Nell Robinson is a west coast Bluegrass, Folk & Country artists who regularly performs with John Reischman and the Jaybirds, Jim Nunally and Laurie Lewis. Her latest album is the 2009 release, “Nell Robinson in Loango.”
Robinson also performs in a duo known as The Henriettas that pays homage to the 1930′s sister duo The DeZurik Sisters with friend and fellow artist Cary Sheldon.
Back in April of this year, Nell Robinson was contacted by Garrison Keillor who was looking to book The Henriettas for “A Prairie Home Companion” episode taking place in Seattle.
In the midst of this, Robinson’s Father was gravely ill and expected not to live much longer. After much consideration and conversation with Robinson’s family in Florida it was agreed by all that she should take the oppurtunity to perform on “A Prairie Home Companion.”
Below Nell shares her memories of the emotional roller-coaster day she experienced performing on “A Prairie Home Companion” and learning of her Father’s passing. Nell graciously allowed us to include 3 songs with this story that include 2 yet to be released tunes from both Nell herself and The Henriettas. You can listen to them at the bottom of this page.
The Henriettas Old-Time Duo Appear on A Prairie Home Companion
By Nell Robinson
All Photos courtesy Nell Robinson.The very familiar voice came over my car radio via my hands-free cell phone setup. “This is Garrison Keillor, I want to talk with you about The Henriettas.”
I wish I hadn’t accused him of being a prankster. But he was indeed calling from Seattle, where A Prairie Home Companion was producing their weekly radio show. It was Tuesday, March 29th, and he asked if we could fly up and perform on his show on Saturday, April 3rd.
Cary Sheldon and I have been obsessively reviving a 1930s sister duo, The DeZurik Sisters, Mary Jane and Carolyn DeZurik. They were also known as the Cackle Sisters because they wrote and interpreted incredibly intricate harmonized songs and yodels with all sorts of natural sounds, like chickens, whip-poor-wills, bees, horses, and ducks (at least, that’s what it sounds like to us).
The day after the call came from Garrison Keillor, I learned that my father was very ill and not expected to live much longer. I called back to the radio show and told them it was possible we couldn’t do it. Their grace and kindness was just what you might expect from the folks in Lake Wobegone. I was ready to forget the show and fly right home to Florida. But after a few days of conversation, the family decided that Mom – Dad’s wife of 55 years – was the one that he really wanted by his side.
I packed pictures of my parents’ wedding (Mom was 19, Dad was 21) and their 50th wedding anniversary. Cary and I flew into Seattle at the crack of dawn on Saturday. Oh, but we were tired! Three and half hours sleep. We checked into our rooms and then met Garrison (let’s call him GK) for a van ride to the Paramount Theatre. He had his trademark red tennis shoes on. He asked about our gig the evening before and I mentioned a Johnny Cash song that friend and guitarist Jim Nunally and I sang called “I Still Miss Someone.” He said, “We’ll close the show with that.” It became apparent how the show gets created. You could just hear his mind whirring.
The Paramount is an incredibly ornate old theatre with 3000 seats. It’s a real beauty. The show was sold out.
We got onstage to rehearse and GK asked if we would sing – I mean cluck – the “Powdermilk Biscuit” song with him. I asked GK if he would be God in my song “Woe is Me” and he humbly agreed to take on that role.
Quick clothes change (Oh no! Where’s my headband? Can you see through my dress? Get rid of that lipstick, it’s going to distract me!). Then we went to stage right to await our cue, gripping the show plan handed out to us and watching the all-powerful stage manager, Albert Webster, with an eagle eye. They had us down for all three songs we’d rehearsed, plus the “Biscuit” jingle and joining in at the end for the last song. Cary quietly meditated. I sat with my Dad’s pictures in my lap and watched the show.
Just before we went on, we realized we had a few questions: If GK asks us a question, what do we do? True to The DeZurik Sisters, The Henriettas do not speak onstage, they just cluck. Is it okay if we cluck and then translate? We usually throw feathers at the end, is that okay? And can the show’s sound genius Fred Newman add sound effects to “Woe is Me”? Yes, yes, yes, said the stage manager. “Okay,” we thought, “country has come to town.”
The audience was great, and we came backstage and enjoyed every minute of the rest of the show. It was that fast. Over before we knew it. Cary and I made friends, took pictures, breathed an enormous sigh of relief, and asked each other if this really just happened.
On our way out to the van to ride back to the hotel, my phone rang with an urgent message. My husband Skip said he was proud of me, and then told me that my father had passed away that morning and that the family wanted to wait until after the show to tell me. Dad breathed his last breath while holding my mother’s hand, just the two of them. From elation to the deepest sadness in a moment; there’s no other way to put it. Cary and I ordered room service and a bottle of wine, put on a movie and cried and laughed until way too late.
A friend recently gave me a copy of the Blue Sky Boys’ song “Turn Your Radio On.” And that just seemed the perfect way to think about this particular Saturday. I figured that my Dad had made his flight to the next stop, gone through baggage claim, and had the time to settle in front of a radio with all our loved ones and tune in.
“Turn your radio on, and listen to the music in the air
Turn your radio on, Heaven’s glory to share
Turn your lights down low, and listen to the Master’s radio
Get in touch with God, turn your radio on” Blue Sky Boys’ song “Turn Your Radio On”
You can listen to the April 3, 2010 edition of “A Prairie Home Companion” online at the Prairie Home Companion web site’s archives.
Listen to The Henriettas and Nell Robinson
“He Left Me Standing There” – The Henriettas
“Big Ball inTexas” The Henriettas*
* Not yet released
“Woe is Me” Nell Robinson*
* Not yet released