Venue: Dodge Theatre
Date: Nov 2009
By: Serene Dominic
Verify: x4kjs

Review

Q & A with John Prine at the Dodge Theatre http://www.azcentral.com/thingstodo/music/articles/2009/11/11/20091111johnprine.html

Venue: NAU Ardrey Auditorium
Date: Nov 18
By: CATHALENA E. BURCH
Verify: x4kjs

Review

Time to daydream <---> Grammy Award-winning musician John Prine comes to NAU's Ardrey Auditorium. <---> Full Preview here: http://azdailysun.com/articles/2009/11/13/news/arts_and_entertainment/sneak_peaks/20091113_sneak_207352.txt <---> There used to be a time when time was all John Prine had. So he let his mind wander to places where stories are born, rich characters spring to life and meaning is revealed in poetic grace. <---> "When you got a lot of spare time and you do nothing but daydream all day, you're able to use your imagination," the singer-songwriter said during a late October interview from his Nashville home. Prine's daydreams have led him to write some pretty amazing songs -- "Hello in There," "Paradise," "Illegal Smile," "Dear Abby," "Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore," "Angel From Montgomery." Many of those songs, which were never big radio or chart hits, have become nearly iconic and are mainstays of Prine's live shows. You can bet you will hear several of them when he plays at NAU's Ardrey Auditorium on Wednesday, the Dodge Theatre in Phoenix Friday, Nov. 20, and Fox Theatre in Tucson on Saturday, Nov. 21. <---> Which sort of surprises Prine. He was never one to project into the future when he started his music career nearly 40 years ago. But he certainly never imagined songs like "Sam Stone" would have a vibrant life nearly 30 years after he wrote them, or that he would have a tour schedule that kept him on the road a good third of the year. <---> "It's not like I had hits, but there are certain (songs) I have to sing because people are expecting it," Prine said. "They want to hear 'Sam Stone,' 'Hello in There,' a lot of the early stuff. I'm out there singing them every night and if they were going to get old, I would be the first one to know it." <---> Prine's daydreaming time was interrupted when he became a father 14 years ago. He has two sons -- one 14, the other 13 -- which has "really, really grounded me," he said. <---> "Now when I sit down to write it's more like, 'OK, it's Tuesday. Five o'clock and I got to be somewhere'," said Prine, 63. "It might be two weeks before I get a chance to sit down again." <---> Prine has never been one to write on demand, which he said is part natural inclination, part stubborn resistance. His songwriting is inspired, and when the inspiration strikes, he acts on it. <---> "I can write behind the steering wheel if something appeals to me. If an idea gets ahold of me, I don't let anything stop me. It stays in the back of my mind until I can actually sit down and commit it to paper," he said in a rough-hewn voice that has witnessed years of use and a fair amount of abuse. <---> "The best songs come along all at once, all tidy and wrapped up. When that happens, the best thing you can do is sit back and accept it. ... Sometimes they are just delivered, like a child, and they are just perfect." <---> One of those songs was "I Just Want To Dance With You," which Prine cowrote with the George Strait in the 1980s. Prine cut the song soon after writing it. But it was Strait's version, released in 1998 when Prine was undergoing cancer treatments, that became a monster hit. Six months after Strait released it, Prine received a $600,000 royalty check -- enough money, he recalled, to pay his medical bills. <---> Prine rebounded from the cancer with renewed energy and a new appreciation for life and his music. The biggest change, though, came in his live shows. He had to rework his catalogue to match his new voice, which had dropped a register or two. Suddenly songs that he had been singing night after night for decades felt new. "A simple thing like that was like I discovered the songs all over again," he explained. Prine is not a prolific recording artist. His live shows have always driven his career, fueled by a constantly changing fanbase that includes older folks and their children and grandchildren. It is this universal appeal that stumps Prine. He muses aloud that his music career didn't start out as a career; it started out as a dare, evolved into a hobby and then turned into an enduring legacy. "I couldn't say I had dreamed of doing this, but (I had) a yearning to do it. I would be making up songs even if I was a retired mailman right now," he said. "It's amazing to me that I have been able to make a living out of it. "Right now, as far as I'm concerned, what I do, I'm at the top of my career," he added. "I'm playing nothing but places I want to play. The dressing rooms are real nice; there are no rats in them. The pizza's warm. What else could you ask for?"

