I saw John Prine on Austin City Limits last year... well, let me be more accurate: I tivo'd ACL, and kept fast forwarding past John Prine to get to Amos Lee. I figured an older guy with a colonel sanders bow tie wouldn't be, well, rad. Then I finally got lazy enough not to fast forward, and I was blown away. His performance was fantastic. I got a few songs from his latest album via iTunes, and listening to the song "Some Humans Ain't Human" is reminiscent of protest-folk from days gone by.
His voice has changed, though, since his older stuff... I believe he had surgery on his throat, and since then he has to sing differently. But I really like the throaty nature of his voice now.
Having a *much* older husband, I inherited several of John's CDs thru marriage.
My favorite is "Illegal Smile."