JORMA KAUKONEN JOINS LIVE JUNE 21 BROADCAST AT BLOSSOM
GARRISON KEILLOR'S "A PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION" WILL ALSO FEATURE WAILIN' JENNYS AND ROBIN AND LINDA WILLIAMS
Tuesday May 20, 2008

For immediate release
Contact: Robert J. Burford, WKSU
(330) 672-3114
burford@wksu.org

Fingerpicking guitar master Jorma Kaukonen will be the featured guest artist when WKSU presents a live broadcast of "A Prairie Home Companion" with Garrison Keillor at Blossom Music Center on June 21. Kaukonen was a founding member in 1965 of the ground-breaking, San Francisco-based Jefferson Airplane, a 1996 inductee in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. While still performing with the group, he formed Hot Tuna, a side-project with Jefferson Airplane bass player Jack Casady that allowed Kaukonen to focus on rootsy, blues and folk-based sound. Hot Tuna still tours and Kaukonen has produced a number of solo albums, including 2007's "Stars in My Crown," released by Red House Records. When not out on the road, the virtuoso guitarist and one-time Antioch student is a much in-demand instructor at his Fur Peace Ranch Guitar Camp that he owns and operates with his wife, Vanessa, in southern Ohio.

For this live broadcast at Blossom on June 21, Kaukonen will join host Keillor, the Royal Academy of Radio Acting (Tim Russell and Sue Scott), sound effects man Fred Newman and the "Prairie Home" house band, The Guys' All-Star Shoe Band (featuring Rich Dworsky and Pat Donohue). Other musical guests for the live broadcast are Robin and Linda Williams and the Canadian acoustic trio The Wailin' Jennys.

Robin and Linda Williams began playing Americana long before that title became popular to describe their acoustic, folk, bluegrass, acoustic country mix. Popular performers on the roots-music circuit, the married duo have made numerous appearances on "A Prairie Home Companion," joining with host Keillor and Kate MacKenzie to form the Hopeful Gospel Quartet. The pair was also featured in the major motion picture loosely based on Keillor's live radio show, also called "A Prairie Home Companion," that was the final production of Academy Award-winning director Robert Altman. Their latest release is "Radio Songs."

The Wailin' Jennys are no strangers to the "Prairie Home" stage, either. The acoustic trio won a JUNO Award (the Canadian Grammy) in 2005 for their fresh rootsy sound and powerful vocal blend. With a recent tweak to the band’s line-up, the group is expanding their music to include high-energy alt-country and pop songs. Ruth Moody (vocals, guitar, accordion, banjo), Nicky Mehta (vocals, guitar, harmonica) and Heather Masse (vocals, upright bass) bring an irresistible mix of folk, Celtic, bluegrass, jazz, and North American music traditions to their performances.

All of the guest artists for the live "A Prairie Home Companion" broadcast at Blossom appear on "Our Side of Town," a sampler of Red House Records artists compiled to mark the independent label’s 25th anniversary.

Garrison Keillor created "A Prairie Home Companion" in St. Paul, MN, in 1974. The program echoes the atmosphere of old-time radio variety shows produced in front of a live audience, combining comedy sketches, musical numbers and a monologue from Keillor. The host's musings on the fictional Lake Wobegon, MN, celebrate small town life and have become one of the most-beloved segments of the program. The show is heard weekly on more than 575 public radio stations throughout the U.S. and in Europe and the Far East on America One and the Armed Forces Networks.

Tickets for the live broadcast are now on sale through all Ticketmaster outlets, by phone and online at Ticketmaster.com. Prices are $60 for gold circle pavilion seats, $48 for standard pavilion seats, $34 for bench seating and $26 for lawn tickets. Children 12 and under can attend for free on the lawn when accompanied by an adult with paid admission.

WKSU's live broadcast of "A Prairie Home Companion" from Northeast Ohio is made possible through support from Kent State University, The J.M. Smucker Co., Akron Beacon Journal, Cascade Auto Group, Diebold Inc., Ohio.net, TeleCommunity Credit Union, Western Reserve Academy, Billow Funeral Homes, Lehman's, Metro Regional Transit Authority, National First Ladies' Library and North Eastern Ohio Education Association.

WKSU broadcasts NPR & Classical Music at 89.7 FM, and is a service of Kent State University. WKSU programming is also heard on WKRW 89.3 FM in Wooster, WKRJ 91.5 FM in Dover/New Philadelphia, WKSV 89.1 FM in Thompson, WNRK 90.7 in Norwalk, W298BA 107.5 FM in Boardman, and W239AZ 95.7 FM in Ashland. The WKSU web site is www.wksu.org.

PR08.06           ###      5/20/08

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