Venue: Dodge Theatre, Phoenix, Arizona
Date: 11/20/09
By: Serene Dominick - http://www.examiner.com/x-14346-Phoenix-Music-Examiner
Verify: x4kjs

Review

John Prine Primed and Prone to Work ----- READ THE FULL INTERVIEW HERE: http://www.examiner.com/x-14346-Phoenix-Music-Examiner~y2009m11d19-John-Prine-primed-and-prone-to-work ----> John's Prine's upcoming appearance at the Dodge Theater in Phoenix is not to promote anything but the continued propagation of John Prine’s lifeblood —singing and performing for the people, which he clearly still loves. Our nation's Poet Laureate called John Prine a "national treasure," but as his recent spate of brilliant albums prove, he's far from being a buried treasure. ----> I had the privilege of interviewing John Prine for azcentral and here's some of our conversation that wasn't included due to space requirements. Here's Prine on spinning stages, songwriting partners, working with Mac Wiseman, Billy Bob Thornton and major record label deals. ----> Phoenix is a market a lot of touring acts just skip over but you’re playing here pretty consistently. ----> Prine: I wouldn’t skip Phoenix. I love coming here. It’s a great little town. It’s got everything. ----> Normally when you play here, you’ve been at the Celebrity Theater with the spinning stage. Did you ever have any bad experiences playing in the round? ----> Prine: I like the Celebrity. Usually I don’t like playing in the round, I feel like a birthday cake. I played a place in Houston that’s made more for theater so they had monitors but you went past the monitors, they didn’t move but the stage did. I tried to tell the guy that owned the place that it was like playing on the back of a truck in a parade. And every two block I get to hear myself. And he just looked at me like I was crazy. ----> How’s you get through that? Did you just sing extra loud? ----> Prine: I just pretended I was somewhere else. I picked a previous concert from another year and did that (laughs). ----> When you’re touring without a new album, are you testing new stuff out on the road? ----> Prine: I do that. You'll see if a song feels to you that it needs work or if the bridge is in the right place, like crossing the river at the right time. I know when I got something-I know when I‘ve got a John Prine song. And I also know when I got something different that the crowd that comes to hear me, it’s gonna be very different for them, I got a pretty idea whether they're gonna like that. Sometimes you’ve gotta be a little careful and tell them a story to get them into it (laughs). And sometimes. a new song won’t go over so good live and you get it in the studio and it will be one of the better songs on the record. ----> You’ve been recording a lot of other people’s material the last few years, those in-between albums like “In Spite of Ourselves.” Do you pick songs that feel like something you’d write? ----> Prine: These are songs I’ve been singing more or less to myself over the years. I recorded the album “Standard Songs For Average People” with Mac Wiseman because they were songs I wanted to hear Mac sing. He was really happy to be asked to sing those standards because all people want to hear him sing is bluegrass. And he’s a big fan of pop music and he cut his teeth on Bing Crosby and I can tell by his voice that he’s a crooner. I’m not but I’ve got my own record company (Oh Boy records) so I can do what I want and that’s why I do those kind of records in-between my regular records. I figure why have a record company if you can’t make records the kind that you want. And I was never any good at outguessing the public anyway. Why should I make money for anybody but myself? ----> With you heading your own record label Oh Boy, it’s come full circle to the days where you got signed and you had people who were actually into music running a label, like Jerry Wexler at Atlantic. Someone who actually has a hand in making music. ----> Prine: I was there when it all changed. That was part of the reason I started Oh Boy. When I was signed to Atlantic, I had a ten record deal. I was supposed to deliver two albums a year of fresh material. Well that all sounded great to me when I was a mailman. I was happy to be on that