It may have sounded outlandish in 1974, when the first live broadcast of A Prairie Home Companion happened, to say it would still be on folks' minds in 50 years. And despite the ubiquity of handheld games, an impossible number of options for TV and movies, and on-demand listening of nearly anything that's ever been recorded, audio-only storytelling is booming.

Technically, the show ended in 2016 after more than 1,500 broadcasts, but it is such a touchstone for podcasters that the name is constantly appearing in everything from casual conversation to media profiles.

To celebrate the five-decade anniversary of the variety show, host Garrison Keillor is taking a live show on tour, including a stop at Austin City Limits Live at the Moody Center on Sunday, February 25.

The tour kicks off with a livestream from Nashville's historic Ryman Auditorium and a show in Saint Paul, Minnesota — the radio cast's original home.

For non-public radio fans (perhaps it's time to branch out a little), A Prairie Home Companion is a quaint-but-chaotic, fictional small-town radio show that strings together live musical performances, funny news bulletins, and drama segments, among other quick giggles. The traditional country overtones and irreverent joking created a nostalgic product that wasn't puritanical.

A Prairie Home Companion got a new host in folk music savant Chris Thile from 2016-2020, when it was rebranded as Live From Here. Thile does not appear to be involved in the anniversary tour.

Keillor, however, has been touring for years, so this new tour should be a well-oiled machine with input from the show's longtime music director, Rich Dworsky, plus actors Tim Russell, Sue Scott, Fred Newman, and special guests. The Austin guest has not been revealed yet, but a press release announces some non-exhaustive possibilities:

• Heather Masse
• Christine DiGiallonardo
• Aoife O’Donovan
• Ellie Dehn
• Chuck Mead and His Grassy Knoll Boys
• Stuart Duncan
• Sam Bush
• Richard Kriehn
• Larry Kohut
• Chris Siebold
• Jeff Carney
• Bryan Sutton
• Erica Rhodes
• Ethan Jodziewicz
• Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks
• Howard Levy

50th Anniversary Tour dates:

• January 11 — Nashville, TN
• January 13 — Manhattan, KS
• February 10 — West Palm Beach, FL
• February 23 — Galveston, TX
• February 25 — Austin, TX
• March 24 — Wilmington, NC
• March 26 — Greenville, SC
• April 18 — Bethesda, MD
• April 20 — Burlington, VT
• May 24 — Scranton, PA
• May 26 — Akron, OH
• July 13 — Saint Paul, MN.

More information about the Austin show and tickets are available at acllive.com.