Prine Time

Ollabelle first came together as a group through Sunday night jams at the Lower East Side club 9C, now known as Banjo Jim's. Last night 4/5's of Ollabelle was back there for a tribute to John Prine, curated by Tony Leone, the drummer of the band. In addition to Tony, Byron Isaacs, the bass player, and Glen Patscha, the keyboard player, formed the rhythm section of the house band for the evening. Fiona McBain was also there, only Amy Helm (who was reportedly in Woodstock helping dad Levon with his new CD) was missing.

The proceedings got off to a "pretty good" start, with Tony singing that Prine song. Fiona did a sweet version of "Hello in There," and Byron tackled a more obscure tune, "Far from Me." Some of the guest artists included members of the Brooklyn roots band Yarn doing "Illegal Smile" and a couple of the Demolition String Band doing "Flag Decal" and "In Spite of Ourselves." (Didn't realize Elana Skye was originally from Chicago, where she quite rightly says John Prine is a hero!)

Also dug hearing old pal Heather Eatman do "That's the Way the the World Goes Round." She's got the distinction of once being on John's Old Boy Records label, and she told a funny story of a fan requesting that "happy enchilada" song...meaning in reality "half a drink of water" from "That's the Way..." Surprise highlight for me was the version of "Sweet Revenge" by a guy I didn't recognize, Chris Berson (?).

It being a "school night" and all with a busy Friday on tap for me, I didn't hang around for the second set, so I missed Glenn doing "Sam Stone," Laura Cantrell doing "Unwed Fathers with Larry Campbell, and the whole gang doing "Angel from Montgomery" and "Paradise."

I knew John Prine back in the day in Chicago when he was just giving up his gig as a mailman in Maywood, IL and releasing that unforgettable first CD. He and Steve Goodman always had a mutual admiration society...Steve admired John's songwriting genius, and John admire Steve's overall musicianship. They made a great team. John's great gift is writing songs that are deceptively simple, but they really stand the test of time, so it was great to hear them in the hands of some of NY's finest. And considering how packed Banjo Jim's was with fans, it would be cool if they did it again - or, as the owner suggested, maybe do a Steve Goodman night next.
Thanks to Tony Leone for pulling it together and to Rich Rothenberg for hipping me to it (and the complete song list).