A Prairie Home Companion, Paramount Theatre, Seattle, WA, January 7, 2017
As for so many others, A Prairie Home Companion was the soundtrack to many a-Sundays: for long drives, brunches, cooking marathons in the kitchen, or just otherwise background sounds to weekend activity.
The original show, with Garrison Keillor, used to spend time broadcasting every year from Town Hall in New York City, and despite living there for the better part of 20 years, I never saw his version of the show live. It was not until I moved to Seattle, and became friends with new host Chris Thile's manager, that I had the opportunity to check out an episode in person.
Like a factory tour or going backstage, it is always fun to see how something one is so familiar with actually gets made. I especially enjoyed watching Fred Newman create the show's sound effects in person.
The website for the show is not well-maintained now that they are off the air, but the audio is still there to stream. Their YouTube channel still has a playlist of videos from that day as well. The show's musical guests were Regina Spektor and The Shins, both of whom won me over that day. It is worth checking out.
