Where does the Guy’s All-Star Shoe Band go when they aren’t on Prairie Home Companion? They get New Shoes!
This new project finds members of Prairie Home Companion’s Guy’s All-Star Shoe Band stretching out in new directions. Richard Kriehn (fiddle, mandolin), Gary Raynor (bass), Joe Savage (pedal steel guitar), and Peter Johnson (drums) present original music and Americana gems that span several decades.
When Richard Kriehn turned 10, his mom bought him a mandolin; at 19, he won the Buck White International Mandolin Contest. He went on to play with the Nashville Mandolin Ensemble and bluegrass group 1946. On the classical side, he has performed with numerous orchestras.
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Gary Raynor (bass) has performed with the Count Basie band, Sammy Davis Jr. — with whom he toured for several years and the Minnesota Klezmer Band. He teaches jazz bass at the McNally Smith College of Music in St. Paul.
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Peter Johnson (percussion) has played klezmer music with Doc Severinsen and jazz with Dave Brubeck. He was a drummer for The Manhattan Transfer and for Gene Pitney. He has toured the world, but he always comes back to home base: Saint Paul.
As a member of the Midwest Country Theatere band, Joe Savage performed with legendary country singers such as the late Hank Thompson, Margo Smith, Rex Allen, Jr., Jean Shepard, Jeannie Seely, Stonewall Jackson, Jim Ed Brown, David Frizzell, Wanda Jackson, Narvel Felts, Tommy Cash. He’s worked with Peter Ostroushko, the late Floyd “Red Crow” Westerman, and sat in with Bonnie Raitt.