Six years after his death, the legacy of John Prine and his trove of enduring songs are not likely to fade anytime soon, especially with the scheduling of several events to mark what would have been his 80th birthday later this year. The first of those was also a season’s highlight at Wolf Trap Performing Arts Center in Vienna, VA, on June 9.
“Songwriters Celebrate John Prine” drew an enviable roster, including Emmylou Harris, Margo Price, Patty Griffin, and I’m with Her, to sing Prine’s songs as well as their own originals that might have shown an influence. A benefit for the Hello in There Foundation, founded by his family, was surprisingly female-dominated. Not that anyone would necessarily think of Prine as a feminist songwriter (aside from “Angel from Montgomery” forever associated with Bonnie Raitt).
But the night was also a showcase for rising songwriters (and a descendant) for longtime Prine enthusiasts to discover. That was the case for Colorado singer/songwriter Jobi Riccio, who began the proceedings with one of Prine’s best tunes from his final work, “Summer’s End,” followed by her own love song, “Idaho,” from her album Face the Feeling that came out last month.
Like the others on the bill, she benefitted from the knowing, tasty sounds of Prine’s own backing band, led by guitarist Jason Wilber and including Dave Jacques, Kenneth Blevins, Bryan Owings, and Fats Kaplan, whose pedal steel work lends a nice country feel to nearly everything. The band added keyboardist Jen Gunderman, who had played with The Jayhawks for years.
The broad appeal of Prine’s vision was seen in the booking of Fancy Hagood, self-described as a “queer independent artist from Nashville” singing Prine’s “I Just Want to Dance With You” along with his own recent love song “To the Moon.” The Canadian musical couple Alison Russell and JT Nero took on Prine’s sly “Everything is Cool” and provided a punch by showcasing her “Really Real,” from a new album due next month, backed by the vocal power of I’m With Her.
The duo was the first to use the Grammy-winning bluegrass trio, who wore matching jumpsuits to underscore their utility and versatility (at one point, Sara Watkins jumped in to help with the between-set wire). For their own set, Prine’s “Bruised Orange (Chain of Sorrow)” was matched with a song that showed direct tribute to Prine. “Wild and Clear and Blue,” the title song of their latest album, mentions listening to artists like Nanci Griffith and Prine on cassettes while riding around in their parents’ car.
When the audience reacted to that detail, they asked, “Why is that funny?” (because they were largely the very parents who introduced those artists to their kids).
Margo Price was the first artist allowed to sing three songs rather than two (she’d also come out later to help Hayes Carll’s “Illegal Smile”). Her’s was a moment that celebrated Prine’s “outside the box” mischievousness, following the timely “Your Flag Decal Won’t Get You Into Heaven Anymore” with her own yet-to-be-recorded “Screw You and the Horse You Rode In On.” She had the honor of taking on the sublime “Angel from Montgomery.” Pairing Harris with Carll on Prine’s delightful “In Spite of Ourselves” was a high point before the intermission.
Lucius, the singing duo of Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig, who blend fine harmonies with unnecessary get-ups—matching wigs, sunglasses, and what looked like hair shirts this time out—began the second half with an appropriately delicate “Hello in There,” and brought I’m With Her out to vocally super-charge their decade-old “Dusty Trails.”
Patty Griffin seemed a little at a loss without her usual second guitarist. Still, she brought some depth to Prine’s “I Remember Everything” before bringing her own sharply written “Love Throw a Line,” addressing what she called an embarrassing time to be an American.
The most unexpected moment was when the familiar, folksy CBS anchorman John Dickerson took the stage. But the reminiscing of his own connection to Prine’s music, and how it’s been passed down to his children as a cherished inheritance, was the most articulate and heartfelt of the evening. He paired it with Prine’s song “Mexican Home,” helping show how specific and well-chosen the songwriter’s prose was, able to stand on its own without the melody.
In many ways, the lanky Texan Hayes Carll best represented Prine’s presence. Like him, Carll straddles a line between country and folk, placing him outside both. His “Beaumont” with its cheeky back-and-forth gave a great influence of Prine’s eye for detail.
It was odd that a nominally headlining Harris only got a pair of songs. Still, she used her familiar, soaring country voice well, on Prine’s “Speed of the Sound of Loneliness” and he own signature “Red Dirt Girl” (which she explained wasn’t autobiographical).
Listed last on the poster, Tommy Prine nonetheless got the concluding spot on the show, with three songs no less. The night’s lone questionable move hinted at nepotism and at propping up the family business as motivations. That didn’t detract from his solid performance, following his dad’s “Far from Me” with his own “Ships in the Harbor” before bringing out the full cast for the song he said concluded every show, “Paradise,” which had the crowd singing its familiar chorus, “Daddy, won’t you take me back to Muhlenbach County.”
Hello, There Foundation’s visit to town included a screening of the documentary How Lucky Can One Man Get, which chronicled a 2010 concert Prine and his band performed at his old high school outside of Chicago. It was a warm portrait of the artist who grew his art while walking his postal route, and an indication of how engaging, loose, and offhand he was as a performer. He’ll continue to be missed.
