Prudence Johnson
| Prudence Johnson | |
|---|---|
| Born | Moose Lake, Minnesota, U.S. |
| Genres | Folk, jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Singer |
| Instruments | Vocals |
| Labels | Red House |
| Associated acts | Rio Nido |
| Website | www |
Prudence Johnson is an American folk and jazz singer.
Prudence Johnson grew up in a musical family in Moose Lake, Minnesota. In the early 1970s, Prudence was a co-founder with Tim Sparks of the vocal jazz group Rio Nido. The group recorded three albums and performed extensively, most often in the Minneapolis, Minnesota area.
After her time with Rio Nido, she recorded three solo albums for Red House Records: Vocals, Songs of Greg Brown, and Little Dreamer, the latter a collection of children's lullabyes from around the world which earned Johnson a 1992 Grammy Award nomination.
She was awarded a McKnight Fellowship to record Moon Country, a collection of Hoagy Carmichael songs. She has collaborated with four Minnesota composers to create A Girl Named Vincent, a presentation of the poetry of Edna St. Vincent Millay set to music.
In 2005, Johnson produced, directed, and performed in a musical production about the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald titled Ten November. The production featured Claudia Schmidt, Ruth McKenzie, Kevin Kling and Peter Ostroushko. She produced the album. The production tells the story of the sinking of the ship from the point of view of crew members, local sailors, and the wives of crew members.
She is a long-time guest on Garrison Keillor's radio program, A Prairie Home Companion.
With the re-release on CD of Hi Fly and I Like to Riff in 2007 by the Japanese label Bittersweet America, the original Rio Nido lineup of Johnson, Sparks, and Tom Lieberman performed a number of reunion shows. Rio Nido was inducted into the Minnesota Rock and Country Hall of Fame in April 2007.
Johnson's film credits include Robert Redford's A River Runs Through It in a role as a singer and Robert Altman's A Prairie Home Companion as herself.
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Wikipedia