John Prine has succumbed to the corona virus. Link to the WaPo article.
A onetime Army mechanic and mail carrier who wrote songs rooted in the experiences of lower-middle-class life, Mr. Prine rose to prominence almost by accident. He was at a Chicago folk club called the Fifth Peg one night in 1969, complaining about the performers, when someone challenged him to get onstage, saying, “You get up and try.”
Emboldened by a few beers, he picked up his guitar and sang three of his original songs.
The three songs that this letter carrier performed, written on his breaks from work?
This amateur, this nobody, who just got on stage because someone challenged him to do so after a few beers?
Sam Stone.
Hello in there.
Paradise.
I've got nothing more to add.