Camp Songs from 2003
featuring BeauSoleil avec Michael Doucet, Tim and Mollie O'Brien, and Peter Ostroushko
From 50th Anniversary Celebrations of A Prairie Home Companion, to Garrison’s one-man shows, duet shows with Heather Masse, and performances with Rich Dworsky, our LIVE EVENTS offer many different ways for you to enjoy a live show. View Tour Schedule.
Listen to the classic show!
A Prairie Home Companion travels back to May 31, 2003, to revisit a show from Wolf Trap in Vienna, Virginia, with Tim and Mollie O’Brien, Tom Paxton, and Cajun band BeauSoleil. Peter Ostroushko joins the Shoe Band.
Highlights include “Rising River” from Pat Donohue, “Psalm of the Prairie’\” from Peter Ostroushko, a bevy of favorite camp songs, The Story of Bob, Graduation, Guy Noir, and the latest News, plus talk of the rain and the effect on the lawn audience at this historic venue leading to passing out sheet music of “We’re All Republicans Now” to those seated on the lawn. Listen to the show.
More about our featured performers:
BeauSoleil avec Michael Doucet is a revolutionary Cajun band that has fought to heighten awareness and acceptance of the Cajun culture for the past 50 years. Founded by bandmember Michael Doucet, BeauSoleil has done this by playing and preserving the music of its grandparents, old-style French music, “Not in a stiff, academic manner, but in the way that we had learned it, straight from the heart and … like one’s life depended on it,” according to Doucet. BeauSoleil is the epitome of cultural pride and they have spread that pride in concert halls and at festivals and dances around the world.
Mollie O’Brien grew up in Wheeling, West Virginia, where she and her brother Tim began singing covers of artists like Bob Dylan, Judy Collins, and Peter, Paul & Mary when they were in high school. After a couple years of college, Mollie moved to New York, where she hoped to become a musical-comedy star on Broadway; however, she got stuck working day jobs instead. In 1980 she moved to Boulder, Colorado, and started a band called the Prosperity Jazz Band, which did 1930s and ’40s swing music with three-part harmonies. Today Mollie is regarded as one of the greatest, and most versatile, interpretive singers of her generation.
Mandolinist, composer, arranger Peter Ostroushko, who made his first Prairie Home Companion appearance in 1974, grew up listening to tunes played at family get-togethers in the Ukrainian community of northeast Minneapolis. It’s the music that provided the basis for many of his compositions — works that have been performed by the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and the Kremlin Chamber Orchestra, among others. Peter won an Emmy for the score of Minnesota: A History of the Land.
Cheerfulness by Garrison Keillor
In Cheerfulness, veteran radio host and author Garrison Keillor reflects on a simple virtue that can help us in this stressful and sometimes gloomy era. Drawing on personal anecdotes from his young adulthood into his eighties, Keillor sheds light on the immense good that can come from a deliberate work ethic and a buoyant demeanor. “Adopting cheerfulness as a strategy does not mean closing your eyes to evil,” he tells us; “it means resisting our drift toward compulsive dread and despond.” Funny, poignant, thought-provoking, and whimsical, this is a book that will inspire you to choose cheerfulness in your daily life. Get the book.
Also available, a downloadable version of the book read by the author. Get some “cheerful” advice directly from Garrison himself! Get the download.
A collection of eight different cards with envelopes are available with short passages from the book, so that you can send a bit of cheer to your friends and relatives. Get the book and cards and a discount will be taken off in the shopping cart. Get the cards.
The Best of Guy Noir (5-CD collection)
A bounty of cases waiting to be solved by America’s favorite private detective. The collector’s edition gathers every previously released Guy Noir episode and includes a full CD of never-before-available capers, including this escapade featuring the multitalented Prudence Johnson. Get the CDs or download.
50th Anniversary Mug
Handcrafted by artisans from Deneen Pottery to mark Garrison Keillor’s final year as host of A Prairie Home Companion, these stoneware mugs are stunningly beautiful and one of a kind. Each mug is molded in pieces and then assembled and fired. The medallion features the house that sits at the back of the stage during most live performances. Each mug holds 14 ounces. Get the mug. Available in black and red.