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W O O D Tommy Prine sings onstage with his father, the late John Prine.
THE SON OF A SINGER-SONGWRITER LEGEND IS KICKING O F F H I S F I R S T - E V E R T O U R O N H I LT O N H E A D I S L A N D .
Tommy Prine H A S
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his is a moment years in the making. It’s a lifestyle Tommy Prine was born into, but a spotlight he had to earn his own way. Being backstage at venues like Ryman Auditorium, The Troubadour, Bonnaroo and Radio City Music Hall watching his dad, legendary folk singer-songwriter John Prine, was everyday normal for Tommy. “We had music industry folks, singer and songwriter friends, over to the house all the time just to have dinner,” said Tommy Prine, who is kicking off his first-ever tour with a show at Coligny Theater on Thursday, Aug. 5. “When you’re a kid, you take in the world as you see it. Being around this, being backstage, I grew up thinking this was what life was like for everybody. Now I know it’s a very niche lifestyle.” He’s had a guitar in his hands since he was 10, but it took him a while to figure out if he could ever outshine the shadow of his dad, or if he even wanted to try.
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“My dad was just the kindest soul. He was just this normal, humble dude—never acted big time but you just felt special to be in his presence,” Tommy said of his father, who passed away due to complications from COVID-19 on April 7, 2020. “He was a superhero to so many—a core influence on so many performers—but he just loved writing and singing. He had no idea how much he endeared himself to a crowd; he just got up and told stories and it was just magic right away.” And that is a lot to live up to. “I never wanted to try to live up to it. I had to figure out if I could make my own path,” said the 26-year-old son of Prine and Fiona Whelan. His first time performing on stage was playing with his dad at age 18 at the Ryman, an October 2014 show he was told about in August. “It was a horrific four months, a lot of sweating and panic, but when I got up there, started picking and singing,
