(lullaby music) - [Voiceover] The following program is a production of Pioneer Public Television.

- This program on Pioneer Public Television is funded by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund with money from the vote of the people of Minnesota, on November fourth, 2008.

Additional support provided by Mark and Margaret Yackel-Juleen in honor of Shalom Hill Farm.

A non-profit, rural education retreat center in a beautiful prairie setting near Windom in southwestern Minnesota, shalomhillfarm.org.

The Arrowwood Resort and Conference Center.

Your ideal choice for Minnesota resorts, offering luxury town homes, 18 holes of golf, Darling Reflections Spa, Big Splash Waterpark, and much more.

Alexandria, Minnesota, a relaxing vacation or great location for an event, ExploreAlex.com.

Easy to get to, hard to leave.

(instrumental music) - Welcome to Postcards, I'm Dana Johnson.

Today we'll introduce you to three Minnesota music icons, who have been inducted into the Minnesota Music Hall of Fame.

First we'll meet with Johnny Holm, leader and front man on the widely known and traveled band of the upper mid-west.

- I'm Johnny Holm.

I'm an entertainer.

I was born in Brainerd, Minnesota, 1949.

That's one cute dude, isn't it, huh?

Man, who is that, who is that guy?

That's me.

(laughs) Brainerd was great, growing up was great in Brainerd.

Um, I started liking sports at a really young age.

And that was, that was my life.

Baseball, basketball, football.

Going to the A&W stand at night, simple.

My sports scrapbook.

(laughs) Wow, I think I made that in shop class.

Scrapbook of Johnny Holms.

That's got a lot of stuff in it.

(sports memories play in background) You know one of my earliest musical memories is playing guitar, air guitar, on the bed to a flip side of a Bobby V song.

Bobby V from Fargo.

Flying High it was called.

And just, we were rocking out with that.

And I, to this day, I remember that vividly, because later on my career, you know Bobby helped me too.

But the worst thing, maybe the best thing.

Eighth grade, I had boxes of baseball cards.

Mickey Mantle's, Willie Mays rookie, all these.

I, my mom, I wanted a record, ♪ This is dedicated ♪ ♪ To the one I love ♪ by The Shirelles, and I wanted it so bad, my mother said, If I can throw away all your baseball cards, I'll buy you that record.

And I said okay, can you believe that?

I bet I had $20,000 worth, well more now.

For an 89 second, 89 cent record.

Well, I think I was in love at the time or something.

(laughs) But, that didn't turn out so bad.

Because I had, behind the sports thing was this hidden passion for music.

And then, you know, I think it's eighth grade, and who comes along but the Beatles.

(crowd cheering and shouting) (sneakers squeak on basketball court) Well I had a few, you know, kinda scholarships.

Back then they'd get you a job at colleges.

Just Davis and Concordian, but I always liked Moorhead, Moorhead, Minnesota.

My dad used to take me out to the regional basketball tournaments there, and we'd stay overnight.

I think I had my first real, cool steak at the Silver Moon in Moorhead.

I mean, so I had this, you know, I had this thing about Moorhead I loved, I don't know.

I had a passion to go.

And I went there and that's where I started my, you know when you can't be the star, you gotta do this.

So I went there, played at Moorhead State basketball a couple years.

1969, 70 Moorhead State Dragons.

And there's that other guy, John Holm.

(chuckles) That was a fun year, a fun year of basketball.

Before I went to college, man I practiced, I practiced basketball four hours a day.

Five hours a day, all that summer.

(crowd screams) And I had the best year of my life, my freshman year.

My freshman year, we had a bunch of goofy guys, but we had a great team, and we had a lot of fun.

That was, that was so fun it was kinda the peak.

I knew when it was time to quit.

Then I started singing.

I'd sing on the bus, for the guys and... "Hey Johnny, go get your guitar."

(guitar strums) And ah, one day I went down to try out at a place.

It's called The Rolling Keg.

And they said, "You're too loud, but we'll hire ya."

Twenty bucks a night, and I thought wow.

You're gonna pay me?

Give me 20 bucks and I get to do this?

But I was never a, yeah I was just an okay guitar player.

And it wasn't my...

But from an early, I don't know, right then I thought I, I (guitar strums) I had a thing about communicating with the audience.

So when I, that's kinda what I did.

And sang a lot of different music.

I was playing, I was booking myself, and then I got a call from Dave Hoffman.

Who was Winston Fink from the Unbelievable Uglies.

I thought, this is the coolest thing ever, Winston Fink called me up.

And he wanted to book me.

And I'll forget, he said, I went up to his office and he said, well how much are you getting in Wapitan?

Um, and I said, I'm getting $500 a week.