label. Jerry Wexler was hands-on, he put me in the studio with producer Arif Mardin and Wexler would be listening to stuff as it went along and I didn’t feel that (attention) after he left. So they let me out of my contract but it cost me. I never made a dime for them but it cost me. I owed them seven albums so I had to pay up. I stayed within the Warners Group, Asylum signed me and after that I've been independent ever since. I started my label in ’84 and people told me I was committing suicide. They told me “you can’t do that.” I know I have an audience and I want to go directly to them and then whatever I get on top of that is cream on the top. ----> You say people don’t come to you to ask you to write songs for them but you did write "In Spite of Ourselves" for a movie (Daddy and Them, in 2002). ----> Prine: Yeah, Billy Bob Thornton asked me to write that but I wrote it in less time than it takes me to sing it, (laughs). Luckily it was a song I wanted to sing myself. ----> You did a lot early Sixties country favorites on the “In Spite of Ourselves” CD. like “Backstreet Affair.” That’s what’s lacking in country now. Cheating songs! Everything seems hunky dory in a modern country song. Everybody's got a job and a truck. ----> Prine: It all goes back to who’s running the record companies when the corporate guys took over. They figured out a way to make hits that had nothing to do with music. Get someone who looks good on a video and teach him to sing. And get people to write songs for him that sound like pop or rock and roll songs. ----> You’ve written with some heavyweights in the pop field, like Donnie Fritts who's written for soul artists as well as country, and Roger Cook, who did all those 60s and 70s hits for British groups. ----> Prine: Exactly. Like Roger, we’re best of friends. He’s just one of the people I met through my association with Cowboy Jack Clemens. There was this whole gang of people who came from all different backgrounds and Jack was the force that brought them all together. Me and Roger shoot snookers or play dominoes. Roger’s written hundreds of songs but you’ll never see his name alone on a song. He wrote all that stuff with Roger Greenway like “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing” and “Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress.” It was just like a Lennon and McCartney arrangement. Roger’s still that way today. He’ll come to me with a song that just needs another verse and a bridge and say “I can't do anything with this.” And I say “Jeez the thing is almost a tree.” If I like a song, I can get a real clear picture of what it needs. If something is already there and just not some coloring or shading I like to do that. And we also have stuff we start from scratch. But it’s nothing I look at as a job because he’s such a good buddy. We just come to a table with “Uhh, you got any ideas?” I know guys that just like to write from titles. Then if you get excited within the first half hour you might have something but if it gets to be too much of a grind, I’d just rather get a hot dog. ----> Do you have a list of titles you haven’t been able to write a song around? ----> Prine: I’ve had this idea for a song for 25 years trying to write a song about the Vulcan in Birmingham Alabama. There’s this big statue overlooking the city. I read the history about it. They used it for advertising, they put overalls on him. He’s a Greek god. They put a real light on the statue’s torch and if there was a traffic fatality the light would turn red. And I thought wow, Can you imagine a mother sitting up looking out of her picture window seeing that light turn red and wondering if it was her son. A little movie starts going in my head. I’ve been trying to write this song for years, it’s not the kind of song I want to bring t the table with somebody else so I’m thinking now I’ve got two songs going. And that’s what’s stopping me. I’m trying to tell two different stories. It’s called The Iron Man From Birmingham. It’s an historical narrative like "Sink the Bismarck." ----> Where was the first place you played "Angel From Montgomery" live? ----> Prine: Back in Chicago. I wrote that in ’69. Bonnie Koloc was the first to record it. ---->

