Interviewed at the GRAMMY Museum, the singer/songwriters confess that they don't know where their songs truly come from because there is no fixed method to it.
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John Prine, Sturgill Simpson: Writing Songs Without Knowing How
In 2016 at this Up Close & Personal event held at the GRAMMY Museum, author Paul Zollo interviewed GRAMMY winners John Prine and Sturgill Simpson. Simpson's April 2016 release A Sailor's Guide To Earth went on to win Best Country Album at the 59th GRAMMY Awards. Prine won Best Contemporary Folk Album twice, for The Missing Years at the 34th GRAMMMY Awards and for Fair & Square at the 48th GRAMMY Awards. Simpson said he approached his latest album a bit like "wide-screen music" if he were making a film. "Like this is a country song, but what would David Bowie do here?" Simpson would ask himself. "Then you realize, there's really no rules." Prine credits his words with giving birth to his melodies because of how people talk and he believes if the words are right, they already have a melody in them "because of the way it rolls out." See the performance of 4 classic Prine compositions