Live From Here With Chris Thile, the American Public Media-produced radio show featuring musical performances, interviews, and skits, has been canceled. A post on the variety series’ Instagram cited the effect that COVID-19 has had on live events as the root cause of the cancellation: “With that uncertainty, we simply cannot continue to make the show we want to make and host Live From Here the way it was intended.”
Host Chris Thile, the Grammy-winning mandolin ace and member of the band the Punch Brothers, echoed the news with his own statement: “Over the weekend, I was informed that American Public Media will no longer be producing the show. While this news fills me with sadness, I understand the decision, as my extraordinary teammates and I conceived of Live From Here as a celebration of live, collaborative audible art, and there’s just no telling when it could be that again.”
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Thile’s series, a modern, edgier take on the radio variety program, debuted in 2016 as successor to the long-running A Prairie Home Companion, which Thile briefly hosted following the ouster of longtime host Garrison Keillor. With guests like Jack White, Brandi Carlile, Paul Simon, Norah Jones, Black Pumas, and Sarah Jarosz, the series deftly interwove legacy acts with up-and-coming artists.
“I want the show to be a home for the breadth of the good music being made in the world,” Thile told Rolling Stone in 2016, upon taking over as host of A Prairie Home Companion, but before the rebranding as Live From Here. “My musical output has been consistently acoustic, but my taste has not. I love everything. As long as it’s good, I’m in.”
The final Live From Here With Chris Thile was on June 13th, another pandemic-necessary “at home” edition, with guests like Rufus Wainwright and the War and Treaty.
