We added a touch of class to our weekend by putting on a pair on clean jeans, heading uptown, and joining the well-dressed masses at Town Hall. Ryan Adams played a string of shows at Town Hall last week, but this was something different - a live broadcast of the radio variety show
A Prairie Home Companion.
We spent some time backstage before the show, where Irish folk singer
Karan Casey was cooing at her baby daughter and members of the jazz ensemble Gravity were enjoying vast spreads of complimentary food. The turkey sandwiches looked good, but we snapped out of our hungry daydream when we were introduced to
Howard Johnson, the tuba-playing legend who leads Gravity. Johnsons resume also includes such big names as The Band (Johnson arranged the horn parts and performed on
The Last Waltz) and
Saturday Night Live (he used to be the shows bandleader). We briefly talked to the band and wished them luck.
Thank you, said Johnson.
I like your hair, added bassist Melissa Slocum.
As for the show itself, were unafraid to say that A Prairie Home Companion absolutely rocks. Garrison Keillor is an old-school emcee with a solid singing voice, a wistful dramatic delivery, and a pair of bright-red sneakers that we really, really wanted to steal. His constant presence keeps the show rooted without stealing the spotlight from the guest musicians. 
Highlights:- Karan Caseys performance of Aililiu na Gamhna, an achingly pretty song sung in Gaelic.
- Gravitys bluesy Workin' Hard for the Joneses, featuring Howard Johnsons daughter Nedra on lead vocals.
- Stuart Duncans fiddle riffs, which turned the shows highly-capable house band (The Guys All-Star Shoe Band) into a pitch-perfect powerhouse of bluegrass and folk.
You stream the show
here. Kudos to
Prairie Home for keeping Real Audio alive and kicking.
