John Prine cover to benefit MusiCares

Members of the Recording Academy – including several from the Atlanta chapter – have recorded a new version of John Prine’s “Angel from Montgomery.”

Proceeds from the single, which is available on all platforms and can be accessed via YouTube, will support the MusiCares COVID-19 Relief Fund.

Prine died in April from complications associated with the coronavirus; the veteran musician/songwriter was recently announced as a 2020 Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award recipient.

Among the musicians who played on the song are Atlanta’s Tammy Hurt (vice chair of the Recording Academy), Brandon Bush and John Driskell Hopkins (of the Zac Brown Band). Other Atlanta connections come with Recording Academy board member Melissa Love and Juliett Rowe, co-executive director of the National Association of Record Industry Professionals, who aided in licensing and project coordination.

“John Prine was one of the most influential songwriters of his generation and we joined the world in mourning when we learned of his passing last month,” Hurt said. “John was a much-beloved country and folk singer/songwriter, with a very giving spirit. This project is a tribute to honor that spirit and, in turn, raise awareness for the work that MusiCares is doing to support music creators around the country affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The need is still so great and these times remain critical for music people.”

Others in the Recording Academy who participated on the track include Christine Albert, Helen Bruner, Tracy Hamlin, Eric Jarvis, Terry Jones, Lee Levin, Susan Marshall, Jeff Powell, and Michael Romanowsk.