Prine Time

More about Felix:

The message has always been to stand for peace, love, and happiness. For legendary singer songwriter, Felix Cavaliere, making people feel good is primary to his illustrious 50-year career that includes the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Songwriter Hall of Fame, Vocal Group Hall of Fame, and Grammy Hall of Fame. Few artists can claim they defined a generation; Felix Cavaliere continues to remind us to keep listening for the world’s beauty.

The classically trained pianist, born in Pelham, New York, idolized Ray Charles, Marvin Gaye, and Sam Cook. Felix Cavaliere embraced the Hammond Organ and pioneered a fresh, rock and roll sound. Upon leaving Syracuse University to form the Escorts, and become a backup musician for Joe Dee and the Starliters and later Sandy Scott, who knew that his legendary next stop would be the beginning of an illustrious hall of fame career.

Early in 1965, Felix Cavaliere formed the ‘Young Rascals’ with Dino Danelli, Eddie Brigati, and Gene Cornish. That October, they caught the attention of promoter/manager Sid Bernstein with their high-energy set at Long Island’s elite club, Barge. Signed to Atlantic Records, and now called The Rascals, the mega hit “Good Lovin’” struck No. 1 in February 1966. They followed suit with a string of hits like “I’ve Been Lonely Too Long,” “Groovin’(No. 1 in 1967), “How Can I Be Sure,” “A Girl Like You,” “A Beautiful Morning,” and “People Got to Be Free” (No. 1 in 1968). The Rascals are considered the best ‘blue-eyed soul’ group to come out of the 1960s, as well as one of the groups with the most record sales.

By the early 70s, The Rascals experimented with more jazz-influenced sounds, and moved to Columbia Records. The Rascals disbanded in 1972. Felix Cavaliere’s solo career thrived during this decade. He released his self-titled debut album with Todd Rundgren at the producer helm. His follow-up albums were Destiny (1974), Castles in the Air (1979) (Castle in the Air produced another Top 40 hit – “Only a Heart Sees” reached No. 2), Dreams in Motion (1994) and in 2008 he collaborated with Stax guitar legend, Steve Crooper, on the Grammy-nominated Nudge it Up a Notch and again in 2010 with Midnight Flyer.

Felix Cavaliere calls Nashville home base, where he is constantly collaborating and writing new material.

Billy and multiple Grammy winner Dave Cobb share great stories about field recordings and working with Shooter Jennings, Jason Isbell, Sturgill Simpson, George Jones, Chris Stapleton, among others. Billy chats about growing up with John and the Prine family, reunions and their musical influences. Throw in the Oak Ridge Boys, the Muscle Shoals studio and Dave's producing John's final album, "The Tree of Forgiveness". An episode you do not want to miss!

In this episode, Billy and Michael talk with renowned Texas singer/songwriter Darden Smith. They discuss memories of John Prine, Darden's work with Songwriting With Soldiers, writing during the pandemic and his most recent album and book, "Western Skies". Darden also plays his new hit song, "Running Out of Time", from the album.

Bob Weir is one of the founding members of the legendary Grateful Dead. Since establishing the band in 1965, Weir has become one of rock’s finest and most distinctive rhythm guitarists. The band has received a GRAMMY Lifetime Achievement Award and appeared on Forbes’ list of top-grossing entertainers. The Grateful Dead is still one of the highest-grossing concert attractions in the US and their final tally of 2,318 total concerts remains a world record. He is currently a member of Dead & Company (featuring Grateful Dead members Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, along with John Mayer, Oteil Burbridge, Jeff Chimenti) as well as his own trio Bob Weir and Wolf Bros (a trio featuring Weir, Don Was and Jay Lane).

Weir has been honored with Lifetime Achievement Award from the Americana Music Association and is also a Les Paul Spirit Award recipient. Weir has teamed up with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) as a Goodwill Ambassador to raise awareness and mobilize support for the UN agency’s work to end poverty while fighting climate change.

Weir has a partnership with D’Angelico Guitars for two signature models, the Bob Weir SS and Bob Weir Bedford. In 2017, the Bob Weir SS won the Editor’s Choice Award for Guitar, Amps and Accessories at the Summer National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM) show, while Musical Merchandise Review (MMR) nominated the Premier Bob Weir SS for Dealer’s Choice Award in the Electric Guitar category. Music and Sound Retailer deemed the Deluxe Bob Weir Bedford the Best Electric Guitar of 2019.

Weir's Blue Mountain LP (2016) on Columbia/Legacy/ROAR marked his first album of solo material in more than 10 years and first album of entirely original material in more than 30 years. The album received raves from critics including NPR who called the LP "stately, autumnal, metaphysical cowboy songs.”

We'd like to revisit the episode that started it all: Paradise. If you're a new fan or have been with us from the start, we hope you enjoy this encore presentation Peace!

Billy talks with Jason Wilber who was John Prine’s guitar player for over 20 years. They discuss Jason’s first time meeting John in Bloomington, Indiana, joining John’s band, songwriting, the pursuit of the perfect gift (which included a cuckoo clock), Dairy Queen lunch stops on tour, and John’s love of meatloaf.

