A Prairie Home Companion - Cast

Cast

In addition to Garrison Keillor, several other performers frequently appear on A Prairie Home Companion:

Featured regular members of Guy's All-Star Shoe Band:

• Pat Donohue – acoustic and steel guitars, vocals
• Richard Dworsky – piano, organ, synthesizer, melodica, keyboards, vocals, band leader, music director
• Gary Raynor – bass, bass guitar
• Peter Johnson – drums, percussion
• Andy Stein – violin, tenor and bass saxophones, vocals (now only appears occasionally)
• Jearlyn Steele – gospel vocals
• Jevetta Steele – gospel vocals

Other frequent, occasional, former or one-time guest members of Guy's All-Star Shoe Band (some of whom were also members of The Powdermilk Biscuit Band):

• Peter Ostroushko – mandolin, acoustic guitar, fiddle
• Randy Sandke – trumpet, piano, keyboards
• Arnie Kinsella – drums, percussion, steel drums (now only appears occasionally)
• Richard Kriehn – fiddle, banjo, mandolin
• Vince Giordano – bass saxophone, tuba (also band leader of the Nighthawks Orchestra, a Brooklyn-based jazz-style brass band)
• Butch Thompson – clarinet (also appears as a frequent guest pianist)
• Joe Savage – steel guitar, vocals
• Greg Brown – harmonica and electric, acoustic, and steel guitars
• Becky Schlegel – piano, acoustic guitar, vocals
• Duke Heitger – trumpet, alto saxophone
• Cindy Cashdollar – dobro, steel and acoustic guitars
• John Niemann – fiddle, mandolin, electric and bass guitars
• Barb Ryman – banjo, acoustic guitar
• Roswell Rudd – trombone (only appeared once)
• Leslie Gregory – fiddle, vocals
• Bernie Sundermeyer – bass, vocals
• Edwin Johnson – fiddle, vocals
• Marc Anderson – drums, percussion
• Buddy Emmons – dobro, steel guitar, vocals
• Michael B. Nelson - trombone, tuba
• Charlie Parr – steel guitar, vocals
• Bruce Johnson – fiddle, vocals
• Dick Rees – accordion, fiddle, vocals
• Dale Mendenhall - trumpet, alto saxophone
• Kenni Holmen – alto and tenor saxophones, clarinet
• Steve Strand – trumpet, trombone
• Mary DuShane – fiddle, vocals
• Bill Staines – acoustic guitar, vocals
• LeRoy Larson – banjo, vocals
• Elana James – fiddle, vocals
• Dakota Dave Hull – acoustic guitar, vocals
• Philip Brunelle – piano, organ, vocals
• Helge Lamo – accordion, vocals
• Jim Fryer - trombone, trumpet
• Sean Blackburn – acoustic guitar, vocals
• Bob Douglas – mandolin, spoons
• Adam Granger – fiddle, steel and acoustic guitars, vocals
• John Koerner – acoustic guitar, vocals
• Dave Brown - tuba, trombone
• Bob Leary – banjo, acoustic guitar
• Cal Hand – dobro, steel guitar
• Dan Newton – accordion, vocals
• Paul Dahlin – fiddle, vocals
• Dean McGraw - acoustic guitar, vocals
• Mel Brenden – accordion, vocals
• Chris Silver – acoustic guitar, fiddle, vocals
• Jon Pankake – fiddle, vocals
• Chuck Hedges – clarinet, oboe
• Dan Barrett – trumpet, cornet
• Charlie MaGuire – acoustic guitar, vocals
• Sam Bush – mandolin, banjo, vocals
• Kathy Jensen – trumpet, French horn
• Mike Craver – acoustic guitar, vocals
• Pop Wagner – fiddle, vocals
• Soupy Schindler – harmonica, vocals
• William Huckaby – piano, vocals
• Tony Ross – cello, vocals
• Kim Cusack – clarinet, oboe
• Molly Mason – bass, acoustic guitar, vocals
• Tim Hennessy – acoustic guitar, vocals
• Dick Hyman - keyboards, organ, piano
• Howard Levy – harmonica, acoustic guitar
• Greg Hippen – bass, vocals
• Catie Jo Pidel – fiddle, violin
• Scott Robinson – trombone, French horn
• Guthrie Trapp – mandolin, acoustic and electric guitars, vocals
• Stuart Duncan – fiddle, vocals
• Dan Neale – acoustic and steel guitars, vocals
• Dave Bargeron – trombone, French horn
• Jon-Erik Kellso – trumpet, tenor saxophone
• Rob Fisher - piano, organ, vocals
• J.T. Bates - drums, percussion

