RUNNING TIMES
6.45pm Doors
7.50pm Show starts
11.00pm End
Rest of times to be announced
*All times approximate and subject to change by the artist.
Palais Theatre’s Bars are open from doors until the end of interval with a selection of food and beverages including sandwiches, soft drinks, snacks and ice-creams, a brand new coffee counter for your favourite hot drinks and our new central bar which is fully fitted out with beers on tap, wine, spirits and soft drinks.
EVENT INFORMATION
LEGENDARY US SONGWRITER TOURING AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 25 YEARS
The Palais Theatre is thrilled to annouce one of the USA’s most remarkable songwriters: two time Grammy winner and master storyteller John Prine. Prine was recently named Artist of the Year at the 17th annual Americana Honors & Awards, held at Nashville’s famous Ryman Auditorium.
The legendary Prine – long considered a “songwriter’s songwriter” – will perform six intimate theatre dates with his full band, his first shows since 1993!
+ WITH SPECIAL GUEST TYLER CHILDERS
‘Beautiful songs… Nobody but Prine could write like that.’ – Bob Dylan
‘John Prine finds the beauty in the ordinary stuff of life. He speaks directly to our hearts.’ – Vance Joy
‘Prine is the king… One of the greatest songwriters and performers that ever was. His stage show is better than ever and attendance should be considered mandatory.’ – Dan Auerbach
‘Prine looks for transcendence through the mundane… and uses aging and the creeping passage of time as his vehicle.’ – Marlon Williams
‘John Prine can make you laugh like no else can make you laugh’ – Bill Murray
‘He’s so good, we’re gonna have to break his fingers’ – Kris Kristofferson
From the release of his eponymous, ground-breaking debut in 1971, for over 40 years now Prine has forged a path through the American musical landscape, with his heartfelt narratives and expressive voice. In April 2018 the 71-year-old icon released his first new original songs in 13 years: the critically acclaimed The Tree Of Forgiveness (Oh Boy Records/Cooking Vinyl). The album debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Folk Albums chart, #2 on Top Country, and #5 on the overall Billboard 200 – the highest chart positions of Prine’s career.
Born in 1946 in Maywood, Illinois, Prine was raised in the Midwest. His songs are filled with the tales of blue collar suburbs, where country music, the Grand ‘Ol Opry, good Southern cooking, and annual visits ‘home’ to Kentucky were as naturally part of his family’s lives as Chicago hot dogs and baseball. Long before the awards and accolades, the concerts and many albums, Prine trudged through snow in the cold Chicago winters, delivering mail across his childhood suburb. “I always likened the mail route to a library with no books ,” he recalls. “I passed the time each day making up these little ditties.”
Those “ditties” led to countless awards and accolades. Just a few Prine has received in recent times include his 2003 induction into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, an Americana Lifetime Achievement Award for songwriting, and being honoured at the Library of Congress by US Poet Laureate Ted Kooser. For many, Prine has become not just a well-loved and appreciated songwriter, but a bonafide American treasure.
Having fought cancer battles twice (he underwent surgeries in 1996 and 2013), John Prine currently lives in Nashville, TN with his wife, Fiona, and enjoys spending time with their three sons, daughter-in-law, and grandchildren.
‘At 71, John Prine is a virtuoso … writing about what it means to be alive.’ – Pitchfork
‘Prine and the late-Leonard Cohen are a rare breed of songwriters who can make you cry and laugh in the same song … a complete night of exquisite storytelling’ – The Times (Pittsburgh)
Joining John as special guest at all shows is Kentucky singer/songwriter Tyler Childers , who released his breakout debut Purgatory in 2017 and recently played Chicago’s Lollapalooza festival and supported Jack White in Minneapolis. Steeped in the sounds of the Appalachian South, Childers’ debut is bluegrass-infused, semi-autobiographical tracks co-produced by Grammy winners Sturgill Simpson and David Ferguson. Says Rolling Stone of tracks such as ‘Whitehouse Road’ , Childers’ music sounds like, “A raw look at the darker regions of modern-day Appalachia, where bluegrass is in the soul, but cocaine is in the blood.” Watch his NPR Tiny Desk concert here.
Touring for the first time in 25 years, these AU/NZ shows from one of America’s greatest talents will be truly unforgettable. Don’t miss John Prine, live in concert this summer!