Legendary Songwriter & Musician John Prine To Play Kings Theatre Friday

Not every artist from the 60s and 70s painted themselves into a corner as deftly as Pete Townsend, who wrote “Hope I die before I get old” and then had to figure out what to do when he didn’t. But plenty of rock stars have found themselves in the 21st century dealing with their early material like a suit that no longer quite fits.

John Prine, who appears at the Kings Theatre on Friday, April 8, has been spared that particular fate. Perhaps that’s because where many of his contemporaries depended on energy and enthusiasm, Prine’s work has always relied more on intelligence and wry humor, qualities that don’t look out of place on a man a few months away from his 70th birthday.

The songwriter who famously chronicled the lives of a married couple in the “years since the kids had grown” when he was a youngster, recording his debut album in 1971, and now has grown children of his own. His voice has aged in the years since, and has acquired a gravelly tone, especially following surgery to treat cancer in 1998.

But the insight offered by the guy who’s been labeled “the songwriters’ songwriter” (and who’s work has been covered by Johnny Cash, John Denver, Carly Simon, Bette Midler, Norah Jones and many others) continues to deliver.

The humor hasn’t worn off, either. Years after it was first recorded, the shaggy dog story of “Jesus, the Missing Years” can still draw a smile. (“Illegal Smile,” another tune from his debut album, may be the template for much that followed, and it remains a mainstay of his concerts.)

Prine had been a mailman before he began playing shows at an open mic club in Chicago called the Fifth Peg. He told the Chicago Tribune that, on the postal route, “You just had time to be quiet and think, and that’s where I would come up with a lot of songs. If the song was any good, I could remember it later and write it down.”

The time spent delivering mail up and down the streets of Maywood, IL gave Prine the opportunity to craft an extraordinary collection of songs for his self-titled debut album. The material ranges from the acidic but elegiac “Sam Stone,” to “Your Flag Decal Won’t Get You Into Heaven Anymore,” a steel-guitar poke at ostentatious patriotism whose rueful humor sounds hard won.

For some time, Prine was a notably prolific singer-songwriter, but for the last two decades he’s been more singer and less songwriter. His 2005 recording, “Fair & Square,” was his first album of new original material since 1995’s “Lost Dogs and Mixed Blessings.”

In the ten years since, Prine has followed the same pattern.

“Standard Songs for Average People,” which featured Prine along with Mac Wiseman, was a collection of cover songs. “In Person and On Stage” from 2010 was his third live album, and his release the following year, “The Singing Mailman Delivers,” was actually a recording of a radio appearance and a live set done just before his 1971 debut.

As a singer, though, Prine’s been attentive to his legacy, regularly selecting backing musicians who help showcase the work he has created in the 40 years he’s been performing. John Ritter and Emmylou Harris are both featured as guest performers on Prine’s “In Person and On Stage.” And so is Iris Dement, who will appear with Prine at the Kings Theatre on Friday.