Thile's First Prairie Home Companion

[Astro]

I caught the first half in the car on the way to a gig so I couldnt finish hearing it. I thought it was great. Different as expected. And this is probably a transition time for Thele. He is trying to emulate GK a bit as might be expected here at first. Eventually he will find his own groove and play to his own strengths.

[Northfield mando]

Does anybody know: Was that a Northfield octave Sarah Jarosz was playing? Kinda looked like it.

Good eye - it was. Big honor for us! What a great show with such tremendous talent all the way through. Looking forward to many more.

[Steve-o]

"Plus, his Keillor's voice, like it or not, was the show's canvass that everything else was painted on."

I have to agree with you there Charlie. I will always associate that lazy Sunday afternoon baritone voice with PHC.

[catmandu2]

Funny, but I was thinking the same thing. Music as expected was superb, and a more musical-oriented show will be quite welcome. But it's not the Prairie Home Companion without the goofy and (sometimes tedious) skits. Plus, his Keillor's voice, like it or not, was the show's canvass that everything else was painted on.

I hope it goes on for a long time, but I can see a lot of old fans gradually turning away. I'd rather see it go under a new name and be almost a radio version of The Ed Sullivan show. Quick interview, music, bang; next up... Heck, stick that on TV also.

Yes it's a different show. I likely won't be tuning in as frequently as I have over the decades, for the literary banter, social observation and parochial humor - together with Keillor's wit and sardonic storytelling - was what made PHC for me. Mandolins and fiddles are great, but no replacement for Keillor.

[Lord of the Badgers]

Sarah Jarosz is in the house band? That's a pretty good house band ...

she posted about it on Facebook via her fan account nice pic from her spot in the band

[Lord of the Badgers]

Good eye - it was. Big honor for us! What a great show with such tremendous talent all the way through. Looking forward to many more.

you should sell one to me

[doc holiday]

Seems likely. I think that instrument has motivated a lot of archtop GBOM builders and buyers (including me!)

Really, Tim O'Brien's Nugget was the starting point, then a bunch of great players like Ben Winship & Eli West were out playing Fletcher Brock's OMs. Sarah J subsequently got lots of Youtube coverage. Michael Heiden's made a few killer OMs lately too.

[mandolinstew]

I thought the show was great. Nice to think that, just perhaps, PHC, like many long lasting institutions, is larger than its originator.

"Yeah, things ain't what they used to be!" Yep.

Sometimes things must change or need to change or maybe just change. If "old fans turn away" so be it. I've listened to PHC since its inception and I'm wide open to finding a new companion on the prairie. I think that there just may be a new generation of listeners who will feel the same way and my hope (hunch) is that many might even listen back in the archives to earlier shows and discover the pleasures.

I would celebrate 10 years of CT at the helm of the prairie schooner and happily anticipate the next incarnation of PCH.

Mick

10 years?

[brunello97]

10 years?

Wishful thinking....

Mick

[JAK]

"Wishful thinking...." You never know how things are going to turn out when they start out. When Alison Krauss was starting out I heard more than one critic say she would never last. And now, well her story couldn't be a better one regarding her music.

[JeffD]

I would celebrate 10 years of CT at the helm of the prairie schooner and happily anticipate the next incarnation of PCH.

I only heard a little of it, but I agree. Even if the name changes.

I remember back in 1987 when Keillor ended PHC and then two years later launched a new live radio program from New York City, "The American Radio Company of the Air".

"I smell the onions, I look around for you."

Sometime in the early 90s he moved the show back to St. Paul, and then changed the name back to "A Prairie Home Companion".

I can foresee, after Thile's incarnation of the show ceases to rest on the reputation of Keillor's creation, that perhaps a name and venue change would occur. But I would be surprised if there isn't a Chris Thile Radio Hour of some kind ten or more years out. Great things can come out of that, and Thile is the one to make that happen I think.

[brunello97]

"Wishful thinking...." You never know how things are going to turn out when they start out. When Alison Krauss was starting out I heard more than one critic say she would never last. And now, well her story couldn't be a better one regarding her music.

I think you might be misreading my post.

I sincerely wish that Mr. Thile would thrive for 10 years on PHC and establish something of lasting value as a fitting "second life" to the original.

I fell in love with AK when she first appeared on the scene, btw. Didn't listen to critics then or now...

Mick

[jswag]

Being a fan of the old show (and being an "old" fan) I still really did enjoy last night's show! I have always enjoyed Chris's excitement and energy! I do miss some of the old skit's, and GK's voice", but it's a new show now and Chris and company will make it their's and hopefully be successful. The new house band is made up of some great players, but the old band was great too, -and could play anything thrown at them, at any time.
Looking forward to more shows.
Jeff

[JAK]

Right you are Mick, I misread your post. Please pardon my 74 year old brain! (luckily my fingers work better than my brain)

[allenhopkins]

Let me add a consideration that I don't think has been mentioned; the Keillor-hosted PHC also provided a lot of related merchandise (check this website -- 26 pages of swag), most of which, other than the recordings, are generated by the stories and skits: Lake Woebegon, Powdermilk Biscuits, etc. etc.

If the show's going to become a more "standard" variety show, with musical acts, comedians, Thile as MC, great house band, but no Guy Noir, Lives of the Cowboys, News from Lake W, Ruth Harrison: Reference Librarian, and so forth and so on, there's going to be a lot less gear to sell. Music CD's, CD's of the broadcasts, maybe some T-shirts and caps, but a lot of the other stuff will fade away. I have to think that this will make the new format somewhat less attractive to American Public Media and the stations that are considering carrying it.

