written by: Matt Lambert
Canadian singer-songwriter William Prince has had an extraordinary year. This past summer, he made his debut at the legendary Newport Folk Festival and was honored with the prestigious 2024 John Prine Songwriter Fellowship Award. Now, ahead of his highly anticipated performance at Boston’s Royale on November 21, 2024, alongside Ocie Elliott, I had the chance to sit down with Prince for an in-depth conversation. We discussed his musical journey, his unforgettable Newport experience, and his unique connection to the late, great John Prine.
Stub Stories: Can you tell the fans of Stub Stories who you are in a nutshell?
William Prince: My name is William Prince, I hail from Canada, the nation known as Canada, Treaty One Territory. I reside in Winnipeg, Manitoba, gateway to the west, and yeah, singer-songwriter, folk-ish country-ish, depending how you were raised or what lens you're looking through, and I just, yeah, love songs, I love all of this, and nice to meet you all.
SS: Have you ever played the Newport Folk Festival before?
WP: My first time at Newport this year, and it's been really great. Yeah, my debut set at the Harbor Stage, and got to sing with my friend Joby Riccio. We did the little John Prine tribute, and then finished off the whole night on Friday with Hozier, and Allison [Russell], and Nathaniel [Rateliff], just a great family. Kaia Kater up there. First Newport for me.
SS: So, with that being said about the first Newport Folk Festival, what does Folk fest mean to you, and do you remember when you first heard of Newport?
WP: Well, the tradition of Newport is quite astounding, if not further invigorated, and stuff like the word is so big, just like Brandy and Joni's latest involvement too. There's these historical surges to this festival that just keep its life and vibrancy always, you know, at the top of everything. It's the American folk festival to me. To me, this is my gateway to a whole new realm, you know, a whole new world where I'm trying to share the stories and songs and such, and so, yeah, it's been a road to get here, but every bit of it was worth it to finally debut, and, you know, I had a very special welcome to this place. Being the recipient of the John Prine Songwriting Fellowship is what brought me here, and, you know, the Prine family welcomed me as well as the Newport family, and getting to catch up with my American friends. It's the perfect summer for me this year, having this happen finally. So, Newport really represents the whole new territory that I'm trying to be a part of, this Americana family, and there's so much good stuff here that I want to, I'm honored to put a little piece of my own history, legacy to it.
SS: That's perfect, yeah, getting the John Prine Songwriter Fellowship award recipient for this year, and that cover you did was amazing yesterday. How much has John and his music meant to you? You know, I don't want to just say other than storytelling, it's like you kind of, you have that in you, when did you discover you had that talent?
WP: Yeah, you know, I've always, I always felt like a bit of a specialist with what I do, and I love, again, we talked about resurgence, but this, the love that came for John at the, in the last years of his life and career, you know, I had the privilege of loving John's music before I came to that album, The Tree of Forgiveness, which then brought him to the forefront. Thanks so much to our friend Dave Cobb, you know, and Dave shared with me stories of working with him, and just what a human being he was, and you know, sounds not unlike myself sometimes, like I get, I get so many, some of my favorite compliments are when people are quick to tell me the Prine-like tendencies, the humor sometimes in songs, or just the matter-of-fact nature of them, and the way John's songs are unpretentious, and bold, and adventurous, and they just have their own unique way of being, while still capturing so much of what makes great singer-songwriter folk storytelling its strengths, and so I heard, I heard what kind of a person he was, and I love, I love he sounds like he, he loved a good joke, and had a good laugh, and he loved KFC and Christmas trees, I was told, and I'm trying to, I'm trying to slow down on my KFC, but I'm right there with him, and yeah, I just, my dad would sing songs, and he would always, my dad was a singer as well, for those that aren't familiar, he, he, he made records and influenced me greatly, had guitars in the house, and you know, since I was a kid, I knew my dad as a picker, and so he would sing old [Kris] Kristofferson songs, and of course, Kristofferson was the advocate who, you know, brought us the singing mailman to begin with, and so that's, you know, I'm, I'm kind of like John, and I'm, I've had moments similar to that, but I could always use another moment like that, where someone wants me to repeat my set, and, and do it again, and I just, I love that what he represents to the people I admire, and his, his gift of song will continue to keep giving, so he really meant the world before I had any personal attachment to him, just thinking of what I wanted to be, and you know, where does this music fit, and we're side by side in the record store, which I always feel good, you know, knowing that we're sitting there. There you go.
SS: Did you ever get to meet him?
WP: I didn't. Okay. I was really just starting to find a little more traction with my own stuff, you know, I took a while to get going, and made my first record at 29, after trying to make it all through my 20s, but it happened at the perfect time, because the impression was met with, with love, and so, everything for a reason. Yeah. In its place, so I wish I could have, but you know what, it felt like the, the stories, I feel like I have met him, and I got to hug Fiona [Prine, John's widow] yesterday.
SS: I hadn't really heard you or your music until hearing you on NPR's Tiny Desk a couple months ago from your November set there. I have to thank my YouTube algorithm for that, so I wanted to spread the word about you and your art. The last thing I'd have to say was that I'm looking to see your show in Boston, if you want to talk about that.
WP: That's gonna be great. Yeah. I'm always looking forward to getting back to Boston. I love that city, it's just, you know, a part of the lore, a part of making your way as a troubadour is getting through Boston, and I had a very unorthodox first appearance there, you know, I got to play the storied Wang Theater, you know, opening for Neil Young two nights, and changed my whole existence since that moment. It's really, so a lot of my story in America, you could say, began in Boston, and I'm very, very excited to go back.
SS: All right, man, well, it's been an absolute pleasure. Any other last words you'd like to leave us with?
WP: Stand in the joy my friends, be present and happy, grateful for those that love us, and, you know, keep paying it forward, and believe in the goodness of things like Newport, and the people that are here, like I say, putting up that love against all that wants to contradict it, and so let's keep living that way. Cool.
SS: Thank you, sir!
WP: Thank you.