John Prine at the Orpheum Theater, Wichita, KS Feb 2, 2007
Opening: Maura O'Connell -- Band: Dave Jacques and Jason Wilber

By: JIM BEAL JR.

INSPIRATION NOT PERSPIRATION
Full interview here:
   When it comes to writing songs, John Prine knows what he's doing.
   His lyrics aren't necessarily the kind of three-minute confections that lend themselves to convenient radio airplay. His song's characters -- a junkie veteran, Jesus, outsider couples, people who might well prefer solitude, a space-traveling monkey -- aren't the characters who populate the tops of the charts.
   Still, Prine has penned the likes of "Angel From Montgomery," "Hello in There," "Paradise" and "I Just Want to Dance With You" (co-written with Roger Cook), songs that have been recorded by artists as diverse as Bonnie Raitt, Joan Baez, Bette Midler, Dwight Yoakam and George Strait.
   He performs tonight at the Orpheum Theatre.
  "I've tried (songwriting) every which way, and it doesn't seem to make any difference," Prine said during a phone interview from his Nashville home. "I can use all kinds of excuses to get into it or to get out of it. I find the best songs are inspired. If something more than appeals to you, it's a song already."
   While Prine is the type of songwriter to whom other writers look for inspiration, he's also a fan of other writers. His latest CD, the Grammy-winning "Fair & Square," on Oh Boy -- the label he founded in the '80s with Al Bunetta and Dan Einstein -- features songs co-written by Cook, Pat McLaughlin, Keith Sykes and Donnie Fritts as well as a cover of the late Blaze Foley's "Clay Pigeons" and of A.P. Carter's "Bear Creek Blues."
   Together, Cook and Prine have had some writing success. Don Williams had a hit with their "Love Is on a Roll." George Strait took their "I Just Want to Dance With You" to the top of the charts in 1998. The hit couldn't have come at a better time. In '98, Prine was found to have cancer, squamous cell carcinoma, on the right side of his neck.
   "I walked out of the M.D. Anderson hospital after having radiation treatment and got in a rental car," Prine said. "The radio was tuned to no particular station, and there was my song. George Strait's version of that song paid for all the cancer treatment that insurance didn't."
   Yet Prine did not go home and sit down to write more George Strait hits.
   "If I wanted to chase that, I would. But it's not satisfying to me. I don't like to work that hard anyway," he said, laughing.
   When Prine first heard "Clay Pigeons," he couldn't believe that the tune wasn't one of his own. Blaze Foley, the man who penned the song, was an Austin-based singer-songwriter who was murdered in 1989.
   "When I heard even the way Blaze finger-picked his guitar I thought it was me," Prine said. "I've been told that Blaze and me hung out for a week in Austin in the '80s, but I don't remember that. 'Clay Pigeons' is a song I couldn't get out of my system. I don't look for songs to cover, but if a song sticks in my head I have to get into it rather than ignore it."
  Perhaps the people who cover Prine's songs feel the same way.
   "I like people singing my songs around campfires," he said. "Basically the covers are all a compliment. Some I like better than others. But I like them now more than when I was younger. I used to be more picky. There are a lot of words to my songs. As long as people tell the story, it's OK."

Bryan Masters - Back Porch Buddha
Let's Hear It For Old Guys
Went to see John Prine at Wichita’s fabulous Orpheum Theater this weekend. He was just great. Played for two hours, both solo and with his backup homeboys. His voice has more gravel in it than my driveway, and his chatter with the audience was flat-out charming.

  And I would have paid the full admission price to see the opening act, Irish chanteuse Maura O’Connell. She’s … amazing.

  Ms. O’Connell joined Prine onstage during his set, notably for a heart-searing version of “Angel from Montgomery” and the too-funny “In Spite of Ourselves.”

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