PHC has been on twice each weekend here in Rochester for as long as I can remember, Saturday night and a Sunday noon rebroadcast, but I have to wonder whether a return to the old variety-show format will have the staying power that Keillor's blend of music, storytelling, and the creation of alternative mini-universes through repeating skits, sound effects, and evocation of the old "radio shows" we dimly remember from sixty years ago, has had for decades.

[Charlieshafer]

It will be interesting to see, and Alan brings up some excellent points. Being a mandolin-specific forum, it's easy to let our collective love of the musical side of things, especially C.T., muddy the waters of the what the branding of P.H.C. is and means. If you separate the music of Chris's house band (and I love them, and have had Britt and Paul both lead workshops, as well as appear in concerts in different formats) from what P.H.C. was, there's little in common. Sure, it's time to move on, everything has it's day in the sun, etc., but if you're not a C.T. fan, and more of a Garrison Keillor fan, it may prove a rough go in it's present format.

This may sound strange in today's reality-t.v. world (or crime drama) but I'd rather hope for a return to the variety show format in this country. Jools Holland in the U.K. has a nice format, perhaps little too faced paced, and not enough time to learn about the artists, but it's heavily music centered. Give C.T. a Netflix show and forget the old P.H.C. format and I bet it would do a lot better, as well as reach younger audiences more effectively. Once you start posting youtube videos of a radio show, you've already made that leap.

[LillianBelle]

Drat... my local NPR station KUOW Seattle decided not to carry PHC in its original slot today, just the repeat on Sunday morning at 10am (grumble). I'll bet they're not the only one, until Thile builds the audience. I'll listen tomorrow.

My local station out of Ashland, OR decided not to air it AT ALL. Had I been home, I'd have caught the live show, but I hate being stuck in one place at one time.

I do like a musical variety show (like E-Town) and remember when there were a ton on them on TV, instead of these "talent" shows, which I detest. I've watched things like Seeger's Rainbow Quest, Hootenany, Hullabaloo, Shindig on youtube and Amazon.

[keithb]

I have to think that this will make the new format somewhat less attractive to American Public Media and the stations that are considering carrying it.

I'm not sure I follow. Why would APM or individual stations care what PHC was selling on its own website?

Give C.T. a Netflix show and forget the old P.H.C. format and I bet it would do a lot better, as well as reach younger audiences more effectively. Once you start posting youtube videos of a radio show, you've already made that leap.

PHC started posting YouTube videos in 2010, not sure if they had videos online before that.

[Phil Goodson]

Audio of the whole show is here.

[John Hill]

PHC was too parochial to survive a globalize social media savvy younger audience and was going to have to adjust or die eventually. Glad the Keillor decided to make this move now as I found it tedious and boring and still will drift off when they do the voice acting stuff. Thile's genre-less energy and optimism is, in my mind, the perfect foil to Keillor's morose & sardonic Nordic-Minnesotan sensibilities.

And talk about bringing the mandolin to a mass audience.

[allenhopkins]

I'm not sure I follow. Why would APM or individual stations care what PHC was selling on its own website?...

Guess I'm harking back to when the Wireless catalog was stuffed with Prairie Home Companion merchandise, which I guess brought in revenue to the show (as the current APM catalog does now, I assume). If PHC can earn substantial revenue from selling stuff, it can offer lower syndication fees to the stations who subscribe. Or, alternatively, it can sustain a higher production budget, which could also result in more attractive production values -- for example, taking the show "on the road" to different cities -- which, again, could make it more attractive to potential subscribers.

Just my 2¢.

[Timbofood]

PHC was a "radio show" with all that entails, it was "Lives of the Cowboys", "News from Lake Woebegone" like old time radio.
The show is entering a new era, whether or not it survives as a music sales platform remains to be seen, the "Wireless" catalog will have to learn a new clientele. Sadly, I missed the show this weekend, glad to hear the music was good.
Time marches on, sometimes things get stepped on.

[JeffD]

PHC was too parochial to survive a globalize social media savvy younger audience and was going to have to adjust or die eventually. .

I am not so sure. The young were never his core audience, but above a certain age most everyone discovered him.

I don't think a radical change was "needed". I think Keillor could have gone quite a few more years if he wanted to. I mean, I don't think his kind of show would have any trouble keeping an audience, or that the handwriting was on the wall.

I guess what I am thinking is that Thile is not walking into a situation where he is saving anything from the brink, correcting what was old and moldy about the prior show. Its different and Thile's success will be his own, not because he fixed a sinking ship.


But what do I know - if I were that kind of smart I would have produced a show or two by now.

[RFMando]

Great first show with a little tip of the hat to the old in the first hour and heavy on the music in the second. I think GK knew what he was doing when he chose Chris and hoping for many years ahead of listening to PHC.

RF

[Chris Daniels]

Sadly, I missed the show this weekend, glad to hear the music was good.

You can stream the show (plus catch some videos) from the PHC website. I actually just finished listening to the whole thing moments ago after catching only the first 30 minutes of it live on Saturday. Top quality show front to back.

I myself had listened to PHC on and off in the past but for the last many number of years found it a bit stale and while I didn't avoid it I also didn't make a point to tune in unless there was a specific musical act I knew would be performing. I like the energy and direction that seems to be the new rule under Thile. I can't and won't predict that he'll be able to keep it up for the long haul but I for one will be actively tuning in to find out.

C.