Chris Thile is beginning the youth movement on "A Prairie Home Companion."
For his first official show as host on Oct. 15 at the Fitzgerald Theater, the 35-year-old mandolin master will have indie-rock god Jack White and hip harmonizers Lake Street Dive.
Thile's guests sound more like the playlist on 89.3 the Current, Minnesota Public Radio's hipster music station, than anything Garrison Keillor would have ordered.
On Oct. 22, "Prairie Home" guests will include Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats, a hard-driving soul band from Colorado, and author/humorist John Hodgman.
On Oct. 29, Grammy-winning jazz star Esperanza Spalding is the featured musical guest, along with comedian Aparna Nancherla.
Tickets, priced from $33 to $49, are on sale now at etix.com.
Interestingly, the press release for this announcement was created and distributed by Thile's personal publicist, not MPR, which had always handled Keillor's publicity for "A Prairie Home Companion."
