees are bringing audiences to their feet coast to coast and then some.

The band for this broadcast: Critter Fuqua, Kevin Hayes, Morgan Jahnig, Gill Landry, Chance McCoy, Ketch Secor, and Cory Younts.

Robin & Linda Williams

Robin and Linda Williams first appeared on A Prairie Home Companion in 1975, the same year they recorded their first album. In 2023, they self-released their newest recording A Better Day A-Coming to great acclaim. For five decades, these two have charmed listeners worldwide with their robust blend of bluegrass, folk, old-time, and acoustic country. Robin and Linda claim that they make their home in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, but truth be told, they spend the lion’s share of their time on the road. And fans at every stop are glad they do. Their Fine Group: Jim Watson (bass, mandolin); Chris Brashear (fiddle).

Neko Case

On her way to becoming a singer-songwriter, Neko Case worked in a supermarket meat department, unloaded trucks for UPS, and cooked in restaurants. Lucky for her myriad fans, this former art student settled on a life in music. The songs featured on this show were from her album Middle Cyclone, which NPR called “heartbreakingly beautiful and, at times, comical.” Her latest album is a career retrospective titled Wild Creatures.

Harry Smith

Harry Smith joined CBS News in 1986 as a Dallas-based reporter. Since then, he has covered events worldwide — Hurricane Katrina, the 2005 London terrorist attacks, the Gulf War, political conventions — and interviewed newsmakers of every stripe, from U.S. presidents to film stars to sports figures. Since 2011, the veteran newscaster has worked for NBC News, where he covers breaking news and events.

Garrison often delivered new lyrics to a familiar tune in addition to writing all the comedy sketches for each week’s show. This compilation episode featured a humorous song about being unfriended on social media. Here are the lyrics.

I’ve been unwanted before, it’s true
And uninvited a time or two
Today I’m feeling unusually blue
I’ve been unfriended by you

The hourly updates on your activities
Your joys, your pain, your sensitivities
All of the parties you have attended
No, I’ve been unfriended

I had twenty-nine friends, an old high school buddy,
A couple of guys from Adult Bible Study,
Neighbors, and cousins, a high school classmate,
And then one morning I had sixty-eight.

The list of your friends: 3,000 and growing
Three thousand folks who think you’re worth knowing
You’re a popular person, you don’t need me
You’ve got Carla and Nicholas Sarkozy

Unfriended, where can I go?
Back to the people I used to know.
The women at church, the guys at the bar,
They could try to unfriend me but I know where they are.

I offered you friendship when I saw you online
I thought you’d become a true friend of mine
You posted a comment, I thought we were close
But now I am toast.

I feel like I’m back in my high school cafeteria
And I get the cold shoulder and I’m sent to Siberia
And no one will talk to me, nobody, none,
I once was befriended but now I am Un.

How could you do it, just delete my name?
I’m not a left-winger, nor an old flame,
I’m not a stalker and you’re not a star,
But now I’ll expose you for the jerk that you are.

You know it’s inevitable that we will meet
In real time on an actual street
I’ll be so cool — OMG — how sweet.
And I’ll look away as I press delete.

Unfriended
Unfriended, boogers on you
You and all the friends you knew
Have just been unfriended too

Grab a copy of Garrison’s humorous take on aging, including his very own 23 rules for aging, which will no doubt inspire you to want to keep on getting older. Get the book.

The Best of Guy Noir

A bounty of cases waiting to be solved by America’s favorite private detective.

It’s a dark night in a city that knows how to keep its secrets, but high above the mean streets, a light burns on the 12th floor of the Acme Building, where Guy Noir is trying to find the answers to life’s persistent questions. In his big swivel chair under the bare bulb beside the beat-up gray file cabinet, he awaits the call of his clientele: the disappointed, the paranoid, the embittered, the rejected — and the absurd. Garrison Keillor’s private eye spoof thrilled audiences for over twenty years on live public radio broadcasts of A Prairie Home Companion. Now, for the very first time, thirty-six all-time-favorite Guy Noir episodes are available in one collection. Follow the intrepid detective as he solves cases no other gumshoe would touch, and enjoy Keillor’s intelligent and funny spin on the classic detective genre. Featuring Garrison Keillor, Sue Scott, Tim Russell, Fred Newman, Tom Keith, Walter Bobbie, and special guests. With music by Richard Dworsky. Over 6 hours on 5 CDs. Get the CD.

The 50th Anniversary Polo Shirt

A simple embroidered design to mark the 50th Anniversary of A Prairie Home Companion. The show name and the number “50” are embroidered on the left chest of this gray, lightweight polo shirt, featuring stay-cool wicking technology. Available in both Unisex or Women’s Cuts, in sizes S – XXL.

Get the Unisex Cut or the more fitted Women’s Cut.