JOHN PRINE MICHIGAN 2005 FAIR & SQUARE CONCERT REVIEWS

Michigan Theater, Ann Arbor, MI
June 3, 2005

Folk-rocker John Prine in Ann Arbor 
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050602/ART10/506020329      
    John Prine gave his first public performance at an open-microphone night at a Chicago area bar, after his grumbling about the lack of talent among the amateur artists led a friend to say, "Well, if you think you could do better…" 
    "I said, 'I could,' and I got up there and played 'Sam Stone,' 'Hello in There,' and 'Paradise'," said Prine, who will perform a sold-out concert tomorrow night at the Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor.
    The audience "seemed to like it," said Prine, who was working as a mailman in suburban Chicago at the time. The club owner liked it too, offering him a regular gig. So Prine went home and wrote enough songs to make it through a night's performance, and those tunes ended up on his 1971 self-titled debut disc for Atlantic Records.
    Prine was a critic's favorite right away with his witty and humorous lyrics and a deep, folksy voice paired with catchy melodies and a folk-rock heart. Unfortunately, some critics tended to go overboard, pegging him as "the new Dylan," a label that is never fair and never fits.
    But Prine, now 58, steered away from the Dylan comparisons and blazed his own successful career path, having his songs covered by such artists as Bonnie Raitt, Bette Midler, and Johnny Cash.
    After several tries with major labels, Prine decided he'd be better off on his own and founded Oh Boy Records in the early 1980s.
    He was nominated for two Grammys and won in 1992 with "The Missing Years," which featured guest appearances by Tom Petty and Bruce Springsteen.
    Prine's latest release, "Fair & Square," his first album of new material in nine years, debuted at No. 55 on the Billboard 200 album chart when it was released in April.
    Tomorrow night's sold-out concert at the Michigan Theater, presented by the Ark, starts at 8 p.m. with Mary Gauthier opening.

By: KEVIN RANSOM - News Special Writer
http://www.mlive.com/entertainment/aanews/index.ssf?/base/features-0/1117723252242361.xml  
June 2, 2005
    John Prine is back on track 
    The cancer survivor plays Ann Arbor this weekend in support of a new album 
    John Prine is not the man he was. 
    Indeed, over the last several years, Prine has experienced many changes - physically, emotionally, and artistically. He got married and started a family in mid-life, battled and recovered from throat cancer, quit touring for a time, and recorded his first-ever covers album. Along the way, this acclaimed songwriter went 10 years without releasing an album of new songs. 
    And when he surfaced in April with "Fair & Square," the album that broke that dry spell, it was a disc that featured two cover tunes and six songs that were co-written by others - a new course for a renowned writer who spent the bulk of his career writing solo. "Fair & Square" is also Prine's first effort as a producer - he co-produced the disc along with Gary Paczosa. 
    Prine's songwriting partners "are guys who are friends of mine, as well as being fine songwriters, so the writing process was a lot more fun than it usually is," said Prine, who comes to the Michigan Theater on Friday. "These were guys I'd have lunch with, and play snooker with, and we'd still write the song no matter who won." 
    It also could be that Prine's brush with mortality prompted him to value, more than ever, time spent with friends and family - which may also account for the fact that, in these new songs, Prine reveals his sentimental side like he never has before. 
    "I think I was just born with that sentimental side," said Prine during a recent phone interview from his home in Nashville. "I guess at this point in my life, I'm more comfortable showing that in my songs." 
    "Fair & Square" is also a return to the genial, country-folk vibe of some of his 1970s-'80s recordings, after serving up a bigger, more produced sound on "Lost Dogs and Missed Blessings" ('95) - his last CD of new songs, That disc (and its predecessor, '91's "The Missing Years") were produced by the late Howie Epstein, bassist for Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers. The punchy, pop-savvy sound of those discs lured the mainstream audience that had previously eluded Prine - despite being a brilliant songwriter and critic's favorite who inspired something like zealotry among his core fan base. 
    The success of those recordings - both sold in the 300,000 range - meant Prine no longer had to spend most of his time on the road to earn a living. That cushion definitely came in handy during his illness, when he had to stop touring for couple of years while he underwent surgery, radiation, chemotherapy and recovery from the cancer. 
    "Fair & Square" is another brisk seller - it hit No. 1 on the Americana chart just three weeks after its release - the fastest rise to the top in that chart's history. 
    On "Fair & Square," Prine demonstrates that he hasn't lost his talent for conveying volumes of emotional subtext with a deft, economical couplet. He also shows off his gift for clever wordplay, inventive internal rhymes and turns-of-phrase that are at once poignant and playful. 
    One of the most ambitious is "She Is My Everything," wherein Prine turns in this beaut: "She knows everybody / From Muhammed Ali / To teaching Bruce Lee / How to do karate / She can lead a parade / While putting on her shades / In her Maserati." 
    But the song isn't just an exercise in empty wordplay. It's also a story - and a love letter of sorts to his wife, Fiona. "Yeah, I wrote that one day when I was on her bad side, and I was tryin' to get back on her good side," quipped Prine. 
    His wife is a native of Ireland - he met her while touring in the early '90s - and the Prine clan spends most summers in the Irish countryside. 
    "We were gonna enter the kids in school over there in September, and stay over there through the year, but the record's doin' so good we're going to keep tourin' in the fall," said Prine. 
    Prine enjoyed another first last year when he became the first songwriter to ever be invited to read and perform his songs at the Library of Congress - at the invitation of Ted Kooser, the nation's poet laureate. 
    "At the end, Ted asked me to introduce my family," said Prine. "And when they stood up out in the audience, I was never so proud in my whole life." 

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