Garrison Keillor continues his two-week break from his radio duties, letting Thile step to the centerstage mic at the Fitzgerald Theater. Keillor returns to hosting duties February 21.
Thile will be joined by musical guests Rhiannon Giddens, and Jerry Douglas presents the Earls of Leicester by his string quintet comrades Punch Brothers, singer Sarah Jarosz, poet Billy Collins, and storyteller Tristan Jimerson.
As always, the Royal Academy of Radio Actors, Tim Russell, Sue Scott, and Fred Newman, will be on hand, as will music director Rich Dworsky.
Thile is no stranger to A Prairie Home Companion, making his first appearance on the show in 1996, playing mandolin at age 15. Of his role as Prairie Home guest host the next two weeks, Thile says:
"It's still more like a dream about flying than anything else - I have to keep reminding myself that I will, in fact, be guest-hosting A Prairie Home Companion. I bet it won't all come into focus until the moment I say something that is graced by a Fred Newman sound effect. It'll be like waking up in the middle of a flying dream, actually doing loop-the-loops a few thousand feet over a very real Lake Wobegon."
Hear A Prairie Home Companion live from St. Paul, Minnesota, Saturday afternoons at 4 on KSUT, Four Corners Public Radio.