He said if I get you 800 and take five percent, or 10, 10 percent, would that work out for you?

And I said, sure.

Started, started working with Winston-Kiefer, Dave Hoffman.

And so that kind of branches out a little.

Then we had a song that we worked up.

A guy brought it to me, brought it from Colorado.

It was Lightnin' Bar Blues.

And we played it in Bemidji, one week and it, everybody was singing this song all week.

So, I didn't know how to go about recording it.

Hoyt Axton had written it.

Had wrote Joy to the World, and a bunch of stuff.

So I called him up.

Uh Mr. Axton, this is Johnny Holm in Fargo.

I'd like to record your song.

Well sure.

So we recorded it, and it was a awfully big hit, mid-west wise.

♪ I'll need no diamond ring ♪ ♪ I don't need no Cadillac car ♪ ♪ Just wanna drink my Lone Star beer ♪ ♪ Down in the Lightnin Bar ♪ ♪ Down in the Lightnin Bar ♪ ♪ I don't wanna ♪ (music fades out) And we worked our own version.

Um, kind of arranged in our own way.

And, uh, you know I did probably five albums or six.

Um, in the span of four our five years I guess.

And it got played on rock channels and country.

So it was, that was kind of unheard of back then.

And that, that spread out our area a little.

But we, Dave and I, had sort of a vision for the band.

We would go out a little ways.

We called it 30 mile concentric circles.

That's kinda how we did it.

And it was not easy.

We would go into areas, a southern Minnesota ballroom and have 50 people the first time.

You know, 20 people.

(smacks hand) Perseverance.

(chuckles) 180 shows a year, you know, all over Iowa, Minnesota.

South Dakota, North Dakota, Wisconsin.

We just played Las Vegas at the Hard Rock Cafe.

We were, ah, I think we were doing something in Washinton, DC.

And something in California.

So we're expanding, we're not in 30 mile concentric circles anymore.

(guitar strums) Being married to a musician like my wife, Ev.

You're gone a lot, and I used to be gone a lot more.

And so when I'm gone, they'd, they naturally take care of the household.

The roles get goofed up.

She's a saint, she's, she's a backbone.

She keeps this attention deficit disorder person somehow in order.

When you get onstage, you have to be a professional.

And I believe that's why I learned, I've been able to do it all these years.

Because you, you force yourself, no matter what the circumstances.

That it's not about you, it's about those people who might have paid ten dollars to see you, or whatever.

So you gotta.

♪ Put on a happy face ♪ (guitar strums) - Next we introduce you to Micheal Johnson.

Well known as the man who recorded Bluer than Blue, and several other hits on the country and pop charts.

Micheal held the performers workshop and also performed at the Central Square in Glenwood, Minnesota.

Well my name is Micheal Johnson.

I'm one of many, especially in Minnesota.

I'm a singer songwriter.

It's the only thing I've ever done.

And you can call me Commander.

No, call me Micheal.

Every C chord you play.

(plays C chord) You could play -- Yeah, I did a, I did a performance workshop.

And ah, you know people do songwriter's workshops and ah, vocal workshops and guitar workshops.

And mine was the idea of learning how to accompany yourself.

How to sing and play at the same time.

And how to get out of your own way, as a, as accompanist.

But to be a good accompanist and support yourself.

And the whole idea is that it's all about ah, the lyrics.

It's about what the song is trying to say.

So your job is to, learn how to support that.

I'll sing a song we all know.

♪ This land is your land ♪ ♪ This land is my land ♪ ♪ From California ♪ ♪ To the New York Islands ♪ ♪ From the Redwood Forest ♪ ♪ To the Gulf stream waters ♪ ♪ This land was made for you and me ♪ Alright, now I will sing exactly the same melody, exactly the same lyrics, and I'll sing, and I'll play different chords, and tell me what happens.

Notice what happens.

♪ This land is your land ♪ ♪ This land is my land ♪ ♪ From California ♪ ♪ To the New York Islands ♪ ♪ From the Redwood Forest ♪ ♪ To the Gulf stream waters ♪ ♪ This land was made for you and me.

♪ It changes the meaning of the lyric.

I mean, it just becomes poignant, a little more wistful, maybe.

It's a, it's a sadder story.

It's a longer history, however you wanna describe it.

And that's called chord substitutions.

And I ah, I don't wanna scare you with this phrase, but they're called relative minors.

For every C chord you play.

(plays C chord) You could play an A minor.

(plays A minor chord) This is my baby, its a Kono, made by the master, Kono.

It's a Japanese, hand made, classical guitar.

And ah, there are more expensive guitars.

And probably better, but I love this guy.

