Angel From Montgomery, For Good
John Prine is probably the single person who influenced my music and lyric writing the most. His songs are funny without being ridiculous and emotional without being maudlin. He was a once-in-a generation talent, writing stories that are at once remarkably specific and universally applicable. His recent passing was definitely a punch in the gut.
Like every John Prine fan on the internet, I felt moved to try to do a tribute to him, but I felt like I had to do more than just post a cover. Prine’s songs paint a picture of a man with incredible power for empathy and a deep conviction in the shared humanity of all people. It’s remarkable how well he could inhabit the minds and emotional worlds of characters totally unlike himself in narratives about normal people just trying to get by in a crazy world. To really pay tribute to Prine’s spirit, I needed to do something to give back to the community, even if it was in a small way.
Inspired by John’s generosity of spirit, all money collected from the sales of this recording on Bandcamp will be donated to Lifeworks Austin. They are a nonprofit that provides a wide variety of services focusing on vulnerable communities in our city. Right now they are focusing their resources on helping homeless youth deal with the disruptions and dangers of the COVID 19 crisis. I can’t think of anyone who deserves support more right now.
I also have a personal connection to Lifeworks because I use their low-cost mental health counseling services. At a time when I was having some dark thoughts and needed help, Lifeworks was the only place I could go to that I could afford and didn’t have a months-long waitlist. For that I am incredibly grateful.
Anyway, this is a cover of Angel from Montgomery, the first John Prine song I remember loving. I got to know it through Bonnie Raitt’s wonderful version. I first envisioned doing this song as a gritty Southern rock jam sometime in high school, and finally actually recorded it last week. It blows my mind that he wrote this beautiful song about aging from a woman’s perspective as a twenty-something year old man.
