'A Prairie Home Companion' to get second guest host ever

Garrison Keillor said Wednesday that one of his longtime musical guests will fill in as host of A Prairie Home Companion on two shows in February.

In the show's 40 years on the air, Keillor has rarely been away from the microphone. The last time was in 2011, when singer-songwriter Sara Watkins filled in, while Keillor appeared in skits and gave the news from Lake Wobegon.

Now Keillor says 33-year-old Chris Thile — a mandolinist who plays alongside Watkins in the bluegrass band Nickel Creek — will host the show February 7 and 14 at the Fitzgerald Theater.

Keillor said in a statement that "Prairie Home has been a pretty dependable show and now and then it likes to do something entirely different."

Marketing director David O'Neill said Keillor remains in good health following prostate surgery in September.

Keillor remains busier than ever, and is traveling across the country early next year to perform a dozen and a half solo shows in addition to A Prairie Home Companion, according to O'Neill.

O'Neill said Keillor does not plan to attend the shows Thile is hosting, and is still figuring out what will replace the Lake Wobegon monologues.