Maxwell Stern Releases John Prine-Inspired Song With Members of Ratboys, Modern Baseball and More

Maxwell Stern (Signals Midwest, Timeshares) has joined forces with members of Ratboys, Modern Baseball, Into it. Over It. and more for a John Prine-inspired track titled “Tying Airplanes to the Ground.” The Bandcamp proceeds go to NIVA, a charity for independent music venues that are financially struggling due to the pandemic.

The track has Stern on vocals and guitar, Into It. Over It.’s Adam Beck on keys, drums and percussion, Modern Baseball’s Ian Farmer on bass, Mother Evergreen’s Evan Loritsch on piano and Ratboys’ Julia Steiner and Dave Sagan on vocals and lap steel.

Of the song, Stern says:

I wrote this song on April 8th, 2020, the day after John Prine died. I spent the whole day doing nothing but listening to his music. There’s such incredible beauty and humor in his songs but there’s also a definite darkness, a somber quality that can exist in that same space. I was wondering about what he might write for these current times, and then I tried to write my own personal version of that song.

About NIVA, he adds:

Independent venues have given me everything – jobs, friends, inspiration and a means of self-discovery. I don’t know who I’d be without places like The Grog Shop, Johnny Brenda’s, Boot & Saddle, O’Briens, Great Scott, and the Beat Kitchen. I became a better version of myself in these rooms, as have countless others.

Listen to the folk gem below, and purchase it via Bandcamp here.