And it's exactly the same make and model, although, they're all different one to the next, as the previous guitar I owned, which I drove over.

Accidentally, of course.

Pulling out of an airport, on the off ramp.

And I had the passenger door was not latched.

And.. (makes swish noise) slid out, and thump, I rolled over my guitar.

Tire treads on the case.

I couldn't live that down, I had to.

And they worked on it for a year.

And it was never quite the same.

This is a song about my long lost daughter.

(strums guitar) Or it's a song about April.

The month of April, or spring.

Or a pretty girl.

♪ I'm just a fool for April ♪ ♪ There's nothing more to say ♪ ♪ Long as I can remember ♪ ♪ She's lead my heart astray ♪ ♪ When I was green as a willow ♪ ♪ She had me ditching school ♪ ♪ And even then she tricked me ♪ ♪ I'm just and April fool ♪ It's a classical guitar.

It's a nylon string guitar.

And classical guitars are different from steel-string guitars in a big way.

Ah, not in the tuning.

But in the way they sound.

(strums guitar) They can sound orchestral, or sort of like cellos, you know.

(strums guitar) Where as steel-string guitars.

acoustic steel-string guitars tend to sound a little more like electric guitars.

So, ah, I just always felt that I could be a, I could sing with this.

So that's why, and I've only played a nylon string guitar.

A big thing for me is learning how to stay out of my own way.

As far as music, as far as the performance goes, I wanna do some music behind it that supports it.

But it's not like, stealing the show.

(strums guitar) ♪ Emilio lives in an attic ♪ ♪ Plays a flamenco guitar ♪ ♪ Our videos fall out his window ♪ ♪ And roll down the fenders of rusted out cars ♪ ♪ They harmonize with the sirens ♪ ♪ Mixed with that racket downstairs ♪ ♪ Wander out into the traffic ♪ ♪ Emilio's misguided prayers ♪ (strums guitar) I like to move people, I like to make them, ah, almost forget where they are.

If I can play to somebody, and just have them kinda transport themselves, just for a little bit, then I just love to do that.

♪ Gee, I'm glad I worried about that ♪ ♪ It's bound to do me good ♪ ♪ Just so I know when they lay me out flat ♪ ♪ Done all the worrying I could ♪ ♪ But maybe they'll roast me with speeches and honor me ♪ ♪ Maybe they'll toast me and think of me somberly ♪ ♪ Maybe I'm just stay sad ♪ ♪ Sad ♪ ♪ Sad ♪ ♪ Well gee, ain't I glad that I worried ♪ ♪ So glad that I worried ♪ ♪ Well gee, ain't I glad that I worried about that ♪ So I, I sing and play, and that gives me a chance to, I seem to be a little more engaging, and I talk to people a little but more.

Maybe too much.

But I like to make them laugh and make them cry.

And, ah, kind of an old school entertainer.

(strums guitar) - Now we will meet with Sherwin Linton.

Musician and entertainer for over 50 years.

His personality and performances have given him a loyal legion of friends and fans, all across the country.

- One, two, three, four.

(band plays) ♪ They call me lucky little rich boy ♪ ♪ Got everything ♪ ♪ He the son of a cotton king ♪ - My name is Sherwin Winton, and I'm a traveling musician and entertainer.

(electric guitar strums) - [Voiceover] Sherwin Winton was born July 28th, 1939 in Volga, South Dakota.

Sherwin's Dad, Harry Winton, was a section foreman on the Great Northern Railroad, and Sherwin's mother, Pearline Winton took care of the family and the home.

Sherwin grew up in rural South Dakota with his parents, three brothers, and one sister.

- I was born in Volga, but we actually lived in Arlington, a town about 18 miles away from there.

And, my dad was with the railroad on a section crew and he became a section foreman.

Later an extra-gang foreman, also.

And as a result, we moved around a lot, we moved to Watertown when I was about three, and then to several small towns.

I went to first grade in the little town of Wentworth, South Dakota.

First and second grade.

Moved to Hazel from there, where I went through seventh grade.

And then into Watertown again, where I went to eighth grade through high school.

Where I graduated in 1957.

(1950s style country music) In South Dakota, Watertown was a, was a big town, ah, compared especially to the little villages that we lived in previously.

And, so, there, I began to perform in school events, and ah, other programs on the radio.

And by the time I was in high school, actually developed my own little rock-a-billy band.

Had my own show on KWAT through a good part of my high school years, being both an announcer, a deejay, and a live performer.

Because live performances on the radio were, ah, still very popular at that time.

(guitar strums) This is the first guitar I played when I was about 10 or 11 when this picture was taken in Hazel, South Dakota.