Venue: Gateshead Tyne and Wear England
Date: 17/10/07
By: Dick and Lesley
Verify: x4kjs

Review

We had waited years for the chance to see John Prine and this was worth the wait. His music, stories and personality on stage were a real pleasure. Looking forward to seeing John again but when will he be coming to England ? Soon I hope.

Venue: Citi Wang, Boston, MA
Date: 11/6
By: James Reed
Verify: x4kjs

Review

http://www.boston.com/ae/music/articles/2009/11/09/seasoned_songs_classic_prine/ The showstopping line, at once classic and familiar, came toward the end of John Prine’s show at the Citi Wang Theatre Friday night: “You know that old trees just grow stronger.’’ Discuss COMMENTS (0) JOHN PRINE With Patty Griffin At: Citi Wang Theatre, Friday It was vintage Prine, from the chorus of “Hello in There,’’ and he’s sung those words at least a thousand times since the song showed up on his 1971 self-titled debut. But as shopworn as the lyric is, it was a poignant commentary on how essential Prine sounds at 63 and how well his songs have aged. You could even argue that, as a grizzled lion in winter, Prine makes more sense as an old man, much like Leonard Cohen does in his 70s. Prine’s weathered voice, both gentle and gruff Friday night, now carries the weight of loneliness so many of his songs have explored. He had a simple stage setup - just Prine on acoustic guitar with superb and lean backing by Jason Wilber on electric, harmonica, and mandolin - and maybe that’s why it felt so out of time. With his usual bassist, Dave Jacques out sick, Prine performed solo for long stretches, surveying the range of his discography, all the way from “Sam Stone’’ to “Lake Marie’’ to “Crazy as a Loon.’’ It was heartbreaking to see him alone and singing, “I got so much love that I cannot hide,’’ from “All the Best.’’ During one of the night’s few rollicking moments, Prine cut loose on “Bear Creek Blues,’’ his left leg swinging and twitching the deeper he and Wilber dug into the rockabilly groove. The expected moments turned out to be anything but. He could have had opener Patty Griffin join him on “Angel From Montgomery,’’ which most folks know from his live duet with Bonnie Raitt. Instead Prine offered a threadbare rendition that was as stately as it was elegiac. Griffin later graced the stage for a pair of duets, including “Long Monday,’’ from Prine’s latest album, 2005’s “Fair & Square.’’ Griffin had big shoes to fill on “In Spite of Ourselves,’’ the kooky, he-said-she-said love song Prine recorded with Iris DeMent, but Griffin’s warm sincerity put her own stamp on it. A singer-songwriter especially beloved around here from her early days in Boston and Cambridge folk clubs, Griffin used her opening set to preview gritty gospel songs (“from a lapsed Catholic,’’ as she noted) from her upcoming album. By the time she finished “Making Pies,’’ an ode to her time working at the Table Talk pie company in Worcester, it was clear an evening with Griffin and Prine meant one thing: Misery really does love company.

Venue: Boston Citi Wang
Date: 11/6/09
By: Quasimodo
Verify: x4kjs

Review

Another great John Prine show, this one dedicated to Massachusetts guy Dave Jacques who could not be on hand to play bass as he is recovering from viral meningitis according to John. Jason Wilber, who its seems is always amazing was the band. These were the songs with their order exactly odo only for the start and finish: Spanish Pipedream, Crooked Piece of Time, Six O'Clock News, Speed of the Sound of Loneliness, Please Don't Bury Me, Fish and Whistle, That's the Way the World Goes 'Round, Sam Stone, Crazy as a Loon, Angel from Montgomery, Long Monday (Patty Griffin on background), In Spite of Ourselves (Patty taking the role of Iris), Hello In There, Bear Creek Blues, All the Best, Sins of Memphisto, Saddle in the Rain, Lake Marie, Paradise (encore).

Venue: wang,boston,ma
Date: 11/06/09
By:
Verify: x4kjs

Review

my daughter and i went to see john prine for the first time on last Friday night - what a great concert! loved the way he rocked out with jason wilbur - loved his dance moves!!! his music is poetry for the masses - it really hits home. patti griffin was wonderful - so soulful, what a voice.

