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Guest host booked for 'Prairie Home Companion'

Chris Thile will follow in the footsteps of Nickel Creek bandmate Sara Watkins by filling in for Garrison Keillor.

By Neal Justin

November 27, 2014 at 2:23PM

Nickel Creek's Sara Watkins, center, and Chris Thile, right, shown in 2007. Thile is about to join Watkins as the only guest hosts of "A Prairie Home Companion." (Associated Press - Ap/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

(The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Chris Thile/ courtesy of the Walker Art Center

For only the second time in "Prairie Home Companion"'s 40-year history, Garrison Keillor is turning over hosting duties to someone else.

The Feb. 7 and 14 shows will be hosted by Chris Thile, a mandolinist for the Punch Brothers and Nickel Creek.

The only other substitution happened in 2011, when Thile's Nickel Creek band mate Sara Watkins took over with Keillor watching from the wings.

"'Prairie Home' has been a pretty dependable show and now and then it likes to do something entirely different," Keillor said in a press release. "I look forward to sitting at home and listening."

Keillor will be at the helm for the other four broadcasts in January and February.

Upcoming guests include Nellie McKay, The Gibson Brothers, Heather Masse, Robbie Fulks and the Punch Brothers.

Tickets for the next six shows, which kick off Jan. 17, will be available starting Tuesday at the Fitzgerald Theater or at www.eTix.com.

about the writer

Neal Justin

Critic / Reporter

Neal Justin is the pop-culture critic, covering how Minnesotans spend their entertainment time. He also reviews stand-up comedy. Justin previously served as TV and music critic for the paper. He is the co-founder of JCamp, a non-profit program for high-school journalists, and works on many fronts to further diversity in newsrooms.