"A Prairie Home Companion" is a public radio phenomenon, and the person responsible for the program’s success over the years is host and creator Garrison Keillor.
Keillor presented the first show in July 1974 to an audience of 12. Today the show reaches across the country with more than 1,000 stations. Some 35 million radio listeners tune in each week, and there are many more downloads, streams, page views, friends and followers.
If you’re a fan of the show, it's probably not news to you that Garrison Keillor has decided to hang up his hat as host.
Keillor's last broadcast as host will be performed at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles on July 1 and aired on OPB Radio on July 2 from 3–5 p.m. and again on July 3 from noon–2 p.m.
July 9 through September, from 6–8 p.m., OPB will broadcast encore performances of "A Prairie Home Companion" with Keillor, complete with "News from Lake Wobegon." And on October 15, Keillor will officially hand over the baton to the show’s new host, Chris Thile.
While a mandolinist at heart, Thile's wide range of musical taste, paired with his vast network of talented friends, is expected to draw a wide range of talent to show.
The person pushing him onto the stage and into the light is Garrison himself. Thile made his first "A Prairie Home Companion" appearance in 1996. That broadcast showcased remarkable young artists. Thile was 15 and, by any measure, fit the bill.
"I remember when my mom and I checked into the hotel," he said years later. "I had never stayed at a hotel!"
Since that early APHC appearance, Thile has certainly made his mark in bluegrass with his band Nickel Creek and albums such as "Sleep with One Eye Open." His mandolin concerto, "Ad astra per alas porci" ("To the stars on the wings of a pig"), had its official premiere in 2009 with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra.
He has collaborated with a who's who of musicians. His album "Bass & Mandolin" with Edgar Meyer won a Grammy, as did "The Goat Rodeo Sessions," for which he joined forces with Meyer, Stuart Duncan and Yo-Yo Ma. "Bach: Sonatas and Partitas, Vol. 1" was released in 2013.
In 2012, Thile was honored with a MacArthur "genius" grant. The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation described him as "a young mandolin virtuoso and composer whose lyrical fusion of traditional bluegrass with elements from a range of other musical traditions is giving rise to a new genre of contemporary music.
With a broad outlook that encompasses progressive bluegrass, classical, rock, and jazz, Thile is transcending the borders of conventionally circumscribed genres in compositions for his own ensembles and frequent cross-genre collaborations."
Keillor says of Thile, "Chris is my man. He is, I think, the great bluegrass performer of our time, and he is a beautiful jazz player. There just isn't anything he can't do, and he is very enthusiastic about live radio."
"I grew up with the show," says Thile. "I take this opportunity, this job, immensely seriously and with great awe."
Thile is married to actress Claire Coffee (currently of NBC’s “Grimm”). The couple, along with their young son, Calvin, live in Portland.
On October 15 at 6 p.m., please join us in welcoming Thile to "A Prairie Home Companion" and OPB. You have the opportunity to express your wishes to Keillor here.
Additional OPB program changes include:
- "Live Wire" with host Luke Burbank moves to Saturdays at 3 p.m. as of July 9.
- "The Dinner Party Download" returns to OPB Saturdays at 4 p.m. as of July 9.
- "Radiolab" moves to Sundays at 3 p.m. as of July 10.
- "The Moth" moves to Saturdays at 8 p.m. (following "A Prairie Home Companion") as of July 9.
- "Snap Judgment" moves to Saturdays at 9 p.m. as of July 9.
- "Freakonomics" can be heard Sundays at 11 a.m. as of July 10. Rebroadcasts continue Thursdays at 10 p.m..
- "TED Radio Hour" moves to Sundays at noon as of July 10.
- The short series "Invisibilia" returns to OPB Sundays at 1 p.m. as of July 10 (and through September).
Find the complete OPB Radio schedule here.