and yet another "preview" for the Florida shows...

Yet another concise description of the intriguing attraction we Prine fans have to his music and life.


He’s not a household name, but John Prine was pretty much the first of the contemporary literary singer/songwriters. The Illinois native and Florida resident is equal parts Jimmie Rodgers and Jimmy Buffett, combining an everyman’s point of view with keen observational skills, pathos and a wicked wit.
The comparisons end there, however. Prine, who will perform Saturday at the King Center for the Performing Arts, was called “The New Dylan” when he arrived on the scene in the early 1970s, and his songs have been made famous by other artists. Still, he’s never sold millions of records and has remained a cult figure, albeit a major one.
A former Chicago-area mail carrier and U.S. Army veteran, Prine and good buddy Steve (“City of New Orleans”) Goodman were the toast of the Windy City’s folk music scene; both were “discovered” by Kris Kristofferson, who helped them get recording contracts.
Prine’s best-known songs include “Sam Stone,” a biting narrative about a drug-addled Vietnam veteran; the country lament “Angel From Montgomery” (recorded by Bonnie Raitt, Dave Matthews, John Denver, Ben Harper, Tanya Tucker and others); the coal-mining drama “Paradise”; and “Your Flag Decal Won’t Get You Into Heaven Anymore,” one of the funniest songs ever written about American patriotism.
To get an idea of the way John Prine thinks, all you really need to do is scan his song titles: “Yes, I Think They Oughta Name a Drink After You,” “Jesus the Missing Years,” “Sabu Visits the Twin Cities Alone,” “Come Back to Us Barbara Lewis Hare Krishna Beauregard,” “Please Don’t Bury Me” or “It’s a Big Old Goofy World.”
Ten years ago, Prine underwent surgery for throat cancer, and his millions of devoted fans breathed a collective sigh of relief that their literary hero never missed a beat — he got back on his feet, picked up his guitar and went back out on the road.