Live From Here in Austin, Texas

It had been years since I had listened to Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor. Two years ago, when they announced that Keillor was retiring I found that a little sad. PHC was a calming presence in a chaotic world. How anachronistic, a radio variety show in a digital world? It gave me a sense of peace to think these types of shows still existed. With Keillor retiring I assumed the show would come to an end. But I was excited when I heard they had named a successor to Keillor. Chris Thile would be taking over the reins of Prairie Home Companion.

Chris Thile is one of my favorite musicians. Mandolin of all things, but how he plays that thing is unbelievable. I first came across him almost twenty years ago when I saw him with Nickel Creek on Austin City Limits. Thile, Sara and Sean Watkins blew my mind. I could not fathom their virtuosity. As the years went by, Thile had various solo projects and eventually formed a new band called Punch Brothers although Nickel Creek gets back to together every once in awhile.

Since Thile took over Prairie Home Companion, my son and I have been avid listeners. We try to listen every Saturday evening at 5 pm. It's one of our rituals. It's a nice way to end the week. Often we have to stream the show on Sunday if we miss it on Saturday. I've been surprised how much my eleven year old son took to it. Our appreciation exploded even more in October when Thile played our Song Request of the week that we sent in via twitter and mentioned my name on the broadcast.

For Christmas, my wife surprised me and my son with tickets to a live broadcast of the show, which is now called Live From Here with Chris Thile. The show occasionally leaves it's Minnesota home base of the Fitgerald Theater in St. Paul and tours the country. This past weekend they were in Austin, Texas. And we got to go!

Chris Thile and gang, performed at the Bass Concert Hall on the UT campus. It's a great venue and the acoustics were fantastic. Thile and the show are even better in person. Their special guests were Snarky Puppies, Shovels and Rope, and Pete Holmes. The regular radio players were all top notch as usual. So cool to see them in person. It was one of the best shows I've ever seen. We left inspired and elated.

We had a great time traveling to Austin and catching the show. It was a once in a lifetime experience. Austin is one of my favorite towns and seeing Live From Here is something we will cherish for a very long time.