Venue: Citi Wang Theatre, Boston, MA
Date: Oct 6
By: Jim Sullivan
Verify: x4kjs

Review

Full Review and comments: http://www.bostonherald.com/entertainment/music/general/view.bg?articleid=1210309&srvc=rss John Prine in his prime at Citi Wang. { } Early on in Friday’s concert at Citi Wang Theatre, John Prine fondly referenced Club Passim, the tiny Cambridge folk venue he played when he was starting out. Over the course of a 100-minute set, he made the Wang feel like a bigger Passim. It was an evening of intimate, melodic country-folk music, by turns wry, droll and poignant. { } It was also, as he suggested, a tad morbid. Prine introduced the jaunty “Fish and Whistle” by saying he wrote it to counter the fact, in many songs, “I killed all my characters by the end.” { } Not all of them. One of the most wrenching songs was “Hello in There,” where Prine sang of old age and loneliness. Prine’s burred voice used to sound older than his years; at 63, he’s caught up, and it’s a perfect, lived-in fit. { } Prine played most of the set with guitarist/mandolinist Jason Wilber. (Bassist Dave Jacques was ill and couldn’t perform.) There was both a delicacy and richness to their blend of electric and acoustic guitars, of lead and rhythm. { } The set started with “Spanish Pipedream” and “Crooked Piece of Time” - both upbeat-sounding - and closed with the frenzied “Paradise.” But Prine was mostly concerned with the middle ground, where life’s hard knocks and fleeting pleasures overlap. In songs such as “Crazy as a Loon” and “Lake Marie,” there was success and failure, humor and seriousness. { } Prine uses steady images - clocks that keep ticking and rivers that keep running - to anchor the craziness all around. All is cyclical. Prine’s songs are rife with struggle, but more convey a sense of dogged persistence than they do failure. { } Opener Patty Griffin joined Prine on two songs. Griffin’s set was sublime. A lapsed Catholic, she sang gospel and scored with a humorous, albeit vicious, new breakup song, “Our Love Is a Dud.” Sang Griffin: Are you a narcissist or just a dark star?

Venue: wang theater, boston, ma
Date: 11/6/2009
By: mike r
Verify: x4kjs

Review

John Prine and Jayson Wilber, minus the recuperating Dave Jacques and with the help of Patti Griffin played to a full house at The Wang Center in Boston, MA last night. John's "lick" that he bemusedly described by stating "I sure as hell have gotten a lot of mileage out of this lick" should be studied by some neuroscientist somewhere with brain imaging techniques aiming to find the source of happiness, as the melodic fountain spring of all his songs causes such joy for its performer and audience. A note here, a phrasing there, a metaphor somewhere else -- one of the pleasures of watching John Prine perform is to see how happy his music makes him. Jayson Wilber is infected with the blithe spirit, too. "The leprechaun" as my friend Paul, in appreciative amazement, described Mr. Prine, walked off the stage grinning and with a bounce to his step, energized by the music he and Mr. Wilber had just treated the appreciative audience to. The mutual appreciation between Mr. Prine and his audience was conveyed by a "Thank you!" shouted by an audience member to Mr. Prine after a beautiful rendition of "Hello in There," followed by "No, thank you," from Mr. Prine, stepping up to the microphone grinning and bowing, as well as by Mr. Prine's delighted acknowledgement of a group of audience members' "loon calls" at the end of Crazy as a Loon, responding to the loon call that Mr. Prine used in the song, a sound he described as being "more like a nervous owl." Jayson Wilber was outstanding. On several songs, his guitar work brought Spanish flavor. On Bear Creek it was as if he was barely in control of his fret hand, as it moved fluidly up the neck of the guitar, chasing after Mr. Prine's driving Gibson. On all songs, most memorably for me on Six O'Clock News and Saddle in the Rain, but everywhere you wanted to look, Mr. Wilber's guitar work found tones and accents that worked beautifully within the lyrics and phrasings of Mr. Prine. Patti Griffin joined Mr. Prine for an all-too-brief two songs, In Spite of Ourselves and Long Monday. Come on, Mr. Prine, you two were just getting warmed up! Ms. Griffin's set was laid back and delightful, with her piercingly lovely voice backed by intelligent and spare backup guitar work. I am sorry I have blanked on the name of Ms. Griffin's guitar player, but the generous opening set was well appreciated by the audience, which included Ms. Griffin's mother, and ended with a shout out to Worcester, MA on Table Talk. I will not be able to recreate the set list, but I do remember: Spanish Pipedream, Six O'Clock News, Sam Stone, Glory of True Love (I think), Long Monday, Bear Creek, Paradise, Crooked Piece of Time, Saddle in the Rain, Sins of Memphisto, Fish and Whistle, All the Best, Lake Marie, Angel from Montgomery, Hello in There, Speed of the Sound of Loneliness, That's the Way that the World Goes 'Round, In Spite of Ourselves and Please Don't Bury Me. Our group had a wonderful time. Here's to Ginny, Paul, Cori and my wife Lillian, and sorry to Ginny's son who was not able to make it. The audience was family friendly, the venue was excellent, and the music was a four leaf clover.

