Mandolinist Thile To Guest Host 'Prairie Home'

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Host Garrison Keillor plans to stay home and listen to "A Prairie Home Companion" on the radio for a couple of shows this winter.

Mandolinist Chris Thile of the band Nickel Creek will be the guest host for shows Feb. 7 and 14 from the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul.

It's only the second time in the show's 40-year history that it's had a guest host. Singer and fiddler Sara Watkins, Thile's bandmate in Nickel Creek, hosted in 2011.

Keillor says "Prairie Home" has been "a pretty dependable show, and now and then it likes to do something entirely different."

The 72-year-old humorist and best-selling author says he looks forward "to sitting at home and listening" to the shows.

Tickets for the show's winter run go on sale Tuesday.