Premiere: The world’s Spring Break, as told by Will Kimbrough

Cause and effect: Covid-19 and the John Prine Blues

Created in the documentary-oriented and storytelling tradition of Folkways and Vanguard folk records, veteran songwriter Will Kimbrough’s Spring Break crystallizes the global COVID-19 pandemic that changed the globe. The title refers to Spring 2020, “When the world broke, and we all took a break,” as Kimbrough put it.

In Australia at the time, Kimbrough returned home to Nashville and took the opportunity to work on new material inspired by the scores of difficulties cycloning through the world: political division, tragic losses, and the current climate. Kimbrough puts his personal lens, confessional vocals and gift for plainspoken storytelling to good use, focusing and refining the massive scope of the upheavals. One loss was the passing of songwriter John Prine, a victim of Covid-19.

Will Kimbrough told Elmore, “I have loved John Prine since I first heard him on the radio and saw him live in the 1970s. Our paths crossed in the early ’90s when my band signed with Oh Boy! Records. Since then, I’ve shared stages with John, including playing a funeral together a few years back. He played ‘Souvenirs,’ I played ‘Goodnight Moon.’ We’ve shared late night rides from airports. We’ve stood backstage killing time before and after show time. When he passed, it made a surreal time even more surreal—like a John Prine song. That’s why I wrote ‘The Late Great John Prine Blues’: out of wonder and love.

Kimbrough’s compositions have been recorded by the likes of Jimmy Buffett, Little Feat, Todd Snider, Jack Ingram, Gretchen Peters and many others. He also boasts production credits for Buffett, Doug Seegers, Shemekia Copeland, Todd Snider, Radney Foster and Steve Poltz. His production work on the award-winning Copeland´s 2018 release America’s Child earned him a Living Blues Producer of the Year title in 2019.

Learn more about Will Kimbrough HERE