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· more: MISC | 2004 | Flashbacks | Fair & Square Album |
Austin City Limits Nov 13 2005
By: whiskey sour
Just caught the latter portion of the show, but what a treat to see John
on it. Will it be broadcast again? Thanks for the great music John...keep
up the good work!
By: Charles Schuler
Hello, I have just started listening to John Prine and love his music. I
scouted out the schedule for Austin City Limits and waited on his
performance, but was rather disappointed with one of his songs. He bashed
the President of the United States in one of his songs; I am not
necessarily a supporter of the president, but I respect the fact that he
is our elected leader. I did not need to hear a singer give his political
views in a song. Mr. Prine is a GREAT singer and songwriter, but I am very
disappointed that he chose to voice is opinion in a song. I tuned in to
listen to some good music, not to hear propaganda or an artist try to
voice his opinion via a song. I thought Mr. Prine would be above this sort
of activity, but it appears that his head has swollen so large that he
actually thinks his opinion as an ENTERTAINER really matters. Why can't he
just sing songs that entertain us, and not try to disrespect the president
of the United States. Once again, I am NOT necessarily a supporter of the
president, but I am deeply offended by Mr. Prine's actions. I live in
Austin, listen to 107.1 KGSR and buy Mr. Prine's CDs, but this will
definately end immediately. It is unfortunate that these entertainers
actually think that fans tune in to hear political views and positions,
when in actuality, we just want to be entertained and hear good music. I
doubt this will be publised on your website and I understand, but I just
wanted to let John's shrine know that he lost a fan tonight.
Venue: XM Radio Fair & Square Album Launch
Date: April 17,2005
By: Kevin - Beltsville,Md
XM Radio's XCountry (XM12) featured the premier of the new John Prine
album Fair & Square on Sunday, April 17. The album was great as was
the interview with John. It's going to be re-broadcast on XM on The
Village (XM 15)-Saturday, April 23rd at 6pm East/3pm West. and The Loft (XM
50)-Tuesday, April 26th at 9pm East/6pm West. I'll be listening again.
Venue: Creative Loafing Interview
Date: April 13, 2005
By: Steve Fennessy
A week ago Thursday, if you were at Hartsfield-Jackson
airport waiting on a flight, you might have seen a man with a head full of
bushy hair that's gone gray. He would have looked to be pushing about 60,
and might have rocked a bit when he walked. He held a cell phone to his
ear for a while, and while he was talking, you might have noticed he kept
looking over at the electric trash compactors that turn magazines and
coffee cups into mulch. And you'd no doubt notice his grin, which is big
and easy and maybe even a little goofy, which is one of his favorite
words.
The man is John Prine, and he was on his way to Asheville,
N.C., to open the tour supporting his latest album, Fair & Square.
It's been nine years since Prine released a record of new material. For
his fans, who are an impassioned bunch, the wait has been somewhat
frustrating, only partially alleviated by Prine's semi-regular touring
schedule. He plays weekend shows throughout the country for part of the
year while he writes new songs.
Or doesn't write songs, as the case may be.
Prine's approach to songwriting can most generously be
described as relaxed. He's said before that he'd gladly put down his pen
if somebody offered him so much as a hot dog. But in the nine-year period
since his last CD of new material, Lost Dogs & Mixed Blessings,
Prine's had to deal with distractions a lot bigger than hot dogs.
In 1997, he was diagnosed with cancer in his neck. He beat it,
but the surgery and radiation dropped his voice an octave and left it even
more gravelly than usual. He had his hip replaced. In 2001, he took a
spill in Ireland and busted his elbow. But the biggest distraction has
been his two sons, who are now 9 and 10, the children of his third
marriage.
"For 49 years, it was kind of a quirky world for
me," he says by phone from Hartsfield. "I'd go wherever I
wanted, get up whenever I wanted to. I'd been married twice before, but I
never had any children. The children, they tell you when to get up, when
to go to bed. It threw me for a loop - a good loop."
Until his children were born, Prine's songwriting depended as
much on serendipity as focused effort. "I would just wait until
lightning struck. It'd be 4 in the morning and I'd write a song and go
back to sleep." He chuckles. "I was never busy before when
lightning struck. I was just walkin' around waitin' for a storm."
In his youth, Prine explained (when he visited the Library of
Congress earlier this year at the invitation of America's poet laureate
Ted Kooser), he was often subject to "spells," as he called
them, where it would seem like he was looking down at the room from above.
Such spells brought on emotions that led to songs. The best songs, he
said, took about as much time to write as they did to sing.
Today, with two kids to chase after, a summer house in
Ireland, the responsibilities of running his own record label, and the
challenge of maintaining his health, Prine has to fit in his muse when he
can.
"In order to write a record, I had to make an appointment
with myself," he says with another chuckle.
But his fans can rest easy: Fair & Square, which will be
released April 26, is a return to form. Look no further than "She is
my Everything," about his wife, Fiona, in which Prine rhymes
"Copenhagen" with "eggs and bacon." Or "Some
Humans Ain't Human," the last song he wrote for the record. In it, he
blasts George W. Bush's Iraq war.
"I don't particularly like protest songs myself because they
don't last very long," he says. "Soon as you mention anything
about current events, it puts a time limit on the song. But in this case,
I started feeling like the stuff that the administration was doing - from
the Dixie Chicks on down, the way they came down on anybody saying
anything about Iraq - I thought this was pretty crazy. Anyway, I got the
feeling if I didn't say something that that would be a 'yes' vote for
Bush. So I wanted to make it clear if a bus should hit me tomorrow
morning, I wasn't a Republican."
At his shows, Prine even took one of his first songs out of
retirement, the self-explanatory "Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into
Heaven Anymore." And last fall Prine took part in Vote for Change,
the coalition of musicians who tried to mobilize voters to vote Bush out
of office. Some of his fans didn't appreciate their guy wearing his
politics on his sleeve.
"You think you know who you're playing to. Not that I'm trying
to please everybody, but I was surprised that as many people would get as
pissed off as they did. In the same letters, they said they'd been
following the music for 30 years. You wonder what songs they've been
listening to."
Prine laughs again.
"So if nothing else, I feel like I've cleared the board and
reminded 'em where I'm comin' from."
Oh, and one more thing - Prine says his next album should come a
bit quicker this time around.
"I'm gonna try and do one in three years. You can write that
down."
Venue: Things got real hot at Prine's photo shoot
Date: Sunday Jan 30, 2005
By: The Tennessean
http://tennessean.com/celebrities/archives/05/01/64882948.shtml?Element_ID=64882948
Poet/singer/legend/treasure John Prine just got back from a photo
shoot in Ireland for his new album, and he had some mini-excitement.
John and some fabulous European photographer rented a Mini Cooper
and headed out to the countryside to a pub for the shoot. John put the car
in the garage and the photo shoot began.
Shortly thereafter a black cloud, then flames burst into the pub
after a fire broke out in the apartment next door.
''We kinda smelled something funny,'' John said. ''I've never been
that close to when that black smoke burst into flames everywhere.
''Then I realized I parked the Mini I'd been driving in the carport. So I
had to rush in and drive the car out of there.''
Wow. He must have a really high deductible.
Car and Grammy winner are both doing fine.
The album, Fair & Square, with guest vocals from Mindy Smith
and Alison Krauss, is out at the end of April.
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