Tramyard, a supergroup of Irish musicians including Mary Duff and Daniel O'Donnell's musical director and producer Steve Milne, have joined forces to record a tribute to late singer songwriter John Prine.
Prine, famous for songs like Angel of Mongomery and Hello in There, died aged 73 on April 7th last year from complications relating to Covid-19 at a hospital in Nashville, Tennessee.
He was a regular visitor to Ireland and was married to Donegal woman Fiona Whelan. The couple were based in Nashville and they also had a home near Kinvara in Galway.
The nine-piece Tramyard have released a cover version of his song People Puttin' People Down after planning and working on the idea for three months during the first lockdown.
The recording started as a personal endeavour to honour Prine’s music and the band didn’t intend the song to be released but after the AGR Television Records label in Germany took an interest in the track, it has now seen the light of day.
"Tramyard is made up of a number of well-known Irish musicians," says Milne. "Professionally we are very diverse but we all really love this kind of old country/roots/Americana style, so this was an opportunity for us to jam together.
"John Prine of course was a great musician, a great performer, and a great writer, who always had a lot of appreciation for the music scene in Ireland. It was a big loss when he passed away last April.
"People Puttin' People Down was an opportunity for friends to get together and explore some of John's great song writing gems in our own way. But I am really pleased AGR Television Records have given us the opportunity to share what we came up with, in the memory of John Prine."
Milne has worked with Daniel O'Donnell for over 34 years, while Duff, who has been O'Donnell’s touring partner for 34 years, is the only Irish Artist to have worked with Garth Brooks, with her last single - released in May 2020 - was written by the US country megastar.
They’re joined in Tramyard by Marty McDermott (bass), Mary Duff (vocals), Jordan Mogey (vocals), Aoife Cunningham (bouzouki and vocals), Ciara Cunningham (accordion and vocals), Kevin Logue (guitar and vocals), Stuart Gray (guitars) and Des Lacey (drums).
President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins was among those paying tribute to Prine following his death last year.
"John Prine was a true master of songcraft. A gifted and evocative lyricist, he was the songwriter other songwriters looked to for inspiration. He was a voice of tolerance, inclusion, whimsy, and protest." Mr Higgins said.