More about Jason:

Jason Wilber is an American singer, guitar player, songwriter, and recording artist. In addition to his work as a solo recording artist, he is also known as the long time lead guitar player for singer-songwriter John Prine. Other artists Jason has accompanied live or in the studio include Iris Dement, Greg Brown, Tom Russell, Sheryl Crow, Mary Gauthier, Todd Snider, Simrit, Hal Ketchum, Tim Grimm, Krista Detor, Greg Trooper, Carrie Newcomer, Kim Fox, Bill Wilson, and Over the Rhine.

Jason Wilber’s solo albums include Lost In Your Hometown (1998), Behind the Midway (2000), King For A Day (2004), Lazy Afternoon (2006), Live and Otherwise Volume 1 (2006), Ghost of Summers Past (2009), Live and Otherwise Volume 2 (2009), Secret Window (2014), Echoes (2016) and Reaction Time (2017).

Jason Wilber’s work with John Prine includes the Grammy Award winning CD Fair & Square, and the Grammy nominated CDs Live On Tour and In Spite of Ourselves (which spent 32 weeks on the Billboard Country Charts). In addition to playing guitar on John Prine’s 2017 album For Better or Worse, Jason also served as a Co-Executive Producer. Jason has accompanied John Prine on duet recordings with Iris Dement, Allison Krauss, Susan Tedeschi, Emmylou Harris, Miranda Lambert, Kathy Mattea, Amanda Shires, Fiona Prine, Lucinda Williams, Josh Ritter, Patty Loveless, Lee Ann Womack, Connie Smith, Melba Montgomery, Morgane Stapleton, Kacey Musgraves, and Sara Watkins.

From 2006-2016, Jason Wilber hosted the syndicated radio series, In Search of a Song, which featured long form interviews with singers, songwriters, musicians, and producers.

Jason Wilber served as C0-Executive Producer on the compilation CD Coal Country Music featuring Willie Nelson, Gillian Welch, Ralph Stanley, Jason and the Scorchers, Kathy Mattea, Justin Townes Earle, Natalie Merchant, Diana Jones, Tom T. Hall, Bonnie Raitt, John Prine, Jean Ritchie, and other artists, who all contributed their talents to benefit the Alliance for Appalachia’s work to stop Mountain Top Removal in rural Appalachia.

Jason Wilber’s past TV and radio appearances include The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, Late Night with Seth Meyers, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, The Colbert Report, Sessions At West 54th Street, The Grand Ole Opry, Live with Regis and Kathy Lee, CNN Entertainment Week, The Road, Mountain Stage, E-Town, Austin City Limits, and The Late Show with David Letterman.

In this, the second of two episodes, Billy and Michael talk with renowned music author Peter Guralnick about Charlie Rich’s success and final record, Elvis Presley, Tom Waits, Chet Atkins, Colonel Tom Parker, and highlights from his highly-acclaimed new book, "Looking to Get Lost: Adventures in Music and Writing".

More about Peter:

Peter Guralnick has been called "a national resource" by critic Nat Hentoff for work that has argued passionately and persuasively for the vitality of this country's intertwined black and white musical traditions. His books include the prize-winning two-volume biography of Elvis Presley, Last Train to Memphis and Careless Love. Of the first Bob Dylan wrote, “Elvis steps from the pages. You can feel him breathe. This book cancels out all others.” He won a Grammy for his liner notes for Sam Cooke Live at the Harlem Square Club as well as writing the scripts for the Grammy-winning documentary Sam Cooke/Legend and Martin Scorsese’s blues documentary Feel Like Going Home. His biography of Sam Cooke, Dream Boogie: The Triumph of Sam Cooke, was hailed as "monumental, panoramic, an epic tale told against a backdrop of brilliant, shimmering music, intense personal melodrama, and vast social changes.” His 2015 biography of Sam Phillips, Sam Phillips: The Man Who Invented Rock ‘n’ Roll, was named one of the Best Books of the Year by the New York Times and was a finalist for the Plutarch Award for Best Biography of the Year. Reaction to his latest book, Looking to Get Lost, has ranged from Michael Eric Dyson’s tribute to “one of the 3 or 4 greatest writers in the country today” to Rosanne Cash’s description of him as “a dedicated explorer, a writer of great sensitivity and intuition, who lyrically untangles the network that exists between artist and art” to No Depression’s description of a book that “is not a summation so much as a culmination of his remarkable work, which from the start has encompassed the full range of blues, gospel, country and rock and roll.”

In the second of two episodes, Billy and his brother Dave Prine reminisce about traveling in brother John's big cargo van, attending the University of Chicago Folk Festival, Ernest Tubb, John and Dave attending the Old Town School of Folk Music, and some hilarious other Prine family stories you won't hear anywhere else!

In this episode, Billy and Michael talk with writer and music documentarian Dave Hoekstra. They share stories about their adventures with John while fishing in the Ozarks, Chuck Berry and the 1984 Wrigley Field concerts, Chicago's Earl of Old Town scene, the relationship between music and print media and the struggles of independent artists finding community and inspiration in today's world.

In this special epidode, Billy talks with Mitchell Drosin, John Prine's tour manager for over 30 years. Billy also outlines his Fall 2021 tour schedule and tells the story of John's writing "Paradise" Throw in a few stories about the Prine kids and you will definitely want to listen in!