And then, by the time I was 12, I had earned enough money to buy from Kenny Asher, one of his guitars, and this was, ah, the brand was Old Craftsman.

And I guess it was made by Gibson Guitar Company.

But anyway, I bought it for $25, and from him.

And ah, this was the guitar I played then, and ah, still have it right here.

(record static plays) (old country music) I was exposed to an eclectic variety of music because radio stations played wide variety of genres of music in their programming.

So you got exposed to a whole lot of it.

I also played in a high school band.

I was in the high school choir.

And ah, so all of that exposure and experience caused me to love a lot of different kinds of songs and music.

- [Voiceover] Sherwin's high school football career ended when he decided music was his passion.

- So I turned my uniform in, went home, and ah, my mom asked me, what are you doing home?

I said cause I quit football.

And she says, quitters never win.

Well, I'd heard that line before.

She didn't originate it, but ah, I went into my room and got my guitar, and got out, went out and got my little 51 Studebaker, my car, and she says, where are you going?

I says, I'm going out to the radio station and get a job singing on the radio.

- [Voiceover] Sherwin presented an idea to the radio station manager at KWAT.

- He told me he would hire me, but he told me not to play so many Elvis songs like I had on the audition because he said, Elvis is just a flash in the pan, and a year from now, nobody will have ever known who he was.

And ah, I reminded him of that statement many times over the years after that.

But he did give me the program and got me the start in radio and that was just a wonderful thing because I got to be on the air and eventually did announcing there.

Newscasts, knew how to run all of the equipment and the board and the turntables and everything that they had at the time.

It was quite a large station there, with a big studio, and we recorded quite a few early ah, discs there even.

(electric guitar strumming) ♪ Maybelline ♪ ♪ Why can't you be true ♪ ♪ Yeah, Maybelline ♪ ♪ Why can't you be true ♪ I really have to say, that having that job, and being there when there were many other professional people and musicians, and announcers and learning about it, gave me a great launching pad toward my ultimate career in music.

- [Voiceover] Sherwin left Watertown, but not without hesitation.

He thought of driving to the Sun Studios in Memphis, Tennessee, to join the talents of Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Elvis Presley, and Johnny Cash, but finally decided to continue on to Minneapolis and soon formed his band, The Fender Benders.

(electric guitar strums) - In 1958, I attended a show at the Minneapolis Armory, in downtown Minneapolis, that was starring Johnny Cash.

And I got backstage after the show and met him, took this picture actually, at the time.

Got to know him a little better in the 1960s.

1971 ah, I took my band into the state penitentiary in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where we recorded a tribute album to him.

It's called, Hello, I'm Not Johnny Cash.

And it became a very successful album, and sold very well, at the time.

So ah, through the years, he liked it real well.

Wrote me a letter even complimenting me on it, and saying it was the nicest tribute anybody had ever paid to him.

Had me on his show several times.

And through the years, just developed a wonderful friendship with Johnny Cash.

Several years ago, somebody came up to me and said, how long are you going to keep on doing this?

Do you ever have plans to retire?

I said as long as I can keep on performing, hopefully with some percentage of integrity, I would like to keep on singing and entertaining.

I went home that night and wrote this song.

(plays guitar) ♪ In my book of life ♪ ♪ Everyday I turn another page ♪ ♪ Traveling down life's highway ♪ ♪ Forever on the stage ♪ ♪ Singin songs of love gone wrong ♪ ♪ And women half my age ♪ ♪ Of history, philosophy forever on the stage ♪ ♪ Forever on the stage will be my life legacy ♪ ♪ As I travel down the road, only time ♪ - [Voiceover] Sherwin has been performing for over 50 years.

And has received numerous awards during that time including induction into the Minnesota Hall of Fame.

♪In the distance ♪ ♪ I'll be riding another ride ♪ ♪ Forever on the stage ♪ ♪ Forever on the stage ♪ ♪ Forever ♪ ♪ On the stage ♪ - That's all for this week.

For more information go to our website.

See you again next time on Postcards.

- [Voiceover] This program on Pioneer Public Television is funded by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund with money from the vote of the people of Minnesota on November fourth, 2008.

Additional support provided by Mark and Margaret Yackel-Juleen in honor of Shalom Hill Farm, a not-profit, rural education retreat center in a beautiful prairie setting near Windom in southwestern Minnesota, shalomhillfarm.org.

The Arrowwood Resort and Conference Center.

Your ideal choice for a Minnesota resorts, offering luxury townhomes, 18 holes of golf, Darling Reflections Spa, Big Splash waterpark, and much more.

Alexandria Minnesota, a relaxing vacation, or great location for an event, ExploreAlex.com.

Easy to get to, hard to leave.

(instrumental music)