With the recent death of John Prine at the hands of COVID-19, the question has been posed by many about the legendary songwriter’s prospects of ever being inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. It’s an interesting discussion point for sure, and one with a few important qualifiers.
Sturgill Simpson is the latest artist from the country/roots realm to test positive for COVID-19. The songwriter, performer, and producer said in a statement on Saturday (4/11) that he had been suffering from chest pains, fever, and pre-stroke blood pressure levels when his wife took him to a local hospital ER.
The Tyler Childers set was captured on Pickathon’s legendary Woods Stage in the tall Douglas Fir forest that surrounds the festival grounds the weekend he released his latest album ‘Country Squire.’ Yours truly was standing stage side for the set, and can attest to its quality. Admission is free, but the concert is a MusiCares fundraiser.
We all know what the perfect country & western song is, because David Allan Coe told us. He also told us why it was the perfect country & western song, and who wrote it. That would be the great Steve Goodman, and the song of course is “You Never Even Called Me By My Name.” But John Prine was a silent partner.
We were lucky that we had John Prine as long as we did—on loan from the cosmos. But life on this cold ball of rock was always too ordered and normal for John. So now he’s moved on to where light and love comprise the ground and sky, to spin his little stories that might seem silly or even inane if written on paper, but rang profound in our hearts and souls.
Western Swing legend and frontman of Asleep At The Wheel Ray Benson is the latest country artist to test positive for the Coronavirus. The 69-year-old who lives in the Austin area said on Tuesday morning (3-31) he’s been feeling tired for the last 10 days. He was tested Monday and was positive for COVID-19.
The day after we learned that songwriting legend John Prine was in the hospital and intubated on a respirator due to Coronavirus symptoms, we now have a bit of a clearer picture on his condition from his wife, Fiona Whelan Prine, who had contracted COVID-19 herself recently.
Songwriting legend John Prine is currently in critical condition in the hospital, and is hooked up to a ventilator after suffering from Coronavirus symptoms. The news comes after John Prine’s wife, Fiona Whelan Prine, tested positive for the Coronavirus in mid March, and had been in quarantine and isolated from John.
Songwriting legend John Prine’s wife, Fiona Whelan Prine, has tested positive for the Coronavirus. Diagnosed late last week, she hasn’t been running a fever, but has been suffering from a cough and some breathlessness, and general fatigue. “I just don’t feel great at all, to put it mildly.”
It may not exactly be the Grand Ole Opry, but earning an opportunity to debut on the Austin City Limits stage for an appearance on the longest-running TV music program in American history is still a distinct honor, and one now Tyler Childers and Luke Combs will be enjoying during the upcoming season.
Shaky Boots is returning as a replacement for the EDM/hip-hop festival, Shaky Beats. The rock fest Shaky Knees will still be held in 2020 the week before in Atlanta’s Central Park. Also as part of the return is more of an emphasis on independent country and Americana artists, as can be seen in the lineup.
Songwriting legend, Americana forefather, and (possibly) future Country Music Hall of Famer John Prine will be one of the 2020 recipients of the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. It will be the biggest trophy John Prine will have received in his illustrious career, right behind the jukebox Steve Goodman bought for him.
If you’re looking for the experiences of rural America spun into songs devoid of diluting agents or phony embellishments, this is where to start. There’s no dulling the edges of Waldon’s molasses thick and unapologetic Southern accent. There’s no effort to commercialize these songs with any sort of electronic beeps or pop sensibilities.
It’s uncanny how Chris Knight takes such simple notions, and turns them into exaltations for the common man, their common struggles, and imparts solutions to everyday dilemmas. He’s the headwaters of erudite knowledge served in plainspoken terms that all other country songwriters seek.
The 18th Annual Americana Music Awards transpired Wednesday night (9-11) at the Country Music Mother Church, the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, with lots of love spread out among a diverse list of winners, but John Prine emerging as the biggest winner walking away with both Album of the Year for ‘Tree of Forgiveness,’ and Song of the Year
Songwriting legend John Prine has been forced to cancel numerous performance dates this summer due to ongoing health concerns. Prine has been advised by his doctors that he is at an elevated risk for stroke, and will be having surgery this week to hopefully remedy the issue.
There is daylight at the end of the long tunnel that has been the dearth of new music from one of country music’s most revered songwriters. Chris Knight can stand toe to toe with just about any of the songwriting stalwarts of the era, but it’s been seven years since he last hunkered down in the studio and given us something new.
It wasn’t just your average Grand Ole Opry presentation Tuesday night (5-28). When you saw country traditionalist Kelsey Waldon was scheduled to perform in the same segment as John Prine, and that Sturgill Simpson was given his own extended set to close out the show, you had a sense something special was in the air.
The Americana Music Association has announced the 2019 nominees for their annual Americana Music Awards to be held this September at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. In a video hosted by The Milk Carton Kids taped at Soundcheck Nashville on Tuesday, May 14th, four nominees in six categories were unveiled.
Country folk legend John Prine will not be appearing this weekend at the annual New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival as scheduled. Originally slotted to appear Saturday, May 4th in the Blues Tent, he has canceled due to health reasons. John Prine is just the latest big cancellation for the festival.
If you’ve been paying any attention to country music over the last few years, you know to be paying attention to just about any performing songwriter hailing from Kentucky. It’s the state that has given us Tyler Childers, Dillon Carmichael, Chris Stapleton, Kelsey Waldon, and Sturgill Simpson just to name a few over the last few years.
It’s said that time is the harshest critic of all. If that’s the case, time has not been very kind to the music of Florida Georgia Line at all. The title of their new album ‘Can’t Say I Ain’t Country’ isn’t fooling anybody, and apparently the fickle pop country music fan has moved on en masse to the likes of Luke Combs and others.
“We aren’t here to talk politics. We aren’t debating anyone’s personal beliefs,” the band says. “But if you’re a federal employee who wasn’t getting paid or put on furlough and need a break from all the bullshit that’s been happening around it, we’d like to invite you out for a night to an upcoming Blackberry Smoke show.
Ladies and gentlemen, we have a split decision. In a year when it feels like a criminal act to choose the best song over so many worthy contenders, even whittling it down to just two feels like a grave offense. But it is two songs that just can’t be denied this year, and it would be a discredit to the process chooing one over the other.