John Prine Comes to PlayhouseSquare, May 2014; Tickets on Sale 11/15

Long considered a "songwriter's songwriter," John Prine is a rare talent who writes the songs other songwriters would sell their souls for. Evidence of this is the long list of songwriters who have recorded gems from his extensive catalog, including Johnny Cash, Bonnie Raitt, the Everly Brothers, John Denver, Kris Kristofferson, Carly Simon, Ben Harper, Joan Baez, and many others. With immeasurable accolades, including two Grammys and the distinction of being one of the few songwriters honored by the Library of Congress and US Poet Laureate, Prine is more than a musician...he is an American treasure.

John Prine with special guest Sarah Jarosz will perform on Saturday, May 17th at PlayhouseSquare's Ohio Theatre. Tickets go on sale this Friday, November 15 at 11 a.m. Tickets will be $62.50 on sale at playhousesquare.org; 216-241-6000 and the PlayhouseSquare Ticket Office.

"He's so good, we're gonna have to break his fingers," Kris Kristofferson once said after being justifiably stunned by a Prine performance. Bob Dylan remarked, "Beautiful songs... Nobody but Prine could write like that."

Long before the awards, all the concerts and many, many albums, John Prine trudged through snow in the cold Chicago winters, delivering mail across Maywood, his childhood suburb. "I always likened the mail route to a library with no books," says John Prine. "I passed the time each day making up these little ditties." Many of the songs he penned on the route landed on his classic self-titled debut record.

Now over forty years since his remarkable debut, John Prine has released The Singing Mailman Delivers, a two-disc archival set featuring his earliest studio and live recordings dating back to 1970, one year before his premiere album. These tracks reveal a younger Prine as an honest and unassuming songwriter, writing words on his mail route by day and moonlighting as a folk singer in Chicago clubs at night.

For more information, visit www.johnprine.net.