John Prine at the Thalia Mara Hall Jackson MS August 24, 2007 with Iris DeMent Opening and back up Band of Jason Wilber and Dave Jacques
 

JoJo, a JP fan from way back

John simply proved again that he is indeed one of our national treasures. His 2-hour plus show was fantastic. He was energetic, seemed to have a great time, and his voice sounded great. Jason and David were right where they needed to be. Iris was good, but the sound man was off with her vocals. When she returned to sing with John, it sounded a good bit better. Best of all, after being a fan for 30+ years, I finally got to meet him backstage. He was warm and friendly and funny, as were David and Jason. I'm already planning for the next time.
  

Will Gamble

This was my third concert with John and it was my most anticipated. I loved Iris Dement in "In Spite of Ourselves" and was really looking forward to seeing her. Unfortunately, the venue sound system was lacking and from the beginning, Iris seemed to be under motivated about the whole thing. Then there were those gosh awful uncomfortable seats... Oh well, this wasn't really about Iris anyway, As for John.... WOW! This was the best of the three shows I have seen. His voice was better than ever and he really seemed to be having a good time. The crowd was pleased and gave him a big round of applause after each song as well as a huge standing ovation at the end. Thanks for the memories John, they can be bought'n. lol
  

Gina

Attended my first ever Prine concert last night. I had a seat in the front row and it was Fabulous. Couldn't have asked for a better night. Looking forward to catching many Prine shows in the future!!
 

Duane Garner

Incredible show. What a great performer. This was my first Prine concert. He played for more than two hours straight. I was really looking forward to hearing Iris DeMent as well, but I was pretty disappointed with her set. She sounded drunk or disoriented. Making things worse, the sound system was not balanced, so all her lyrics were muddied. She did a great cover of Merle Haggard's "That's the Way Love Goes", but when she came out later to join John on a few numbers, she was still off her game quite a bit - even forgetting the words to "In Spite of Ourselves". I would really like to see a set list if anyone kept track of one.

By: Cary Miller
Preview

full artilcle found - here
FANS PRIMED FOR JOHN PRINE
Grammy-winning artist caters to 'Average People'
   Grammy-winning folk artist John Prine, revered as one of American music's best songwriters of all time, comes to Jackson Friday for a live show at Thalia Mara Hall.
   The Illinois native will be joined by folk artist Iris DeMent, who is a Grammy nominee in her own right, and who performed duets with Prine on his acclaimed 1999 album In Spite of Ourselves.
   Hal & Mal's manager Charles Abraham has seen Prine perform on a number of occasions and can attest to his talent.
  "We had him several times back in the early days of Hal & Mal's," he says. "His shows are very musical, very light and very entertaining."
  "He's got one of those voices that as soon as he starts singing, you can just sit back and enjoy it," says Oxford singer-songwriter Tommy Bryan Ledford.
   Prine made his debut in 1971, through the aid of fellow singer-songwriter Kris Kristofferson, who helped him secure a recording contract with Atlantic Records.
   He issued four albums for Atlantic that soldified his status as a critic's darling, though he met with little commercial success - 1975's soul-tinged Common Sense was his only album to crack the U.S Top 100.
   Often called a songwriter's songwriter, Prine's early songs were covered by The Everly Brothers, Bette Midler, Joan Baez and more - even indie rock act Bright Eyes often performs his classic track Crazy As a Loon live, which led frontman Conor Oberst to once opine, "I didn't write this song but sometimes I swear to God I feel like I did."
   Ledford seems to feel the same about Prine's music: "So many of the songs he writes, you hear it, and go, 'why didn't I think of that?' To be honest, I can't listen to him too much or the songs I write start sounding exactly like John Prine."
   After three more acclaimed albums for the Asylum label, Prine founded his own record label, Oh Boy Records, which he records for to this day.
   His second effort on his label, 1986's German Afternoons, earned Prine his first Grammy nomination, and in 1991 he had his first Grammy win with The Missing Years, an album that imagined Jesus' undocumented years between his childhood and ministry.
   The album featured guest spots by Bruce Springsteen, Bonnie Raitt and Tom Petty and proved to be Prine's best-selling work yet, selling around 250,000 copies. Lost Dogs and Mixed Blessings, released in 1995, earned Prine yet another Grammy nomination.
   In 1998 he was diagnosed with cancer, and underwent treatment. He beat the cancer and returned with the highly acclaimed In Spite of Ourselves, a album of duets with famous female folkies like Emmylou Harris, Lucinda Williams, Trisha Yearwood, Patty Loveless, Connie Smith and the aforementioned DeMent.
   After a brief hiatus from recording, Prine made another comeback with 2005's Fair & Square, a sparse and powerful record that earned him a second Grammy win and became his highest charting album, reaching No. 55 on the Billboard 200. ///// Earlier this year, Prine released Standard Songs for Average People, a collection of country standards, with Nashville legend Mac Wiseman.
   "I think he can pretty much be considered a living legend at this point," says Ledford.
   DeMent, while having a less prolific career than Prine, has had no less an illustrious one. ///// Abraham says she has performed at Hal & Mal's in the past, and the shows were fantastic.
  "She's got that sweet little voice," he says. "I just love her to death. I'm actually more anxious to hear her than I am John Prine."
   A native of Arkansas who grew up in California, DeMent moved to Nashville in 1988 to make it, and struggled before bursting onto the scene with her 1992 independent debut Infamous Angel, which announced her as a major creative force despite having little to no airplay on country radio.
   Warner Brothers re-released the album in 1993, and DeMent quickly followed it with 1994's My Life, which earned her a Grammy nomination.
   After issuing the fiercely political 1996 album The Way I Should, she stepped back from the limelight, dueting with Prine in 1999, before making a comeback with the 2005 album Lifeline.
   "Anybody that is just going to see John Prine is going to be doubly rewarded because she's wonderful also," Ledford says.
   As of Wednesday afternoon, there were less than 100 tickets to the concert left, according to Drake Elder of BeBop Record Shop.
   "I think we'll still have tickets available at the door, but it will be close," Elder says.

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