Guy's All Star Shoe Band also uses guest musicians from time to time. When the Shoe Band has a horn section, Keillor calls them the Shoe Horns.

• Folk music duo Bill Hinkley and Judy Larson occasionally appeared as guest musicians. Hinkley died of cancer in May 2010. He was 67 years old.
• Country star and fiddler Joe Ely and accordionist Joel Guzman have frequently performed together on the show as guest musicians.

Sound effects artists:

• Tom Keith (also known as Jim Ed Poole) (deceased)
• Fred Newman

Keith appeared in all the home-based shows while Newman appeared in the away shows. The only time the two performed together was during the Minnesota State Fair. Keith died on October 30, 2011, after a heart attack. He was 64 years old. Leslye Orr, the only woman to have served as the show's sound effects person, appeared as a guest a few times. Steve Kramer has appeared as a sound effects man on the show multiple times.

Actors:

• Tim Russell
• Sue Scott
• During the show's season as The American Radio Company of the Air, Bob Elliott was a regular cast member. In the 1990s, before Russell joined the cast, Bill Perry and Walter Bobbie were members. Ivy Austin was a regular contributing comedienne and vocalist in the early '90s. Prudence Johnson has performed frequently on the show both as a singer and an actress. Mark Benninghofer joined the cast as a substitute actor for a brief time after Russell broke his ankle in February 2009, forcing him to take medical leave for a full month. Russell returned to work in March 2009. Erica Rhodes has been an occasional guest since she was 10 years old.

Frequently appearing guest singers:

• Andra Suchy, a frequent guest singer and guitarist.
• Heather Masse, a third of the folk music trio The Wailin' Jennys
• Sara Watkins, a former Nickel Creek member and fiddle player. She also plays the ukulele.
• Maria Jette, a frequent guest singer.
• Janet Sorensen, a frequent guest singer.
• Aoife O'Donovan, a frequent guest singer.

A Prairie Home Companion Production Staff:

• Margaret Moos, original producer
• Tony Axtell, House Sound Engineer
• Debra Beck, Logistics
• Theresa Burgess, Production Assistant
• Kate Gustafson Sanderson, Managing Director
• Tiffany Hanssen, Producer
• Marguerite Harvey, Production Assistant
• Caroline Hontz, Tour Manager
• Sam Hudson, Broadcast Engineer/Talent Producer
• Tony Judge, Special Projects
• Janis Kaiser, Lighting Designer
• Jason Keillor, Producer, Recording Engineer
• Ben Miller, Web Producer
• David O'Neill, Marketing Director/Station Relations/Archivist
• Russ Ringsak, Truck Driver, Researcher, Writer
• Kathy Roach, Writer's Almanac/APHC Correspondence/Permissions
• Thomas Scheuzger, Assistant Technical Director/Transmission Engineer
• Ella Schovanec, Research and Assistance
• Kathryn Slusher, Segment Producer/Music Librarian/Music Coordinator
• Noah Smith, Production Assistant
• Nic Vetter, Research and Assistance
• Albert Webster, Stage Manager

The Staff are the people who work onstage, offstage, backstage, or behind the scenes. During performances, Albert Webster frequently appears on stage (mainly to talk privately with Garrison or other performers) and can be seen by audience members. Webster is the only staff person who appears on stage in front of large audiences.