Chris Thile announced to audiences on Saturday evening that the new name for his weekly variety show will be Live from Here. The host shared the news during the show's live opening at The Town Hall. Produced by American Public Media (APM), Live from Here is the new name for A Prairie Home Companion with Chris Thile.
"My hope is that this name captures the energy and enthusiasm that is really at the core of this show," Thile said. "Live from Here is about people making beautiful things and sharing them with our audience in real time. The fact that the show is live – where anything is possible – is part of what makes it so special.
"We want 'here' to be that sense of place that's created by a community of people that comes together for 120 minutes each week – no matter where or how they're listening," Thile said.
Bringing audiences near and far together on Saturday evenings has been a tradition in public radio since A Prairie Home Companion launched in 1974. An acclaimed musician and songwriter, Thile took the helm of A Prairie Home Companion in fall 2016 after a lifetime of listening. At the time he was named Garrison Keillor's successor, Thile said, "I grew up with the show. I take this opportunity, this job, immensely seriously and with great awe."
The show, now known as Live from Here, continues that tradition – in person, online at www.livefromhere.org, on the radio – with 2.6 million weekly listeners on 586 stations. Each week, Thile welcomes a wide range of well-known and up-and-coming talent to share the stage and create a unique listening experience on his variety show.
Upon ending its contractual relationships with Garrison Keillor, MPR no longer had the legal rights to use the A Prairie Home Companion name or archived content created by Keillor. Since its relaunch last fall, the show hosted by Chris Thile has been owned solely by American Public Media.
"Over the past year, the show has felt more and more like Chris as he's incorporated new elements and continues to experiment and play with new ideas to shape the program for a new generation of listeners," said Dave Kansas, executive vice president and chief content officer for American Public Media Group.
Live from Here can be heard on Michigan Radio each Saturday evening at 6 p.m. and Sundays at 12 noon.