Venue: Pantages Theatre Winnipeg Manitoba
Date: October 23, 2009
By: Peggy Loyie, Fort Fances Ont. Canada

Review

I have waited years to see John Prine live and was not disappointed, the show was so awesome. Thank you for coming to Canada!!!

Venue: Winnipeg, Manitoba
Date: October 23, 2009

Review

The entire concert was awsome. Always enjoy Jason Wilber too. Sara Watkins sings beautifully with John

Venue: Winspear Centre, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Date: October 20, 2009
By: Goofy Guy Dancin'

Review

John seemed to have trouble getting started, but he hit stride when the band left the stage and he sang a number of songs alone. Thouroughly enjoyed the conceert after that. Sara Watson was not that impresive as a start up, although her guitar player could easily have been a warm up act on his own. There are many local gals who have more talent and would have warmed the audience more. Waiting for nearly an hour after the warm up act before John comes on stage was a downer. I understand from others around me this is common at the Windspear so they can sell more drinks.

Venue: Jack Singer Hall Calgary Alberta Canada
Date: October 19, 2009
By: Dilys

Review

Absolutely amazing! One of the best concerts I've ever been to. The sound was amazing, loved Sara Watson and her guitar player. John was incredible, as was his band. The sound was better than any other concert I've been too. I could hear almost every word he sang, every noted they played. I'd say the only other concert that was better was Van Morrison and John Kennedy in Vancouver but only because I never ever thought I'd see Van Morrison in my lifetime. If you can get a ticket, go! I've never seen a crowd react like that at Jack Singer.

Venue: Winspear Centre, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Date: October 20th, 2009
By: Don

Review

What a great concert John Prine and his band put on for us. The band wasso relaxed and in sync with each other, like they were playing in the kitchen. No one plays three chords better than John.

Venue: Jack Singer Hall, Calgary, AB
Date: 19/10/09
By: Rebecca - The Misanthropic Hippie

Review

Read more at http://misanthropichippie.blogspot.com/2009/10/john-prine.html ***** I saw John Prine at the Jack Singer last night!!! I was grinning and laughing and singing and aching in my heart so much that I got a headache. **** I wrote a review for Beatroute www.beatroute.com : **** John Prine has been combining three chords and the truth since the early seventies, when he was hailed as "the next Dylan", but the man on the auditorium stage this rainy Monday night was no graceful elder statesman of country-rock. Looking like a Beatle in his black suit, and hoisting a big-bodied acoustic guitar, he skipped onstage to an explosion of applause, shouts and whistles. Backed up by his band on electric guitar and upright bass, Prine started immediately into "Spanish Pipe Dream"."We're feeling a bit frisky tonight!" he confessed, kicking out his leg and doing the twist whenever the music moved him. I've never experience such a boisterous, excited atmosphere in the Jack Singer. **** Prine and his band delivered songs from his rich back catalogue, including favourites like "Please Don't Bury Me". Of note was a slow, introspective version of "Angel From Montgomery", with mandolin and a haunting electric guitar solo. Partway through the evening, Prine performed a set of solo acoustic songs, which put the focus on his direct, often humourous, and sometimes heart-breaking lyrics, as in the songs "Donald and Lydia" and "Sam Stone". Prine's band rejoined him for a fully electric rockabilly rave-up on "Bear Creek Blues". After almost two hours, the evening culminated with "Lake Marie", a nine-minute-long song of love and death, with spoken verses that always returned to the chorus, "Standing by peaceful waters, whoa wah oh wah oh!" You could say Prine took us to church. **** Opening act Sarah Watson, formerly of Nickel Creek, joined John Prine for the encore. Her clear, plaintive voice blended well with Prine's rough croon on the songs "In Spite of Ourselves" and "Paradise". **** Set list: **** Spanish Pipedream The Torch Singer Picture Show Six O'Clock News Mystery Song!!! Please Don't Bury Me Fish and Whistle The Glory of True Love Crazy as a Loon Angel From Montgomery Souvenirs The Frying Pan Donald & Lydia That's the Way the World Goes Round Sam Stone Bear Creek Blues Saddle in the Rain Hello in There Lake Marie ENCORE (with Sarah Watkins): In Spite of Ourselves The Late John Garfield Blues Paradise

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