John Prine may be gone but his music lives on — and can be heard performed live in Parksville on Oct. 19.
The Clay Pigeons, a five-piece string band, pay tribute to the late, great Americana singer songwriter, as well as connected artists such as Townes Van Zandt, Blaze Foley, Guy Clark, Iris Dement and Lyle Lovett. They'll perform at Knox United Church (345 Pym St.) starting at 7 p.m.
Founding member Aaron Watson (guitar and vocals) said the band's repertoire includes many beautiful, but tragic songs with “hard-hitting social commentary”.
“There’s a huge amount of humour, so it’s like the humour is buffered with these really sad songs," Watson said. "Part of the challenge is to play these really cathartic songs and then be able to have a really good laugh about them in the meantime."
The music includes songs of heartbreak and loss, but balanced with music about compassion and stories of how communities rally collectively get through hard times, he added.
Prine won numerous accolades, including four Grammy Awards during a career that spanned decades. He died of complications related to COVID-19 in 2020.
“It’s impossible now to see John Prine," said Watson, who started the band about six years ago. “We just happen to have a group of people that loves that music and is able to celebrate it and bring it to an audience."
The band is named after a song by Blaze Foley, which was covered by Prine. The members are Watson, Kelly Fawcett (guitar, vocals, dobro), Rachelle Reath (fiddle, guitar and vocals), Brad Shipley (mandolin, vocals) and Joey Smith (stand up bass, vocals).
Watson became interested in Prine's music when he started busking while going to music school.
“That turned into a career in music and whenever I would busk people would say, ‘play some John Prine songs’ and I didn’t know any," he said.
Watson saw Prine in concert several times and said it was “transformative".
“We like to introduce people to this music because we feel like it’s powerful," he said. "And we’re up there to make people feel good and hopefully open up people’s hearts.”
This will be the Clay Pigeons' first concert in the Parksville area. Watson and several members are based in Victoria, with others living in Nanaimo and Gabriola Island.
The band was first conceived by Watson, Reath and Fawcett, who also play in a Tom Waits tribute band, The Beautiful Maladies. Watson gave Fawcett a copy of Prine's 'Greatest Hits' and soon Fawcett was hooked.
“They’re heartbreaking and they’re funny and they’re beautifully written. Just so simple and delightful," Fawcett said. “The hard part is keeping it to just two hours of music because Aaron can just keep going and going.”
Tickets for the concert at Knox United Church are $25. They are available online through Eventbrite and at local retailers Close to You Boutique, Fireside Books and Edge Outdoors.
