RIP: Live From Home

Yesterday marked the passing of Live From Home, the Chris Thile remake of Garrison Keiller's long-running public radio staple, Prairie Home Companion.

Though refined for a younger audience, Life From Home shared its predecessor's old timey bones: a variety radio show with sketches, improvisation, corny jokes, and great music. To no one's surprise, Thile was a genius when it came to the latter.

It's 2020 and we almost take for granted how good Thile and his Loar mandolin can be when it comes to performing and composing. But Thile did so much more on the show: He mixed backing bands with the agility of a great dinner party host; he used musician birthdays - whether it was a long-dead composer or Fiona Apple - as a springboard to celebrate their output; and, more than anything, he melded. Each show seemingly had indie rock, soul, funk, and classical musicians (not to mention comedians and the occasional legend like Paul Simon), all playing nicely and pushing their limits as a collective.

Like Prairie Home Companion, the show was a little polarizing: Live sketch comedy is HARD (just go watch any week of SNL) and I know plenty of bluegrass and Punch Brothers fanatics who just couldn't wrap their head around the radio theater format. But the music - now thankfully preserved on YouTube - deserves all the attention it can get. Because it turns out Chris Thile isn't just a great virtuoso and band leader, he's a great curator: Haley Heynderickx performing her brilliant "The Bug Collector" on a global stage; Blake Mills performing Arvo Part, Black Pumas... on and on, there were so many discoveries where Thile just sat back and let fellow artists introduce themselves to the world.

Here are some of my other favorite Live From Home performances from its run:

Though it's not surprising that the show was cancelled - the financial constraints of COVID-19 and no future live shows in sight - Live From Home will live on. I truly believe that in years to come the show will be spoken about like Tony Rice's Manzanita, Bela Fleck's Drive or the O Brother soundtrack: A medium that will inspire and show the next generation of virtuosos how to have fun with fretted instruments and push boundaries like never before. Time will tell...