‘Live From Here With Chris Thile’ Debuts With Guests Jeff Tweedy, The Staves & More
By Jeffrey Greenblatt Dec 17, 2017 • 8:17 am PST
On Saturday night, the long-running weekly radio variety show A Prairie Home Companion debuted under its new name – Live From Here during a broadcast from New York City’s Town Hall. Hosted by Chris Thile the holiday-themed episode featured performances from Jeff Tweedy, The Staves with yMusic and Sarah Jarosz, with Thile also being joined by his longtime band Punch Brothers throughout the two hour show.
Saturday night’s broadcast featured Thile and his bandmates’ debut of a song called “Locked In,” which was inspired by an after-hours booze-filled jam session at a New York City cocktail bar. London-based sister act The Staves performed a trio of songs from their recently released collaborative album with chamber music ensemble yMusic – The Way Is Read. While folkie singer-songwriter Sarah Jarosz, who contributed her talents in a variety of ways throughout the show, played her own “Blue Heron” while backed by the Punch Brothers, as well as a gorgeous rendition of “O Holy Night.”
Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy performed a pair of songs solo acoustic, offering up “Locator,” from 2016’s Schmilco and the Loose Fur track “Laminated Cat.” Tweedy reemerged later in the night this time backed by Thile and his bandmates as they delivered a take on “All Lives, You Say?,” which Wilco released this past summer as a charity single to benefit the Southern Poverty Law Center. The ad-hoc act also collaborated on the Yankee Hotel Foxtrot track “Poor Places,” which Thile & Co. have performed numerous times live.
The night also featured a bluegrass version of the “Duck Tales Theme” played as part of the show’s Instant Song Request segment, songs from A.P. Carter, Deford Bailey, Gaby Moreno, Taylor Swift, Ludwig van Beethoven and Frank Sinatra as part of Musicians Birthdays and a must-hear version of Beethoven’s III. “Allegro” from Brandenburg Concerto No.3 was performed by the Punch Brothers and yMusic Trio. The night came to a close with Thile once again being joined by Tweedy, The Staves and Jarosz, as they all teamed up on The Pogues’ Christmas classic “Fairytale Of New York.”
Stream the entire episode here and watch a handful of performances from last night below:
