Legendary songwriter and part-time Gulfport resident John Prine died in Nashville on Tuesday night after suffering from complications related to COVID-19. He was 73-years-old.
Prine left an indelible mark on American folk music with simple songs that captured the hardships and happiness of ordinary, working-class people and put them to songs that were heartbreaking and hilarious all at once.
“John was the love of my life and adored by our sons Jody, Jack and Tommy, daughter in law Fanny, and by our grandchildren,” his wife, Fiona Whelan Prine, said in a statement.
Prine also left his mark on the Bay area thanks to an address he and Fiona kept in the sleepy beach town of Gulfport, where fans have gone to pay tribute to the songwriter.
One local institution—Tampa Bay community radio station WMNF Tampa 88.5-FM—is taking the tribute to the airwaves by pledging to play local musicians’ covers of John Prine songs on the air on April 16 as part of Public Radio Music Day.
“We cannot come together to sing John Prine songs in a physical space,” WMNF Program Director Randy Wynne told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay. “But we can come together on the radio to celebrate.”
Wynne is asking locals to send their covers, in video or MP3 format, to his inbox (randy@wmnf.org)
Support local journalism in these crazy days. Our small but mighty team is working tirelessly to bring you up to the minute news on how Coronavirus is affecting Tampa and surrounding areas. Please consider making a one time or monthly donation to help support our staff. Every little bit helps.
Follow @cl_music on Twitter to get the most up-to-date music news, concert announcements and local tunes. Subscribe to our newsletter, and listen to us on WMNF 88.5-FM’s “Radio Reverb” program every Saturday from 4 p.m.-6 p.m.
This article appears in Apr 2-9, 2020.
