Now my grandma was a teacher went to school in Bowling Green; Traded in a milking cow for a Singer sewing machine... (John Prine - Grandpa Was a Carpenter) 
I had the privilege of seeing John Prine at the beautiful Singletary Center on the University of Kentucky's campus on Friday (April 1). This was my 5th John Prine concert since 1995. It seems like every 3 years or so old John comes around and I try to go see him. John is 64 years old and you hope he's around for a long time, but you never know. As a friend of mine told me that when she saw Bonnie Raitt in concert a few years ago, Bonnie called John a "national treasure". 
On this evening John was backed by his fantastic musical mates Jason Wilber on guitar and David Jacques on bass. The song selections for the show was pretty standard; the set started with as alway Spanish Pipedream and ended with Paradise. John played mostly songs from his earlier albums including 8 songs from his 1971 debut album.
My highlights were Angel From Montgomery; Jason Wilber's slide guitar and David Jacques bass fiddle made the song hauntingly beautiful; Grandpa Was a Carpenter, on the introduction John said he originally debut the song at a family reunion and his aunts later cornered him to point out the mistakes in the song - Grandpa smoked Kools not Camels and Grandma went to school in Berea not Bowling Green, at which John replied that they didn't have to rhyme Berea with singer sewing machine; Lake Marie is always a treat; Clay Pigeons, That's the Way That the World Goes Round and In Spite of Ourselves were also excellent. On In Spite of Ourselves John sang the boy part and girl part which was quiet funny.
Complete Setlist:
I first heard R.E.M. in about 1983 when a friend played me the Murmer album. It was like something totally new. Peter Buck's jangly guitars sounded to me like at least 2 if not 3 guitars. Michael Stipe's singing was mumbly with the lyrics being indecipherable. Mike Mill's bass and Bill Berry's drums were solid. The harmony vocals were soaring to the point of making the hairs on your arms stand up.
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Each album in the 80's after 1984's Reckoning saw a slight change in the sound; 1985's Fables of the Reconstruction was bit more murky; 1986's Life's Rich Pageant was more straight ahead rock; 1987's Document was a little harder; and then their major label debut 1988's Green was more popier. Each of these stand on their own. Around the end of the decade Rolling Stone magazine declared the band America's Best Rock and Roll Band.
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The 1990's saw R.E.M.' s popularity grow which peaked around 1992's more acoustic Automatic For the People. In 1994 the band did a 360 with the guitar heavy Monster, a very solid album. The subsequent tour was plagued with some health issues; Bill Berry collapsed on stage with a brain aneurysm and Mike Mills and Michael Stipe also had health issues. Bill Berry recovered after surgery, but decided to leave the band. R.E.M. has never been the same.
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The post Berry R.E.M. further removed the band from the sound that I fell in love with in the 80's. The 00's albums have been more atmospheric, less jangly; the drums burried.
Just released Collapse Into Now is a return of sorts to R.E.M.'s 90's sound. I like the cd quite a bit. Mine Smell Like Honey (I hate the title, but love the song) is classic R.E.M.; when the song kicks into the chorus the harmonies lift you off the ground. Same with the harmonies on It Happened Today which include guest vocals from Eddie Vedder. Uberlin recalls Drive from Automatic For the People; Blue could have come off of 1996's New Adventures in Hi-Fi. I'm still taking in this disc, but it's nice to hear from an old friend.
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Robbie Robertson is familiar to alot of folks as the guitarist for the Americana roots pioneers The Band (although 4 of the 5 members were Canadian). The Band toured and recorded with Bob Dylan, played at the Woodstock Festival and made several great albums in the late 60'/early 70's before breaking up in 1978. Their final concert was filmed and released as the movie The Last Waltz. The concert film included many of their contemporaries and friends such as Bob Dylan and Neil Young, to name two.
Robertson has recorded several solo albums since the breakup, but they have been far and few between. In 1987 Robertson released his self-titled solo debut, co-produced by super producer Daniel Lanois and Robertson. Some "Band purists" panned the album, but I thought it was brilliant. The record had that Lanois sound and featured U2 and Peter Gabriel (whom Lanois had also produced). The album contained several great songs including Somewhere Down the Crazy River which featured additional vocals from The BoDeans singer Sam Llanas. Fallen Angel, a tribute to bandmate Richard Manuel who had died in 1986, is another winner. Other standouts include Showdown at Big Sky, Sweet Fire of Love, American Roulette, and Broken Arrow which became a hit later for Rod Stewart.
In 1991 Robertson released Storyville, recorded in New Orleans. I have not heard that one. In 1994 Robertson recorded music for a televsion documentary called The Native Americans. In 1998 he continued along this road with another Native American influenced record Contact From the Underworld of Redboy. These records are inspired combining authentic sounds, chants with modern sounding music.
I have already read a negative review about How To Become Clairvoyant but I want to listen for myself. Robbie Robertson has not followed a straight career path since leaving the Band but his limited outputs have been fun.
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