Bluegrass Bonanza from 1996

featuring Norman Blake, Kate MacKenzie, and VocalEssence

Listen to the October 19, 1996, Show!

This week, we revisit a classic from 1996, which was recorded Live from the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul, Minnesota — with Norman Blake, Kate MacKenzie, and the Ensemble Singers of the Plymouth Music Series (now VocalEssence).

Highlights include Kate MacKenzie performing songs from her Grammy-nominated album, including the title track, “Age of Innocence,” and “Driftless.” Norman Blake picks “Turn Your Radio On” and “Heartbreak Hill.” The band kicks things up with “Weary Farewell Blues.” Plus the Cowboys, Fred Farrell, Famous Celebrities, Catchup, Guy Noir, and a visit to the Mall of America. Listen to the show.

Kate MacKenzie has been a favorite guest of A Prairie Home Companion since 1981. For many years, she was lead singer of Stoney Lonesome, with whom she recorded six bluegrass albums, toured Japan and North America, and was featured in the public television series Showcase. With the Hopeful Gospel Quartet, MacKenzie recorded a live album from Carnegie Hall, performed at folk festivals in Scotland and Denmark, and appeared on PBS’ Austin City Limits. Her work with A Prairie Home Companion has included coast-to-coast tours, farewell and reunion shows, 20 Disney Channel television broadcasts, the 1993 Book of Guys tour, and a recurring dramatic role as Sheila, the Christian Jungle girl (wild, yet pure). Read our guest interview or grab her newest album.

Norman Blake is a North Georgia-born multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, and songwriter who has enjoyed a career that has spanned nearly seventy years. While he has appeared in several bluegrass bands and has performed as a session player on a number of bluegrass albums, he thinks of himself primarily as a rural country. He has appeared on A Prairie Home Companion many different times over three decades, often with his wife, Nancy.

The 50th Anniversary Celebration (2CD) Pre-Sale

On July 6, 1974, Garrison Keillor and a few musicians and friends staged the very first A Prairie Home Companion show at the Janet Wallace Auditorium before a small but encouraging crowd. Now, 50 years later, Garrison gathered together the Royal Academy of Radio Actors and the Guy’s All-Star Shoe Band plus some of the guest musicians and duet partners and began a 50th Anniversary Tour of shows around the country. What began as a concept of five Live shows has turned into about 35 shows, with Garrison rewriting portions of the show for each stop. It is a true celebration of A Prairie Home Companion, with the almost three-hour show featuring many songs and stories, words from your favorite sponsors, sketches featuring Guy Noir, the Cowboys and Mom, a few duets and solos plus the latest News from Lake Wobegon. It is a show that has gotten fans fairly nostalgic and left them wanting more. So many stories from fans letting us know what the show has meant to them, and this gem of a CD features highlights of the often funny and nostalgic performances. We sure hope you enjoy it! Get the CDs. (Download info to follow as we approach the release date)

From our interview with Kate MacKenzie:

My favorite tune on the new disc MacKenzie/Adkins is the Bob Dylan tune “Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here with You.” What a great lyric. What drew you to the song? How did you go about figuring who sang lead on each track?

“Tonight I’ll be Staying Here With You” is a song that has haunted me for 35 years. I always thought it would make a great bluegrass tune but never had the right moment to record it until now. Who knew it would ring so true when 2020 arrived and we all ended up staying home together? We could only talk Suzanne into singing two songs, so Dale and I brought our favorites to complete the album. The three of us are so compatible yet coming from slightly different corners of the musical universe, so it was a fun mix

During the long gap, did you continue to play and sing?

I stepped away from touring in 2000 and retired (mostly) to the High Desert of Oregon, but I found I couldn’t stay away from music for long. I started teaching and coaching local bluegrass bands, and formed a jazz trio for a while, sang with my sisters and friends in the living room, played guitar in a 14-piece big band for a year (and I thought banjos were loud!) and revived my classical piano studies that I had abandoned at age 12. But it felt wonderful to get back to my bluegrass roots with this CD! Get the CD.