The Great American Folk Show is a little place where we commune with you to share stories, sing songs, and talk to some good people with great voices.
The show is written, recorded, and hosted by folksinger and songwriter Tom Brosseau, produced by Prairie Public Broadcasting. Original instrumentation by Burkum Boys. Additional music by Sean Watkins. Special flyer design by DLT.
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On the radio
Hear a new episode The Great American Folk Show every Saturday at 5pm on Prairie Public, or stream anytime.
Podcast
The Great American Folk Show podcast, released biweekly, features interviews, music, poetry, and more, curated from the show's beloved radio broadcast.
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How to Listen Live
• Tune your radio to Prairie Public. Find your local frequency >
• Stream online >
What's Tom Listening To?
Check out Tom Brosseau's frequently updated playlist of some of his favorite music.
Questions, Comments, Suggestions?
Email Mary Jones at maryjonesmjm@gmail.com.
Listen to The Great American Folk Show's latest weekly radio episodes below.
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Episode 110 features Minnesota singer-songwriter The Weeping Covenant, Colorado duo Mollie O’Brien and Rich Moore, Irish musician Sarah Buckley, and new music from Kim Richey. Plus, producer and audio engineer James Saez talks about the new, unreleased Nat King Cole album, “Live at the Blue Note.” -
In this segment from The Great American Folk Show, host Tom Brosseau visits Maddock, North Dakota, to talk with Jim Gilbertson and Carol Backstrom, who helped form the Maddock Opera House Association — helping to save this historic theatre by turning it into a cafe, library, and live venue. Listen to the conversation above. -
Episode 109 features Minneapolis singer-songwriter Eli Gardiner, singer Ellorie McKnight, English musician Tom Williams, and a live session with trio Manitou Strings at Cliff House. Plus, a visit to the historic opera house in Maddock, North Dakota.
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Episode 108 features North Dakota-born singer Ana Egge, psych rock trio Pacific Sunsets, folk trio Jems, and Cajun artist Ann Savoy. Plus an interview with UND Associate Director of Choral Activities, Melanie Popejoy, on the North Dakota song, “Winter Skies.”
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Alt-rock band The Dandy Warhols are back with a new album, "ROCKMAKER." Frontman Courtney Taylor-Taylor visited The Great American Folk Show to talk with Tom Brosseau about the album, his career, and his couple visits to North Dakota.
The Great American Folk Show podcast features interviews, music, poetry, and more, curated from the show's beloved radio broadcast. Subscribe on your favorite podcast platform.
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Episode 12 features alternative rock band The Dandy Warhols, Chicago singer Nathan Graham, and Grand Forks poet Madelyn Camrud. -
Tom Brosseau chats with incomparable Celtic music star Loreena McKennitt — she hails from Morden, Manitoba, just across the border from North Dakota. We'll sample some songs about borders and boundaries, and Australians with Aussie singing voices. Plus, a set from rising star Nat Vazer, and a performance by Hubby Jenkins, former Carolina Chocolate Drops multi-instrumentalist, recorded at the Grand Forks Public Library. -
Celebrate Women's History month with legendary folk artist Judy Collins and singer-songwriter Dawn Landes, who is releasing a reimagining of "The Liberated Women's Songbook from 1971" later this month. Plus, author and former North Dakota oil worker Micahel Patrick F. Smith reads from his New York Times Op-Ed, an appreciation of the late Toby Keith and shares an original song. And Tom performs a new tune inspired by the Magic City. -
Episode 9 features singer-songwriter and visual artist Jim White, Chicago indie-rock music from Fran, and UK folk band Flyte. -
Episode 8 features Minneapolis hip-hop artist Nur-D, harmonica player Jake Groves, and singer-songwriter Dylan LeBlanc. Plus, we break down the highlights of the Grammys including Taylor Swift, Joni Mitchell and Tracy Chapman; and Tom dusts off a favorite from his back catalogue and performs it live.
Join Tom Brosseau in Dakota Diners as he visits some fantastic places to eat in North Dakota.
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Today on Dakota Diners, we visit with Kevin Hartel of Maple Valley Meats in Enderlin, North Dakota. He makes a sausage that’s very popular — a cold-smoked sausage called Farmer's Rope. Host Tom Brosseau visits with Kevin to learn about the process of cold-smoking. -
In this episode of Dakota Diners, Tom Brosseau visits the Cowboy Café in Medora to talk with co-owner Beth Clyde. -
On today’s Dakota Diners, Tom takes a trip to the Fairdale Café in Fairdale, North Dakota. It’s in the northeast part of the state, in Walsh County. Population: 25. Listen to Tom's friendly visit with Fairdale Café owner, Shiela Myrvik, as they talk about that famous Thursday Klub lunch special, and what it was like to run the café through the pandemic. -
The Wurst Shop in Dickinson offers choice cuts of beef, pork, elk, and buffalo — plus, seafood selections, and all kinds of cheeses. The shop also carries many other North Dakota food products. Host Tom Brosseau visited The Wurst Shop to talk with owner Ken Molitor about the shop and its patrons, head cheese and liver sausage, and the old-fashioned way of preparing these food items. -
Prairie Sky Breads in Minot, North Dakota, opened their storefront in 2020, serving fresh salads, sandwiches, pizzas, and, of course, bread — dill hamburger buns, sourdough, and jalapeno cheddar buns, just to name a few. In this Dakota Diners feature, Tom Brosseau visits Prairie Sky Breads and talks with co-owners Zach and Jazmine Schultz.
Throwing Rocks: The Curling Clubs of North Dakota is an ongoing segment on The Great American Folk Show.
Host Tom Brosseau is on a mission to interview every curling club in North Dakota — he wants to learn how the sport came to the United States, the rules of the game, and the history of curling clubs in our state.
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On this Throwing Rocks segment, Tom Brosseau talks with Dick Nordgren, who once ran the Hazen Curling Club. -
The Minot Curling Club is one of the oldest in the state, and today it’s at its fourth location. Over the years, flooding, a fire, and shifting ground forced a change in venues. But the club has continued to thrive, and welcomes new curlers each year. -
On this Throwing Rocks segment, Roger Smith, curling historian and certified curling instructor at the Capital Curling Club, talks with host Tom Brosseau about the club's history. -
Every February for the past 30 years, Tom’s Lounge — the local bar in Forest River, North Dakota — has hosted an outdoor bonspiel. Some 40 teams took part this year. For a town of 100-some inhabitants, Forest River more than doubles its size during the three-day event. -
The Crosby Curling Club has been “throwing rocks” for 61 years and counting — making it possibly the oldest curling club in North Dakota. Tom Brosseau traveled to Crosby to meet with club member and board member Josh Bummer.
